By Executive Order: Bureaucratic Management and the Limits of Presidential Power

The executive branch, not the president alone, formulates executive orders, and this process constrains the chief executive's ability to act unilaterally. Andrew Rudalevige's book "By Executive Order" examines over five hundred executive orders and reveals how the crafting of orders requires widespread consultation and compromise with a formidable bureaucracy. It challenges popular conceptions about the scope of presidential power and shows how the executive branch holds the power to both enact and constrain the president's will.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 328 pages
Publication date: 06 April 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press

The president of the United States is commonly believed to possess extraordinary personal power through the issuance of executive orders. In reality, the vast majority of these directives are proposed by federal agencies and shaped through negotiations that involve various branches of the executive branch. By Executive Order: The Multilateral Process of Drafting Presidential Directives, authored by Andrew Rudalevige, provides a comprehensive exploration of this process. In this enlightening book, Rudalevige examines over five hundred executive orders from the 1930s to the present, as well as over two hundred others that were negotiated but never issued. Through his analysis, he sheds valuable new light on the multilateral nature of drafting what are often perceived as unilateral directives. Rudalevige draws upon a wealth of archival evidence from the Office of Management and Budget and presidential libraries, as well as conducting original interviews, to illustrate how the crafting of executive orders necessitates widespread consultation and compromise with a formidable bureaucracy. He delves into the critical role of management within the presidential skill set, highlighting how bureaucratic resistance can stall and even prevent actions the chief executive desires. Moreover, he explores how presidents must engage in bargaining with the bureaucracy, even when they seek to act unilaterally. By Executive Order challenges prevailing notions about the scope of presidential power by revealing how the executive branch possesses the authority to both enact and constrain the president's will.

Executive orders are a powerful tool in the hands of the president of the United States, allowing them to direct federal agencies and shape policy on a wide range of issues. While the president is commonly believed to have sole authority to issue these directives, the reality is more complex. In fact, the vast majority of executive orders are proposed by federal agencies and shaped through negotiations that span the entire executive branch. By Executive Order: The Multilateral Process of Drafting Presidential Directives, authored by Andrew Rudalevige, provides a comprehensive exploration of this process. Rudalevige examines over five hundred executive orders from the 1930s to the present, as well as over two hundred others that were negotiated but never issued. Through his analysis, he sheds valuable new light on the multilateral nature of drafting what are often perceived as unilateral directives. Rudalevige draws upon a wealth of archival evidence from the Office of Management and Budget and presidential libraries, as well as conducting original interviews, to illustrate how the crafting of executive orders necessitates widespread consultation and compromise with a formidable bureaucracy. He delves into the critical role of management within the presidential skill set, highlighting how bureaucratic resistance can stall and even prevent actions the chief executive desires. Moreover, he explores how presidents must engage in bargaining with the bureaucracy, even when they seek to act unilaterally. By Executive Order challenges prevailing notions about the scope of presidential power by revealing how the executive branch possesses the authority to both enact and constrain the president's will.

Weight: 508g
Dimension: 156 x 234 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691194363