172 Presidential politics
2 a if the action depends entirely upon the immediate appropriation of
money by the Congress;
b if the action requires the appropriation of money by Congress in the
relatively near future;
c if the action requires no expenditure of money other than the normal
running expenses of the administration;
3 a if the action lies in the field of domestic policy;
b if it lies in the field of diplomacy;
c if it involves the exercise of military power.
Thus, with a given level of popular support, one can generalise that the poten-
tial power of the president will be least if Congress must be persuaded to
grant new powers before action can be taken, if the required action needs the
appropriation of money, and if it is in the field of domestic policy. The presi-
dent’s potential power will be the greatest if the policy can be implemented
independently of congressional approval, in an area requiring little or no
immediate expenditure of money, and in the field of the responsibilities of
commander-in-chief. In between these extremes there will be a considerable
number of different degrees of potential power according to the combination
of factors involved.
The president and the administration exercise enormous statutory powers
granted by Congress over the years. Today this authority extends into a wide
variety of fields of activity, touching the life of every citizen of the United
States. Every statutory authority granted to the administration is potentially
a weapon of presidential policy, for powers originally granted for one purpose
can sometimes be turned to the support of other policies. Furthermore, the
authority granted by Congress may be used to the hilt or drawn upon very lit-
tle. The way in which the administration uses its powers depends in the last
resort on the president. Thus the power to help minorities to exercise their
rights as voters may be very actively pursued, or allowed to languish. It is the
president who will instruct the Attorney General to pursue one policy or an-
other, or at least give the latter support. In almost every field of government
activity there are such powers which can be implemented in differing ways.
Furthermore, the modern administration has a considerable reservoir of del-
egated power, the power to fill in the administrative details of legislation, and
to legislate itself within the authority granted by Congress. The principle
of delegated legislative power, which seems on its face to offend against the
doctrine of the separation of powers, has long been accepted by the judici-
ary, provided that the grant of power is not so wide as to be invalid through
vagueness, or is incapable of being policed by the courts. However, there are
clearly limits to these possibilities. The administration is bound by the law
and must justify its acts if challenged in the courts, so that where there is
doubt, or where a quite new programme is to be initiated, the president must
go to Congress and persuade it of the need for further legislation.
Even when explicit powers have been granted to the administration, how-
ever, the president’s position is not wholly secure. What has been given can