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The Myth of the Imperial Presidency: How Public Opinion Checks the Unilateral Executive

Online ISBN:
9780226704531
Print ISBN:
9780226704227
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press
Book

The Myth of the Imperial Presidency: How Public Opinion Checks the Unilateral Executive

Dino P. Christenson,
Dino P. Christenson
Boston University
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Published online:
21 January 2021
Published in print:
9 July 2020
Online ISBN:
9780226704531
Print ISBN:
9780226704227
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press

Abstract

For almost fifty years, astute political observers have warned of the emergence of an “imperial presidency” that threatens the very fabric of our constitutional system of checks and balances. Central to such claims is the president’s power of unilateral action – the power to effect significant shifts in both foreign and domestic policy with the stroke of a pen. When confronted by unilateral presidential power grabs, Congress and the courts with alarming frequency appear either unwilling or unable to use their formal legislative or judicial powers to block presidential aggrandizement. However, presidents are more constrained than often recognized. When presidents fear a popular backlash and steep political costs from going it alone, they routinely forgo acting unilaterally, even when they would almost certainly survive any formal challenge from Congress or the courts. Congress and the courts remain relevant to understanding contemporary unilateral politics. However, the primary way in which they influence presidential calculations is by combating the unilateral president in the arena of public opinion. Marshaling a wealth of evidence including an extensive series of survey experiments, decades of public opinion data, and case studies spanning multiple administrations, the book explores how Americans evaluate unilateral action and how concerns about public opinion shape presidents’ strategic calculus and limit the exercise of unilateral power.

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