The president of the united states of America is often said to be the most powerful man in the world. Ironically, president-elect Joe Biden’s coming administration might just be defined by the things Biden has no power over.
The president of the USA is often said to be the most powerful man on earth. Robert Dahl’s famous definition of power is that ‘C has power over B in so far as C can get B to do something B otherwise wouldn’t do’. For all the power Biden will have when he assumes office in January next year some things don’t respond to his power, like the economy and the pandemic.
Being a democratic leader is a tough job, and one of the unique cruelties of democracy is that a leader’s tenure is often defined by how the economy is doing and what else is going on in the world rather than by the policies the leader has enacted. Leaders can be booted from office during a recession despite not having caused it and subsequently be remembered for that event. Similarly, taking office in the middle of a pandemic carries the risk of being blamed for the damage caused by the pandemic, both human and economic, despite the fact that the trajectory of the pandemic could have been determined by the policies of the last administration. The three main themes from the 2020 US election campaign were the pandemic, the recession the pandemic has resulted in, and the division in American society. If 2021 is as defined by these three themes as 2020 has been then Joe Biden is off to a rough first year in office.
Biden looks to have won with a fair margin in the electoral college and the popular vote but will most likely still have to contend with a republican senate which will make it more difficult for him to implement his policy platform. By not having a majority in both chambers in congress Biden will be hard pressed to pass laws which will combat the virus, the slowdown, and the division. Add to that an incumbent president who is unwilling to admit defeat and who is adamant that his loss was due to fraud and rigging and you have one of the worst possible starts to presidential term. Sure, there are several candidates for a vaccine and some indications that a vaccine will have a high rate of success, but one shouldn’t underestimate the logistical challenge of distributing a vaccine when it is finished.
In Robert Dahl’s definition of power B and C are supposed to be people, but in reality it could be that the corona virus has power over Biden in so far as the corona virus can get Biden to do something Biden otherwise wouldn’t do.
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Written by Karl Johansson
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