The Law: The Unitary Executive Theory and President Donald J. Trump

The unitary executive theory first went mainstream during the George W. Bush administration as the president’s justification for exercising broad executive powers. Barack Obama did not explicitly embrace the unitary executive theory, but he followed in Bush’s footsteps by expanding and augmenting pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Presidential studies quarterly 2017-09, Vol.47 (3), p.561-573
Main Authors: CROUCH, JEFFREY, ROZELL, MARK J., SOLLENBERGER, MITCHEL A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
American history
Article II powers
Barack Obama
Bush, George W
Campaigns
Constitutional law
Criticism
Donald J. Trump
Executive orders
executive power
FEATURES
Federalism
Federalist Papers
George W. Bush
Immigration
Judges & magistrates
Justification
Law
Obama, Barack
Political power
Power
Presidential elections
presidential power
Presidential powers
Rhetoric
separation of powers
Terrorism
Trump, Donald J
unitary executive theory
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Summary:The unitary executive theory first went mainstream during the George W. Bush administration as the president’s justification for exercising broad executive powers. Barack Obama did not explicitly embrace the unitary executive theory, but he followed in Bush’s footsteps by expanding and augmenting presidential power in new and questionable ways. President Donald J. Trump’s campaign rhetoric, coupled with an early, controversial executive order on immigration, suggest the possibility of continued expansions of executive power. Thus, the time is right to examine the unitary executive theory anew. Here, we define the theory as understood by its advocates and then offer a critique. Finally, we highlight the theory’s impact on the evolution of presidential powers over the past 16 years and set the stage for evaluating what may come next.
ISSN:0360-4918
1741-5705
DOI:10.1111/psq.12401