The President Needs New Kinds of Power

Abstract

The President needs to increase the variety and quality rather than the quantity of his power. The problem is of the utmost importance in a political system that is under- productive and beset with social needs. The production of better social policy requires presidential commitment and skill as a value creator, exploitation of the new political move ments of environmentalism and consumerism, support of "left out" interest groups of rising strength, a modernized Congress, and improved administrative techniques, including "participa tory reform." Although protracted wars damage social policy, the United States ought not revert to isolationism because freedom, to which social policy contributes, cannot persist at home without freedom abroad. Rather than encroach upon the President's constitutional powers concerning national secu rity, we should seek to improve presidential decision-making processes in foreign affairs.