Power Play: The Bush Presidency and the Constitution
316Power Play: The Bush Presidency and the Constitution
316Paperback
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Overview
Power Play analyzes the Bush presidency's efforts to expand executive power in these four domains and puts them into constitutional and historical perspective. Pfiffner explores the evolution of Anglo-American thinking about executive power and individual rights. He highlights the lessons the Constitution's framers drew from such philosophers as Locke and Montesquieu, as well as English constitutional history. He documents the ways in which the Bush administration's policies have undermined the separation of powers, and he shows how these practices have imperiled the rule of law.
Following 9/11, the Bush presidency engaged in a two-front offensive. In Afghanistan and Iraq, the administration aggressively prosecuted the "war on terror." At home, it targeted constraints on the power of the executive. Power Play lays bare the extent of this second campaign and explains why it will continue to threaten the future of republican government if the other two branches do not assert their own constitutional prerogatives.
"Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780815703358 |
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Publisher: | Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. |
Publication date: | 08/24/2009 |
Pages: | 316 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
A Government of Laws or Men? 1
The Nature of Executive Power 13
Creating Individual Rights and an Independent Legislature 33
The American Constitution 56
The Power to Imprison: Habeas Corpus 84
The Power to Torture 128
The Power to Surveil 168
The Power to Ignore the Law: Signing Statements 194
Conclusion: Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law 229
Notes 247
Index 289
What People are Saying About This
"This is the right book, at the right time, by the right author. It is clear, dispassionate, and straightforward. A key strength is the manner in which Pfiffner interweaves historical and theoretical perspectives with his contemporary critique of Bush doctrine. Power Play epitomizes the best of Brookings Press's many distinguished titles that apply superb political science to contemporary problems and issues."--(Robert J. Spitzer, author of Saving the Constitution from Lawyers)
"With his customary thoughtfulness and scholarly integrity, Jim Pfiffner has examined the post-9/11 events, analyzed the legal arguments offered by the administration, and with great precision cut through to the central issues that should concern us all. A very important contribution to reviving constitutional government."--(Louis Fisher, author of Presidential War Power)
"This book should deeply trouble any citizen. In a clear, fair-minded review of the evidence, Pfiffner builds a powerful case pointing toward one unmistakable conclusion: since 9/11 the claims and actions of the Bush administration have been undermining the constitutional principles and rule of law on which our Republic is based. "--(Hugh Heclo, Robinson Professor of Public Affairs, George Mason University)
"This book should deeply trouble any citizen. In a clear, fair-minded review of the evidence, Pfiffner builds a powerful case pointing toward one unmistakable conclusion: since 9/11 the claims and actions of the Bush administration have been undermining the constitutional principles and rule of law on which our Republic is based." Hugh Heclo, Robinson Professor of Public Affairs, George Mason University
"This is the right book, at the right time, by the right author. It is clear, dispassionate, and straightforward. A key strength is the manner in which Pfiffner interweaves historical and theoretical perspectives with his contemporary critique of Bush doctrine. Power Play epitomizes the best of Brookings Press's many distinguished titles that apply superb political science to contemporary problems and issues." Robert J. Spitzer, author of Saving the Constitution from Lawyers
"Power Play is meticulously researched, engagingly written, and passionately argued. Its essential argument is that the United States was formed as a reaction to monarchy, and that U.S. presidents-no matter the threat against America-were never meant to have the power of kings. As long as diligent scholars such as Pfiffner are around, they won't."--(Carl M. Cannon, co-author of Reagan's Disciple: George W. Bush's Troubled Quest for a Presidential Legacy)