American Foreign Policy And The Presidential Role Essays Example

Introduction

When the United States of American sends ambassadors to foreign countries or signs a treaty with a foreign nation, it is said that the nation is practicing foreign policy. The constitution of the United States of American gives extensive powers to the congress on shaping the foreign policies. Although the law makers really interacts with other nations on foreign policies issues, the laws passed by the congress, the nomination and treaties approved by the senates has a great influence on the United States of America on how it interacts with other countries. There has been tension over the issues of foreign policies through the year between the white house and the Capitol Hill majorly on issues like foreign aids and sanctions, human right and trade (Wittkopf et al, p. 414).
In the United States, the executive branch and the president have the power to implement and initiate the foreign policies through international agreement negotiation, legislation proposal, foreign event response, policy statement and nomination of the overseas policy official. For any spending on the foreign issues approval by the congress in needed and their consent is also required on the sealing of the agreement on trade issues. The unclear issues are those of war powers which are defined clearly for congress but practically the presidential action dominates it (Briggs, p. 2).
However there are a good number of issues in which the president has been openly defied by the congress. This include the refusal by the congress on the approval of the Versailles Treaty of the 1999 and that of 1920, the 1999 comprehensive treaty of Test Ban and the opposition on the convention approval of the sea deposit law which has been always supported by the successive presidents of the United States of American.
Congress ensures the effective Implementation of the foreign policies through regularly playing an oversight of the executive branch foreign policy implementation. For the effective oversight, various mechanisms have been involved which includes; investigation and hearing. Hearing mainly involves the hearing of annual appropriation and authorization of executive branch funds. This provides a chance for the committee members to question the policies and activities influence. The House International Relation Committee and the senate Foreign Relation oversee the Agencies of foreign affair and the states departments. The Defense Department is overseen by the Arm Service Committee; the committees of Intelligence oversee the Agency of Central Intelligence. The proper management of this agenesis will contribute to a strong foreign affair policy implementation of the United States of American (Pearson et al, p.277).

Conclusion

This report explains that making foreign policies is very challenging however the executive branch and the legislation play a very important role. Although these roles are different they are overlapping and both the branches have an increased opportunity to change and initiate the foreign policies. The President directs who is the main spokesperson of the nation, has the role of acting on issues to allow the advancement of the United States Foreign policy interest. The congress plays an oversight responsibility and can majorly affect the policies through passing laws governing the foreign relation and through either denial or approval of funds. For the effective United States foreign policy it is very important for the two branches to work together.

Work cited

Briggs, Philip J. Making American Foreign Policy: President-congress Relations from the Second World War to the Post-Cold War Era. Lanham, Md. [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1994. Print. Page 2
Pearson, James B. "Oversight: A vital yet neglected congressional function." U. Kan. L. Rev. 23 (1974): 277.
Wittkopf, Eugene R, Christopher M. Jones, and Charles W. Kegley. American Foreign Policy: Pattern and Process. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2008. Print. Page 414