Presidential command of public opinion weakens the checking effect of the other branches

Evidence

Executive power has the advantage of concentration in a single head in whose choice the whole Nation has a part, making him the focus of public hopes and expectations. In drama, magnitude and finality his decisions so far overshadow any others that alone he fills the public eye and ear. No other personality in public life can begin to compete with him in access to the public mind through modern methods of communications. By his prestige as head of state and his influence upon public opinion he exerts a leverage upon those who are supposed to check and balance his power which often cancels their effectiveness. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 2867

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the polyad thread on institutions and to how media access translates into formal checks being neutralized. — connects to: The party system gives presidents extraconstitutional control over other branches — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2868; A gap separates the President’s formal paper powers from his real accumulated powers — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2865; Television news priming shifts which criteria citizens use to rate presidents — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1576

Broader Connections

• Television news priming shifts which criteria citizens use to rate presidents #expands (0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1576