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US presidents answer to the people. It’s completely different.

pclmulqdq 4y ago
Does Joe Biden agree? Does Donald Trump agree? I would wager that neither man feels particularly accountable to the unwashed masses that both of them openly disdained. Edit: Does George Bush agree?
- hydrolox 4y ago
  Well, Trump didn't get re-elected and it doesn't seem like Biden will either. So they "answer" every 4 years.
- jonny_eh 4y ago
  Especially if they feel that they can use violence to overrule the will of the people.
tcmart14 4y ago
In theory. But theory and practice are different things.
garren 4y ago
It’s completely different, that’s without a doubt. Whether or not a US President “answer[s] to the poeple” is debatable. W Bush taking the country to Iraq again, against a significant majority of the people comes to mind.
- pclmulqdq 4y ago
  Throughout history, the people have tried to say "tut tut" to the president, and the response is usually large amounts of police violence.
- dustincoates 4y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_in_the_United_States_on_the_invasion_of_Iraq https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_in_the_United... Support for the Iraq War at the time of invasion was either close to or a majority.
simonh 4y ago
They answer to the people eventually, but while in office they wield powers unknown in our (British) system since the time of George III. And I mean that quite literally. The US president is essentially an elected British King circa 1789. They literally copied the constitutional role of the king point by point with a few minor alterations. The power to convene and dissolve parlia...er...congress, executive decrees are royal decrees, the veto on legislation, command of the armed forces, the power to pardon convicts, proroguation. Not exactly cutting edge constitutional innovation I'm afraid. We've moved on, but in some ways the US still stuck in the 18th Century.
- dghlsakjg 4y ago
  You have an overly expansive view of presidential powers. The Congress does not answer to the president. It is an independent institution. It does not convene and dissolve by presidential request. Executive orders can be over-ruled by either of the other two branches of government Veto power can be over-ruled by the congress. Until recently, presidents needed congressional approval to make war. Now we skip that part and just don't call it a war.
  - simonh 4y ago
    >It does not convene and dissolve by presidential request. And yet Article 2 Section 3 exists. Constitutional convention copy machine go Brrr. However I did exaggerate slightly for satirical effect. Maybe I should have just said "some alterations".
bambax 4y ago
Yeah it's different, and worse IMHO. "The people" is an abstraction, like "God" or "Nature". The Queen is a real person that you have to go meet in her house, and bow to.
Dalewyn 4y ago
Like all American politicians the POTUS does ultimately answer to the people, but only in an indirect fashion. Directly, the POTUS answers to the States because the States are the ones who elect him.
- NoGravitas 4y ago
  And isn't that going to be a shitshow in 2024?

Does Joe Biden agree? Does Donald Trump agree? I would wager that neither man feels particularly accountable to the unwashed masses that both of them openly disdained. Edit: Does George Bush agree?

hydrolox 4y ago
Well, Trump didn't get re-elected and it doesn't seem like Biden will either. So they "answer" every 4 years.
jonny_eh 4y ago
Especially if they feel that they can use violence to overrule the will of the people.

tcmart14 4y ago

In theory. But theory and practice are different things.

garren 4y ago

It’s completely different, that’s without a doubt. Whether or not a US President “answer[s] to the poeple” is debatable. W Bush taking the country to Iraq again, against a significant majority of the people comes to mind.

pclmulqdq 4y ago
Throughout history, the people have tried to say "tut tut" to the president, and the response is usually large amounts of police violence.
dustincoates 4y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_in_the_United_States_on_the_invasion_of_Iraq https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_in_the_United... Support for the Iraq War at the time of invasion was either close to or a majority.

simonh 4y ago

They answer to the people eventually, but while in office they wield powers unknown in our (British) system since the time of George III. And I mean that quite literally. The US president is essentially an elected British King circa 1789. They literally copied the constitutional role of the king point by point with a few minor alterations. The power to convene and dissolve parlia...er...congress, executive decrees are royal decrees, the veto on legislation, command of the armed forces, the power to pardon convicts, proroguation. Not exactly cutting edge constitutional innovation I'm afraid. We've moved on, but in some ways the US still stuck in the 18th Century.

dghlsakjg 4y ago
You have an overly expansive view of presidential powers. The Congress does not answer to the president. It is an independent institution. It does not convene and dissolve by presidential request. Executive orders can be over-ruled by either of the other two branches of government Veto power can be over-ruled by the congress. Until recently, presidents needed congressional approval to make war. Now we skip that part and just don't call it a war.
- simonh 4y ago
  >It does not convene and dissolve by presidential request. And yet Article 2 Section 3 exists. Constitutional convention copy machine go Brrr. However I did exaggerate slightly for satirical effect. Maybe I should have just said "some alterations".

bambax 4y ago

Yeah it's different, and worse IMHO. "The people" is an abstraction, like "God" or "Nature". The Queen is a real person that you have to go meet in her house, and bow to.

Dalewyn 4y ago

Like all American politicians the POTUS does ultimately answer to the people, but only in an indirect fashion. Directly, the POTUS answers to the States because the States are the ones who elect him.

NoGravitas 4y ago
And isn't that going to be a shitshow in 2024?