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Congress, the Executive, and Foreign Policy

Francis Orlando WilcoxCouncil on Foreign Relations

出版	Council on Foreign Relations, 1971
主題	Political Science / International Relations / GeneralPolitical Science / American Government / General
ISBN	00601465169780060146511
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=gGaGAAAAMAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api

註釋

"As the news reports indicate, there is open, often vehement disagreement between Congress and the executive branch on the powers they share and their responsibilities in making foreign policy. This persistent and corrosive issue has been abetted by the Vietnam war and its frustrations. The doubts and divisions besetting the American people, as reflected in the Congress, have led in turn the re-examination of the U.S Position in world affairs and the substance of our foreign policy. Mr. Wilcox's book deals not with national interest and priorities but with the context in which they are considered and procedures by which they might be resolved. In describing the present role of Congress, he illustrates the deterioration of executive-legislative relations (which had been reasonably good for some fifteen years after World War II) under the pressure of events in the 1960's. Principally, however, he addresses himself to improving the relations between Capitol hill and the White House, to restoring that complex yet delicate balance on which our governmental system depends. Consultation - meaning actively seeking Congressional opinion and advice before decisions are reached-is the key to better relations. For this, providing Congress with adequate flow of information is basic. A more effective organization of congress itself is overdue to cope with the demands of time, secrecy and disclosure, coordination, the seniority system and proper legislative review. The war power has to be reassessed and the use of executive agreements restricted. Congress, being an elected body, is naturally responsive to public opinion. Wilcox looks at this relationship in terms of elections and changing electorates, the media, lobbyists and pressure groups, and the President's role as opinion-maker. Under the Constitution, Congress is the forum for public debate. To fulfill its obligations, Congress must bring to bear on foreign policy questions an informed judgement of its own, reached in public with the benefit of open debate and discussion, and thereby help form as broad a national consensus as possible in support of the policies eventually arrived at". - Publisher.