No Blank Check

The Origins and Consequences of Public Antipathy towards Presidential Power

Andrew Reeves, Jon C. Rogowski

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781107174306
• eBook ISBN:
  9781316805695
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Concerns about unaccountable executive power have featured recurrently in political debates from the American founding to today. For many, presidents' use of unilateral power threatens American democracy. No Blank Check advances a new perspective: Instead of finding Americans apathetic towards how presidents exercise power, it shows the public is deeply concerned with core democratic values. Drawing on data from original surveys, innovative experiments, historical polls, and contexts outside the United States, the book highlights Americans' skepticism towards presidential power. This skepticism results in a public that punishes unilaterally minded presidents and the policies they pursue. By departing from existing theories of presidential power which acknowledge only institutional constraints, this timely and revealing book demonstrates the public's capacity to tame the unilateral impulses of even the most ambitious presidents. Ultimately, when it comes to exercising power, the public does not hand the president a blank check.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Watchmen in the Night?
• 3 How Americans View Presidential Power
• 4 Support for the Rule of Law and Attitudes towards Power
• 5 Presidential Approval and Attitudes towards Power
• 6 Public Cost of Unilateral Action
• 7 Public Assessments of Presidential Power from the Past
• 8 Attitudes towards Executive Power in a Comparative Context
• 9 Conclusion
• Appendix A Appendix to Chapter 3
• Appendix B Appendix to Chapter 4
• Appendix C Appendix to Chapter 5
• Appendix D Appendix to Chapter 6
• Appendix E Appendix to Chapter 7
• Appendix F Appendix to Chapter 8
• Bibliography
• Index