number 28?

[jephly]

So, should we amend the Constitution to change how the office of President works?

Garrett Epps of the Atlantic think so.What do you think? Is Article II outdated and vague? Should the President

Comments

Re: musings/ramblings

[jephly]

Well, okay, the founders certainly didn't envision the modern Presidency or modern elections. But they knew that, and so they included the provision for amendments, which has been used a lot to change the Presidency.

The President, even Bush, is responsible for the decisions made by their administration. It's true that they don't make all the decisions directly; they delegate much of it to cabinet members and other appointees. But that's one of the primary measures of a good leader: appointing the right people. (And that's also what made Bush such a bad President: he appointed and listened to many incompetent and/or power-hungry people.)

Your point about presidential elections is a good one. Many voters consider lots of unimportant and trivial things when choosing a candidate. But they do the same for other elected officials. That's always been a factor in democracies, Athenian and Roman styles included. (They say Caesar was fun to have a beer with, and Pericles hung out with a high-class prostitute.)

The more people vote based on character traits, the more likely we'll end up with a president (or other elected official) who doesn't have good leadership skills or a good vision, and the more we need safeguards. But I think it goes both ways: if better candidates get elected, people's faith in government goes up, and they pay more attention to the important traits of their elected officials.

I concede that many great works of art come from collaborations. My analogy isn't that great. But I think it's much less likely for a good plan to come from a committee than a good work of art. Committees are good at finding out information or expressing the desire of a group (that's what Congress is for), but I still think you need a single mind at the helm in order to achieve the desired ends.

The business world is perhaps the better analogy - successful companies have strong CEOs.