Dino P. Christenson is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Boston University and an institute fellow at the Hariri Institute for Computational Science and Engineering. He is a coauthor of Applied Social Science Methodology. Douglas L. Kriner is the Clinton Rossiter Professor in American Institutions in the Department of Government at Cornell University. He is the author of multiple books, including After the Rubicon, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

"If unilateralism is so tempting and so effective, Christenson and Kriner ask, why is it so rare? The key dynamics, they show, are less in other branches of government but in politics and public opinion. Christenson and Kriner unify strands of presidency research that have been treated by too many as competitors and even as opposites, and the book will make a crucial contribution."--Andrew Rudalevige, Bowdoin College "American democracy only works if the populace controls those who they elect. There is no more fundamental question then whether citizens can in fact exert such control. Yet, for more than one hundred years, scholars and pundits have worried about an imperial presidency that evades institutional and popular checks. This seminal book offers remarkable evidence that the public--with the help of the Congress and the courts--do in fact hold the president accountable. In that sense, democracy can work and has worked. Alas, the book also points to concerns of responsiveness to a narrow base. In so doing, Christenson and Kriner not only resolve a hundred-year-old puzzle but also set an agenda for the next generation of scholarship on American democracy."--James N. Druckman, Northwestern University

• Chapter 1: An Imperial Presidency?Chapter 2: How Americans Think about Unilateral Action Appendix to Chapter 2Chapter 3: Congressional Pushback in the Public Sphere Appendix to Chapter 3Chapter 4: Rethinking the Role of the Courts Appendix to Chapter 4Chapter 5: A Popular Check on Unilateralism Appendix to Chapter 5Chapter 6: Pathways of Political ConstraintChapter 7: Democratic Decline?NotesReferencesIndex

Dino P. Christenson is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Boston University and an institute fellow at the Hariri Institute for Computational Science and Engineering. He is a coauthor of Applied Social Science Methodology. Douglas L. Kriner is the Clinton Rossiter Professor in American Institutions in the Department of Government at Cornell University. He is the author of multiple books, including After the Rubicon, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

"If unilateralism is so tempting and so effective, Christenson and Kriner ask, why is it so rare? The key dynamics, they show, are less in other branches of government but in politics and public opinion. Christenson and Kriner unify strands of presidency research that have been treated by too many as competitors and even as opposites, and the book will make a crucial contribution."--Andrew Rudalevige, Bowdoin College "American democracy only works if the populace controls those who they elect. There is no more fundamental question then whether citizens can in fact exert such control. Yet, for more than one hundred years, scholars and pundits have worried about an imperial presidency that evades institutional and popular checks. This seminal book offers remarkable evidence that the public--with the help of the Congress and the courts--do in fact hold the president accountable. In that sense, democracy can work and has worked. Alas, the book also points to concerns of responsiveness to a narrow base. In so doing, Christenson and Kriner not only resolve a hundred-year-old puzzle but also set an agenda for the next generation of scholarship on American democracy."--James N. Druckman, Northwestern University

• Chapter 1: An Imperial Presidency?Chapter 2: How Americans Think about Unilateral Action Appendix to Chapter 2Chapter 3: Congressional Pushback in the Public Sphere Appendix to Chapter 3Chapter 4: Rethinking the Role of the Courts Appendix to Chapter 4Chapter 5: A Popular Check on Unilateralism Appendix to Chapter 5Chapter 6: Pathways of Political ConstraintChapter 7: Democratic Decline?NotesReferencesIndex