20世纪70年代水门事件推动下国会权力的崛起

论文摘要

美国两百多年的历史伴随着总统权力的扩张。立宪之初，为了防止专制独裁和腐败，美国的建国之父设计了立法、行政、司法三权分立的政治体制。在20世纪20年代之前，联邦政府的三个部门中，国会一直在外交、军事和经济等核心领域中占据主导地位。但自30年代经济大危机和美苏冷战以来，随着国际国内问题的复杂化，行政部门权力急剧膨胀，总统和白宫幕僚逐渐成为联邦政府的权力中心，致使“国会政体”逐渐演变为“总统宪政”。到了尼克松统治时期，总统权力达到顶峰，甚至在外交和军事政策领域中出现了独断专行的“帝王总统”，威胁着美国三权分立制衡的宪政体制。这种现象引起了国会的不安和警觉，1972年水门事件中尼克松滥用权力掩盖丑闻的行为更激发了国会和总统的权力斗争。新闻媒体对水门事件的揭露，给立法部门制衡总统和白宫幕僚的权势提供了良机，七十年代中后期国会趁机通过了一系列限制总统行政权的法案，采取各种手段打破了“帝王总统”为主导的宪政体制，恢复了国会在外交、军事和经济等领域的主导地位。

论文目录

• 摘要
• Abstract
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter One Loss of Congressional Supremacy before the Watergate Scandal
• 1.1 Congressional Supremacy Defined in the Constitution
• 1.2 Gradual Expansion of Presidential Power before the 1960s
• 1.3 Presidential Supremacy during the 1960s and the early 1970s
• Chapter Two Congressional Resurgence against Excessive Executive Authority ＆ Governmental Secrecy
• 2.1 Excessive Executive Authority ＆ Governmental Secrecy
• 2.1.1 Sprawl of White House Staff Organization
• 2.1.2 Aggressive Assertion of Executive Privilege
• 2.2 Congressional Restraint on Executive Authority＆Governmental Secrecy .
• 2.2.1 Intensified Oversight of the Covert Operation of the Executive
• 2.2.2 Regulation on Executive Ethics
• Chapter Three Congressional Resurgence in War, Foreign Policy ＆ Intelligence
• 3.1 Presidential Excess in War, Foreign Policy ＆ Intelligence Deployment
• 3.1.1 Presidential Supremacy in War and Foreign Policy
• 3.1.2 Rampant Use of Intelligence Agencies
• 3.2 Congress’ Reseizure of Power in War, Foreign Policy ＆ Intelligence
• 3.2.1 Constraint on Executive Power in War and Foreign Policy
• 3.2.2 Strengthening of the Intelligence Oversight
• Chapter Four Congressional Resurgence in Budgeting Power
• 4.1 President’s Seizure of Budgeting Power
• 4.1.1 Escalation of Impoundment by Nixon
• 4.1.2 Nixon’s Employment of Impoundment to serve his Political Ends
• 4.2 Congress’ Endeavor to Recapture the Power of the Purse
• 4.2.1 Congress’ Initiatives to Curb Presidential Use of Impoundment
• 4.2.2 Congress’ Endeavor to Overcome its Fragmentation
• Conclusion
• Works Cited