How has President Barack Obama influenced separation of powers Research Proposal

How has President Barack Obama influenced separation of powers - Research Proposal Example From the past presidents’ experience, it is easy to predict how the administration of Barack Obama will influence the separation of powers theory, in addition to some unique circumstances of his presidency, the most important of which will be explored by this paper. Peter McNamara wrote that Woodrow Wilson believed the president must become a popular and national leader for the purpose of imposing order and system on the government’s policy agenda. (Galderisi, Herzberg and McNamara 1996, p. 194) The idea is that only the president could provide these qualities because the Congress is simply incapable of order and system. The problem is the president cannot deliver this when he is unpopular because the separation of power has made for a stalemate between the executive and the legislative branches. Barack Obama does not have this problem as he enjoy an unprecedented popularity among the American public. For instance, he has at least 70 percent approval rating in the recent Gallup poll just before his inauguration. (Ibanez 2009) The tide of positive public opinion behind a president can silence opposition from the Congress especially today when the media serves as a public forum wherein people has immediate access to information and could e xpress their sentiments and opinions. An aspect of Obama’s popularity comes from his ability to reach to people from all walks of life – he is easier to be seen as nonpartisan. The new president has a knack to mobilize public support as demonstrated by his meteoric rise from the unknown to having won the American presidency. Obama’s popularity is boosted by the fact that the Democrats – his party – has the majority in Congress. This means that he has the support of his party for his policies and he would encounter less resistance from opposition. A democrat in the White House and a Democrat Congress would mean less friction because both follow the same ideology. Presidents have long used