The Speaker is considered a partisan officer, unlike the nonpartisan Speaker of such bodies as the House of Commons. While there is a majority leader in the House of Representatives, he is in fact the second highest officer of the majority, and the Speaker is in fact the functioning leader of the majority. However, it is customary for the Speaker not to vote, unless his vote is necessary to pass a bill. The current Speaker is Republican Dennis Hastert of Illinois. He succeeded Newt Gingrich on January 6, 1999.
The Speaker is currently second in line to succeed to the US presidency in the case of death or resignation after the Vice President. (See United States Presidential line of succession.)
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2 America's Prime Minister? |
The speaker of the House is ceremonially the highest ranking legislative official in the United States government. He is generally a well-known national figure, and thus a human "face" on the legislative branch. Since the Speaker and the President are often from different parties, this can sometimes leads to situtations in which the two men appear at odds with each other. The speaker can thus come to be seen as the leader of the "opposition" and the symbol of his party, and the very personification of partisan opposition to the President's agenda. The American speaker is also a much more politically active figure than many of his counterparts in other countries, and though he has little formal power, throughout American history the speakership has evolved into one of the nation's key political positions.
America's "Loyal Opposition"
America's Prime Minister?
In the late nineteenth century, in particular following the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and the damage that was perceived to have done to the American presidency (already shaken by the assassination of his predecessor, Abraham Lincoln) by Congressional actions to limit Executive branch powers, it was speculated by academics, foreign diplomats based in Washington, D.C. and even by leading members of the Senate that the United States would evolve from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government, with the Speaker becoming a de-facto prime minister, sidelining the President of the United States. The President would in turn evolve into a form of nominal chief executive head of state, in whom legal executive authority would continue to be nominally vested but whose role as policy maker and head of government would in effect move to the Speaker. See Prime Minister of the United States for more discussion on this topic.Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789-present
See also Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives