Description
Balance of Powers and the War Powers Resolution
For this assignment, you will prepare a debate paper covering an issue that involves the balance of powers between the executive and the legislative branches: The War Powers Resolution.
Step 1
Write a 4- to 5-page debate paper that address the following:
You are serving an internship with a candidate running for Congress. She has asked you to help her prepare for a series of debates over central topics facing the nation. In the first section of the debate paper, you will provide the most powerful argument possible in favor of one side of the debate, and then you will do the same for the other side. Finally, you will write a critique of the side of the issue with which you disagree.
The War Powers Resolution requires the president to notify Congress when he or she sends troops into combat and requires the president to withdraw them within 60 days if Congress does not approve of the actions. The executive branch has never acknowledged the constitutionality of this law.
In the paper, you will debate whether the scope of the War Powers Resolution should be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has refused to hear challenges made by members of Congress to force the president to abide by the law. When addressing this topic, you must think carefully about the roles of all three branches of government and about the processes that led to the passage of and that support the current status of the War Powers Resolution. Your candidate's debates will take place before an audience of the general public, so be sure to explain the roles of the three branches of government and the current implications of the War Powers Resolution clearly.
Step 2
Research the topic.
Being able to apply information-literacy skills in studying politics is critical. Access the Internet to research and learn about the War Powers Resolution and the debates surrounding it. Consider your sources carefully when you research, keeping the following points in mind:
- Primary sources, such as government websites, will be more informative and less subjective than secondary sources.
- Check the reference lists or sources of any secondary online source you find, such as a journal or newspaper article. Has the author provided solid background for the opinions he or she expresses?
- Do not accept the opinions of any individual secondary source without question. Consider the site where you found the source. What is its primary purpose? Who is its intended audience?
Step 3
Write a paper in favor of current practices.
Demonstrate that you can apply an understanding of government processes to analyze contemporary politics. Begin by writing the first part of the paper that argues in favor of the president taking liberties with the War Powers Resolution. Make a case for why the Supreme Court should not hear a challenge to this law.
- Discuss how formal and informal processes result in public policy, which is why the president should be free to interpret the War Powers Resolution.
- Defend the ways in which the current president and recent presidents have interpreted the War Powers Resolution.
- Support the idea that even though, as a rule, single individuals should not have great impact on the political environment, the president is an exception.
Step 4
Write a paper against current practices.
Now write a section of the paper that argues that the Supreme Court should hear a challenge to the War Powers Resolution. Make a case for why a president's free interpretation of the War Powers Resolution should be challenged.
- Briefly explain the nature of the law at hand and the history and processes leading up to its passage.
- Clearly state why the scope of the law should be definitively decided and how the historical development of the United States affects such contemporary political decisions.
- Explain how the Supreme Court interacts with Congress and elaborate on how this interaction (or lack of interaction) explains the processes of government.
- Discuss the idea that the president is one individual and, as such, should not have such an impact on the political environment.
Step 5
Write a critique.
Now that you have made a strong argument for each side, critique or challenge the argument with which you disagree. Address its strongest points, and explain why you disagree with that view.
Step 6
In summary, be sure to include the following:
- An argument for maintaining current practices
- An argument for changing current practices
- A critique of the side with which you disagree
Explanation & Answer
The War Powers Resolution
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University:
Name:
Instructors Name:
Course:
Date:19th July 2016
The War Powers Resolution
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Introduction
The War Power Resolution came in to existence in order to solve the question as to who between
the congress and the president should be responsible for making the decisions of heading to war.
The War Power Act outlines that if the president has send the troops or military to a war, he has
forty eight hours to notify the congress of the unfolding. The Powers Resolution Act 1973
restricts the troops to be in a war state for a period of sixty days of which would include thirty
days meant for exit. The president is expected to seek authorization from the congress or rather
make a formal declaration of war. If we make a background check into the Nixon government
back in the year 1973 the administration was in the way to lose credibility. This was a proper
time for the congress to portray what power they had politically. Congress wanted power to
control, thus in order to end wars they had to take control of the defense. They needed the right
to be able to declare wars or stop some.
The constitution of the United States of America gives absolute rights to the congress, in
that it is able to make military engagements especially in the declaration of wars or bringing wars
to an end. Inferring all these power on congress would be difficult especially if a close
examination of the military conflicts in the past is checked into. Most of the decisions in the past
to head to war/military conflict were made by the presidents of which congress never like their
powers to be divested without their knowledge. Good examples where the congress has been
overlooked by the president in the making of war decisions include the boxer rebellion and Mc
Kinley , Jefferson and Barbary pirates, Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama, Coolidge and
Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Haiti. In all these situations the presidents took matters in
the hands and engaged in military wars without respect to the congress, which congress believed
it was a constitutional power to start or end military war accorded to them by the constitution.
The War Powers Resolution
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After years and years of presidents, th...
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