Power without persuasion : the politics of direct presidential action / William G. Howell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Howell, William G.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Executive orders--United States.

Executive orders.

United States.

Executive power--United States.

Executive power.

Presidents--United States.

Presidents.

Physical Description:

xx, 239 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [2003]

Summary:

Since the early 1960s, scholarly thinking on the power of U.S. presidents has rested on these words: "Presidential power is the power to persuade." Power, in this formulation, is strictly about bargaining and convincing other political actors to do things the president cannot accomplish alone. Power without Persuasion argues otherwise. Focusing on presidents' ability to act unilaterally, William Howell provides the most theoretically substantial and far-reaching reevaluation of presidential power in many years. He argues that presidents regularly set public policies over vocal objections by Congress, interest groups, and the bureaucracy. Throughout U.S. history, going back to the Louisiana Purchase and the Emancipation Proclamation, presidents have set landmark policies on their own. More recently, Roosevelt interned Japanese Americans during World War II, Kennedy established the Peace Corps, Johnson got affirmative action underway, Reagan greatly expanded the president's powers of regulatory review, and Clinton extended protections to millions of acres of public lands. Howell not only presents numerous new empirical findings but goes well beyond the theoretical scope of previous studies. Drawing richly on game theory and the new institutionalism, he examines the political conditions under which presidents can change policy without congressional or judicial consent.

Contents:

1. Presidential Power in the Modern Era 1

2. A Formal Representation of Unilateral Action 24

3. Bridge Building 55

4. Theory Testing 76

5. Congressional Constraints on Presidential Power 101

6. The Institutional Foundations of Judicial Deference 136

1. Coding of Executive Orders 189

2. Proofs of Propositions in the Unilateral Politics Model 192

3. Identifying Congressional Challenges to Executive Orders 196

4. Federal Court Challenges to Executive Orders 198.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [219]-229) and index.

ISBN:

0691102694

0691102708

OCLC:

51983219