The Imperial Presidency and the Constitution

Edited by Gary Schmitt; Joseph M. Bessette and Andrew E. Busch

Time and again, in recent years, the charge has been made that sitting presidents have behaved “imperially,” employing authorities that break the bounds of law and the Constitution. It is now an epithet used to describe presidencies of both parties. The Imperial Presidency and the Constitution examines this critical issue from a variety of perspectives: analyzing the president’s role in the administrative state, as commander-in-chief, as occupant of the modern “Bully Pulpit,” and, in separate essays, addressing recent presidents’ relationship with Congress and the Supreme Court. The volume also deepens the discussion by taking a look back at Abraham Lincoln’s expansive use of executive power during the Civil War where the tension between law and necessity were at their most extreme, calling into question the “rule of law” itself. The volume concludes with an examination of how the Constitution’s provision of both “powers and duties” for the president can provide a roadmap for assessing the propriety of executive behavior.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 184 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-5381-0102-5 • Hardback • February 2017 • $102.00 • (£78.00)

978-1-5381-0103-2 • eBook • February 2017 • $96.50 • (£74.00)

Subjects: Political Science / American Government / Executive Branch

The Imperial Presidency and the Constitution

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Time and again, in recent years, the charge has been made that sitting presidents have behaved “imperially,” employing authorities that break the bounds of law and the Constitution. It is now an epithet used to describe presidencies of both parties. The Imperial Presidency and the Constitution examines this critical issue from a variety of perspectives: analyzing the president’s role in the administrative state, as commander-in-chief, as occupant of the modern “Bully Pulpit,” and, in separate essays, addressing recent presidents’ relationship with Congress and the Supreme Court. The volume also deepens the discussion by taking a look back at Abraham Lincoln’s expansive use of executive power during the Civil War where the tension between law and necessity were at their most extreme, calling into question the “rule of law” itself. The volume concludes with an examination of how the Constitution’s provision of both “powers and duties” for the president can provide a roadmap for assessing the propriety of executive behavior.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 184 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-5381-0102-5 • Hardback • February 2017 • $102.00 • (£78.00)

978-1-5381-0103-2 • eBook • February 2017 • $96.50 • (£74.00)

Subjects: Political Science / American Government / Executive Branch

Author

Gary Schmitt is the co-director of the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies at AEI and the director of AEI’s Program on American Citizenship. His recent books include The Professions and Civic Life (Lexington Books, 2016), A Hard Look at Hard Power: Assessing the Defense Capabilities of Key US Allies and Security Partners (Strategic Studies Institute, 2015) and Trendsetting Charter Schools: Raising the Bar for Civic Education (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).

Andrew E. Busch is Crown Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College, where he teaches courses on American politics and government.

Joseph M. Bessette is Alice Tweed Tuohy Professor of Government and Ethics at Claremont McKenna College, where he has been on the faculty since 1990.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Andrew E. Busch

Chapter 1: Lincoln: An Imperial President?, David K. Nichols
Chapter 2: The Administrative State and the Imperial Presidency: Then and Now, Adam J. White Chapter 3: Constitutional Structure, Political History, And the Invisible Congress, Andrew Rudalevige
Chapter 4: Can the Supreme Court Check Abuses of Executive Power?, Ralph A. Rossum
Chapter 5: Going to War: The Constitutional and Strategic Roots of the Imperial Presidency, Gary J. Schmitt
Chapter 6: The Presidency and the New ‘Bully Pulpit’, James W. Ceaser
Chapter 7: The Imperial Executive in Constitutional Democracy: Exploring the Powers-Duties Distinction, Joseph M. Bessette

About the Editors
About the Contributors
Index

The Imperial Presidency and the Constitution

Edited by Gary Schmitt; Joseph M. Bessette and Andrew E. Busch

The Imperial Presidency and the Constitution

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