The Living Presidency An Originalist Argument against Its Ever-Expanding Powers
The Living Presidency: An Originalist Argument against Its Ever-Expanding Powers

A constitutional originalist sounds the alarm over the presidency’s ever-expanding powers, ascribing them unexpectedly to the liberal embrace of a living Constitution. Liberal scholars and politicians routinely denounce the imperial presidency—a self-aggrandizing executive that has progressively sid...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Prakash, Saikrishna Bangalore (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press [2020]
Subjects:
POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / Executive Branch
Executive power > United States
Presidents > Legal status, laws, etc > United States
Online Access:DE-1046
DE-859
DE-860
DE-739
DE-473
DE-1043
DE-858
Volltext
Summary:A constitutional originalist sounds the alarm over the presidency’s ever-expanding powers, ascribing them unexpectedly to the liberal embrace of a living Constitution. Liberal scholars and politicians routinely denounce the imperial presidency—a self-aggrandizing executive that has progressively sidelined Congress. Yet the same people invariably extol the virtues of a living Constitution, whose meaning adapts with the times. Saikrishna Bangalore Prakash argues that these stances are fundamentally incompatible. A constitution prone to informal amendment systematically favors the executive and ensures that there are no enduring constraints on executive power. In this careful study, Prakash contends that an originalist interpretation of the Constitution can rein in the "living presidency" legitimated by the living Constitution. No one who reads the Constitution would conclude that presidents may declare war, legislate by fiat, and make treaties without the Senate. Yet presidents do all these things. They get away with it, Prakash argues, because Congress, the courts, and the public routinely excuse these violations. With the passage of time, these transgressions are treated as informal constitutional amendments. The result is an executive increasingly liberated from the Constitution. The solution is originalism. Though often associated with conservative goals, originalism in Prakash’s argument should appeal to Republicans and Democrats alike, as almost all Americans decry the presidency’s stunning expansion. The Living Presidency proposes a baker’s dozen of reforms, all of which could be enacted if only Congress asserted its lawful authority
Item Description:Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Mai 2020)
Physical Description:1 online resource (336 pages)
ISBN:9780674245334

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