What is Domestic Policy?

Who makes Domestic Policy?

• Congress
• The Bureaucracy
• The President

What is the role of Congress in Domestic Policy?

“All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” - U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 1

What is the role of Congress in Domestic Policy?

• Legislation = law making
• Oversight of the executive branch
• Budgeting and appropriations

What is the role of the Bureaucracy in Domestic Policy?

• Agency rule making process

    - Notice of proposed rule making
    - Public comment period
    - Final rule (published in the Federal Register)
    - Final rules have the force of law

What is the role of the President in Domestic Policy?

• Appointing agency heads, department secretaries, and other politically appointed officials
• Setting a policy agenda consistent with campaign promises
• Executive Orders

Executive Orders

How a Bill Does NOT Become a Law

Executive Orders

• Directives issued by the President that have the force of law
• Can be challenged in court
• Can be overturned by Congress (but requires a veto-proof majority)
• Can be overturned by the next President with the stroke of a pen (new executive order)

Examples of Executive Orders

• Emancipation Proclamation
• Executive Order 9066 (Japanese internment)
• Executive Order 9981 (Desegregation of the military)
• Executive Order 12333 (Prohibition on assassination of heaads of state)
• Executive Order 13526 (Classified National Security Information)
• Executive Order 13769 (Trump travel ban)

Numbers of executive orders by President (since 1937)

Great Depression to Vietnam War¹

• Franklin D. Roosevelt: 2,023 over 8 years (World War II and Great Depression)
• Harry Truman: 906 over 8 years (WWII and Korean War)
• Dwight D. Eisenhower: 484 over 8 years (Cold War)
• John F. Kennedy: 214 over 3 years (Cold War)
• Lyndon B. Johnson: 325 over 5 years (Vietnam War)
• Richard Nixon: 346 over 5 years (Vietnam War)

Numbers of executive orders by President (since 1937)

post-Vietnam to 2000

• Gerald Ford: 169 over 2 years (Post-Watergate, Cold War)
• Jimmy Carter: 320 over 4 years (Post-Watergate, Cold War)
• Ronald Reagan: 381 over 8 years (Cold War)
• George H.W. Bush: 166 over 4 years (Post-Cold War)
• Bill Clinton: 364 over 8 years (Post-Cold War)

Numbers of executive orders by President (since 1937)

War on Terror through Covid

• George W. Bush: 291 over 8 years (War on Terror)
• Barack Obama: 276 over 8 years (Great Recession)
• Donald Trump: 220 over 4 years (Post-Great Recession and Covid pandemic)
• Joe Biden: 143 over 4 years (Covid)

Module 3 Review

• The Presidency and The Executive Branch

    - Powers
    - Limits on power
    - Roles of the President
    - Constitutional role
    - How has the Presidency changed over time?
    - Relationship of the President to the other branches of government

Module 3 Review

• The Bureacracy

    - What is the bureaucracy?
    - How does the bureaucracy work?
    - What are the functions of the bureaucracy?
    - How does the bureaucracy interact with the other branches of government?
    - What are the limits on the bureaucracy?
    - Who does the bureacracy answer to and how?
    - Civil Service Reform

Module 3 Review

• Foreign Policy

    - What is foreign policy?
    - Who makes foreign policy?
    - What is the role of Congress in foreign policy?
    - What is the role of the President in foreign policy?
    - What are some of the key issues in foreign policy today?
    - What are some of the key foreign policy tools (instruments of US foreign policy)?
    - What is the role of the media in foreign policy?
    - What is the role of public opinion in foreign policy?

Module 3 Review

• Domestic Policy

    - What is domestic policy?
    - Who makes domestic policy?
    - What is the role of Congress in domestic policy?
    - What is the role of the bureaucracy in domestic policy?
    - What is the role of the President in domestic policy?
    - What are executive orders and how do they work?
    - Examples of executive orders
    - Numbers of executive orders by President (since 1937)
    - What are some of the key issues in domestic policy today?

Authorship and License

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• Author: Tom Hanna

• Website: tomhanna.me

• License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.