No Blank Check: The Origins and Consequences of Public Antipathy towards Presidential Power
Examines public attitudes toward unilateral presidential power and the political limits citizens place on executive action.
Why It Matters
This book asks how citizens think about presidential power when presidents act without Congress.
Its contribution is to show that public antipathy toward unilateral power can create political limits on executive authority, linking public opinion to debates about institutional constraint.
The argument matters because democratic accountability depends not only on formal checks, but also on the public's willingness to judge how power is used.
Key Findings
- Citizens do not treat presidential unilateral action as a blank check, even when policy goals are attractive.
- Public attitudes toward executive power create political limits on how presidents can act outside Congress.
- The book connects public opinion about the presidency to democratic accountability and institutional constraint.
Research Design
- Design
- Book-length scholarly monograph
Citation
New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
- Venue
- Cambridge University Press