Presidential Power andConstraint

Catalog description

The first two years of the Trump Administration and the decline of democracies around the world have reinvigorated debates over the power of the presidency; they have also seen renewed interest in checks on presidential power. In this small seminar, we will evaluate the strength of various constraints on presidential power in our constitutional democracy. Topics will include the effectiveness of formal institutional rivals to the president (Congress and the courts), as well as the role of executive branch norms and other internal constraints, and the influence of Fourth Branch institutions like civil society and the press. Expect reading assignments to change over the course of the semester to account for current events.