Power Shifts

Congress and Presidential Representation

AvJohn A Dearborn

Inbunden, Engelska, 2021

Del i serien Chicago Studies in American Politics

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Beskrivning

The emergence of the modern presidency in the first half of the twentieth century transformed the American government. But surprisingly, presidents were not the primary driving force of this change—it was Congress. Through a series of statutes, lawmakers endorsed presidential leadership in the legislative process and augmented the chief executive’s organizational capacities. But why did Congress grant presidents this power? In Power Shifts, John A. Dearborn shows that legislators acted on the idea of presidential representation. Congress subordinated its own claims to stand as the nation’s primary representative institution and designed reforms that assumed the president, selected by the country rather than states or districts, was the superior steward of national interest. In the process, Congress recast the nation’s chief executive as its chief representative. As Dearborn demonstrates, the full extent to which Congress’s reforms rested on the idea of presidential representation was revealed when that notion’s validity was thrown into doubt. In the 1970s, Congress sought to restore its place in a rebalanced system, but legislators also found that their earlier success at institutional reinvention constrained their efforts to reclaim authority. Chronicling the evolving relationship between the presidency and Congress across a range of policy areas, Power Shifts exposes a fundamental dilemma in an otherwise proud tradition of constitutional adaptation.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2021-09-27
Mått:152 x 229 x 27 mm
Vikt:642 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Chicago Studies in American Politics
Antal sidor:368
Förlag:The University of Chicago Press
ISBN:9780226797663

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Mer om författaren

John A. Dearborn is a postdoctoral associate and lecturer at Yale University, holding appointments in the Center for the Study of Representative Institutions at the MacMillan Center, the Policy Lab at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, and the Department of Political Science. He is the coauthor of Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive.

Recensioner i media

“Read narrowly, Power Shifts shows how notions of ‘presidential representation’ periodically convinced members of Congress to confer new authority and responsibility upon the presidency. More deeply, though, this book interrogates the role of ideas—as distinct from interests—in shaping political debates about institutional reform. Just behind all the partisan wrangling over executive power are long-standing disagreements about the possibilities of presidential leadership. Dearborn reveals their elements and significance for all to see. This book is simply magnificent.”

Innehållsförteckning

Preface Rethinking a Political Truism1 Introduction: Legislating Presidential Power2 Ideas and Political DevelopmentPart I Institutional Choice: Creating the Institutional Presidency, 1910–49[TN1] 3 Presidential Budgeting4 Presidential Economic Policymaking5 Presidential Reorganization Authority6 Presidential National Security AuthorityPart II Institutional Durability: Reconsidering the Institutional Presidency, 1970–847 Congressional Pushback against Presidential Budgeting8 Congressional Pushback against Presidential Economic Policymaking9 Congressional Pushback against Presidential Reorganization Authority10 Congressional Pushback against Presidential National Security Authority11 Conclusion: Ideas and the Politics of AdaptabilityAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex