Unitary Executive Theory and Exclusive Presidential Powers

Abstract:     
In their book, The Unitary Executive, Steven Calabresi and Christopher Yoo offer important and compelling evidence of a broad and longstanding understanding by Presidents and Congresses in favor of an exclusive presidential power to remove government officials. In doing so, the authors’ primary goal is to bolster unitary executive theory with historical evidence. But they have a second, more subtle goal: to disassociate unitary executive theory from the theories of presidential powers invoked by the administration of George W. Bush. In this essay, I suggest that this attempt to save unitary executive power theory from the Bush Administration is not likely to succeed.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 8

Keywords: Constitutional Law, Presidential Powers, Executive Power

JEL Classification: K30, K39

Accepted Paper Series