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President Obama and his Power Base

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Explain the sources/bases of power that President Obama has used during the term of his presidency. What contingency factors(factors of the situation; factors external to the leader) have contributed to or detracted from President Obama's effectiveness as a leader?

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This solution explores the sources of power used by President Obama and whether those sources have contributed or detracted from his effectiveness as a leader.

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I would say that President Obama has used the same sources/bases of power as any other modern-era U.S. President who preceded him.

I will list them, not necessarily in order of importance or relative power:

1. The U.S. Constitution and the powers vested in the Office of the President and the Executive Branch of the U.S. government
2. The relationship and tension between the Office of the President and the U.S. Congress
3. The relationship and tension between the Office of the President and the U.S. Supreme Court
4. The relationship and tension between the Executive Branch as an institution and the Legislative and Judicial branches of the US government
5. US Presidential Executive Orders
6. The fickle and changeable court of public opinion
7. The post 9-11 obsession with "safety" at the expense of long-held/protected institutional personal liberties
8. U.S. Presidential speech making
9. The dysfunction and inability of 113th Congress to do what ...

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