Unilateral Powers, Public Opinion, and the Presidency
Research Question
How do citizens evaluate unilateral presidential power, and what factors structure support for executive action without Congress?
Main Finding
Support for unilateral power is multidimensional and durable. Attitudes are shaped by both evaluations of the incumbent president and broader beliefs about constitutional limits, and these attitudes in turn affect policy evaluations.
Research Design
Multi-study survey analysis of mass attitudes toward executive unilateralism, including repeated measures across distinct political contexts.
Data Employed
Six original survey studies measuring approval, rule-of-law beliefs, attitudes toward unilateral tools, and evaluations of policies advanced through executive action.
Substantive Importance
The study shows that public opinion does not provide presidents a simple blank check for unilateral action. It clarifies when democratic publics constrain or permit executive expansion and why constitutional design and mass attitudes are jointly important.
Research Areas
Presidential Power, Public Opinion, Institutional Design, Democratic Accountability, Quantitative Methods
Citation
@article{unilateral,
author = {Reeves, Andrew and Rogowski, Jon C.},
title = {Unilateral Powers, Public Opinion, and the Presidency},
journal = {Journal of Politics},
volume = {78},
number = {1},
pages = {137--151},
year = {2016},
}