Checks in the balance : legislative capacity and the dynamics of executive power / Alexander Bolton, Sharece Thrower.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bolton, Alexander, 1988- author.

Thrower, Sharece, 1987- author.

Series:

Princeton studies in American politics

Princeton studies in American politics : historical, international, and comparative perspectives

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Executive-legislative relations--United States.

Executive-legislative relations.

Executive power--United States.

Executive power.

Separation of powers--United States.

Separation of powers.

United States--Politics and government.

United States.

Legislative power--United States.

Legislative power.

Policy sciences--United States.

Policy sciences.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xiv, 236 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2022]

Summary:

"Congress is widely viewed as the most unpopular, unproductive, and ineffective branch of government. On both the left and the right, scholars and the public have noted an increasing imbalance between the power of the legislature and the power of the executive. At the core of this imbalance, Bolton and Thrower argue, is not a legislature unwilling to act against an energetic, muscular executive--but one that lacks the means and opportunity to do so. The executive branch has ample access to expertise and resources that the legistlative branch does not. Congress lacks, in the terminology of the authors, legislative capacity. In this book, Bolton and Thrower explore how capacity is key to separation of powers policymaking. Low-capacity legislatures face difficulties checking the executive branch, empowering executives to unilaterally bypass ideologically-opposed legislatures and to short-circuit the legislative process. When legislative capacity is high, however, the legislative branch can act to effectively stifle an ideologically opposed executive. Looking at Congress and state legislatures both historically and today, they show how capacity has varied over time and how this has affected the dynamics of power at both the state and federal level. While the work focuses on the US, their concluding chapter highlights other contexts in which this theory applies, and reinforces the general message that legislative capacity is key to understanding whether separated systems operate as intended and when executive power thrives"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Executive power in the shadow of legislative capacity

Legislative capacity, executive action, and separation of powers

'Outmanned and outgunned' : the historical development of congressional capacity

Pulling the purse strings : legislative capacity and discretion

Continuous watchfulness? legislative capacity and oversight

Presidential unilateral policy making

Unilateral policy making in the U.S. states

The future of legislative capacity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Bolton, Alexander Daniel, 1988- Checks in the balance

ISBN:

9780691224596

0691224595

9780691224619

0691224617

OCLC:

1255521587