The Power of the Presidency: Concepts and Controversy - Hardcover

9780202241593: The Power of the Presidency: Concepts and Controversy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0202241599 ISBN 13: 9780202241593

Publisher: Routledge, 2020

The American presidency is the most powerful political office in the world. But this impressive statement serves only to raise a whole series of fundamental questions: What is the scope of presidential powers and what are its limits? Can the president use all the authority of his office or is that authority more formal than effective? Does the presidency have sufficient power to meet today's needs or do the problems of the modern age demand a more powerful executive? Is there a danger of dictatorship in the growth of political authority or will the presidency remain an office of constitutional democratic leadership?

This book explores such questions by presenting a wide range of views on presidential power from a variety of sources: original supporters and opponents of the office; presidents themselves; Supreme Court decisions; and professional students of the presidency.

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About the Author

Robert S. Hirschfield was professor of political science at the City University of New York and editorial director of The Earth Times. He also taught at Fordham, Harvard, and New York University, was a television and radio producer, host and commentator, and a political activist at the national and local levels. His books include The Constitution and the Court and Selection/Election: A Forum on the American Presidency and his articles, essays, and reviews have appeared in Public Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, The American Political Science Review, The American Government Annual, The Nation, and The New York Times.

Review

“Mr. Hirschfield’s book is an anthology designed to do justice to these two facets of the institution’s character—its chartable boundaries and its indeterminate potential. It begins with the Founding (and anti-Founding) Fathers and proceeds with a selection of the views which notable Presidents of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have held about their office. It cites a few of the Supreme Court’s most relevant judgments and winds up with assessments from the leading academic students of the Presidency. It is a useful, comprehensive ‘reader’.”

—H. G. Nocholas, International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-)

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