Review of the Film: the American President

The
American President
PolSci 001

1. How influential are the decisions of a President in times of war? How do you relate the powers of the President to declare Martial Law? * Being the leader of a country, a President’s decision can greatly affect the present situation that the country is facing. Whatever decision he makes can sum up his abilities towards leading his people. It influences the people with the President’s decision in terms of support or disapproval. Support in the sense that if he’s decisions are acceptable for the people or group of people, he gets endorsed and applaud for the validity of his action. Disapproval in the sense that if it is denied by the people, the President is subject for explanation, he is also vulnerable for mockery among his people. The final decision he would then make will be the verdict of what’s waiting for the country, especially in times of war. If reasonable actions were already made but the peace among people is still missing, a President can declare Martial Law as his final resort. To lead the country in times of war is never easy. The President’s capacity to declare martial law in a time of chaos will be a great way for the President to fully think of what he should do while the country is on idle mode. Although he’s declaration will still be grounded on the approval of the other branches of the Philippine government, consent towards its declaration will be based on necessity.

2. What are the bills being considered in the movie? How did the power of the President affect its approval? * The bills being considered in the movie were the environmental bill and the crime bill. The President has a veto power to approve bills and turn them into law with a vote of 2/3rds from the Congress. Since there were 2 bills waiting for approval, the president having the power to approve laws supported the environmental law and resent it to the Congress. He gave his full support to the environmental bill regardless of the controversy it had. He then denied and withdrew his support on the crime bill and promised to create a better one.

3. How important is the existence of lobbyists in the approval of a bill? * Lobbyists serve as the lips of the people. Lobbyists represent all points of view on issues confronting the country like environment, labor, the elderly making sure that what they feel and what they have to say is being noticed. The job that a lobbyist has when summed up is to bring pressure against legislators. Their major job is to work for those matters that benefit their clients and against those that may harm them. By working with the government and trying to get change a good lobbyist understands the procedures of government and the correct way to persuade a government figure one way or another. Lobbyists are not usually people who are picked randomly but usually someone who has worked close within the government field before becoming a lobbyist. Without lobbyists, there will be no one to push the government to pass a bill. It will be easy for the government to ignore bills and what the people has to say or do.

4. How do the private life of the public officer affect his administration? * The President’s actions are being speculated by the people around. There were controversies that happened but the most controversial was his personal relationship with a lobbyist named Sydney Wade. At first, he never spoke in public regarding his relationship, regarding his personal and private life. That made the people make judgments and criticize the President. The people who knows him under his administration never spoke of ill against the president. In a part of the movie, the President then decided to speak in public to stop the rumors. No matter how he would not want people to intrude in his personal life, he realized that it is better to tell his people what’s the real score than to keep his mouth shut and make them talk about you.

5. What are the dislikes of the daughter of the President that seems not to be your interest too? * The piece-by-piece of understanding the constitution. Just like the daughter of the President in the film, learning all about the constitution is fine. What’s kind of annoying is the difficulty to remember everything written on it. Especially the ones that needs memorization. Another dislike of the daughter was the fact that his father will talk about the constitution during dinner. I mean, I would love to talk about the constitution and its ways but not all the time. I find it time consuming. -- That was before. Because now that I finally grasp and understood the preliminary topics of understanding our constitution tackled in our subject, I found out that being aware of it makes me conscious of my individuality, my rights, my privileges as a Filipino and things I have to learn about politics. This makes me knowledgeable the constitution and avoids ignorance from it.