Madison's Nightmare

"Peter Shane argues that post-1981 presidentialism is the enemy of the kind of deliberative governance that our founders intended. He shows how the Bush Administration's vision of the "unilateral" Presidency--the reductio ad absurdum of presidentialism--not only misinterpreted the Constitution, but failed as a philosophy and strategy of government for meeting the nation's needs. Shane goes well beyond bashing the last Administration, however. He explains how, if our government is to give us real solutions to our hard problems, the members of every Administration, as well as Congress and the judiciary need to re-read the Constitution and take critical steps to reshape our legal culture in order to resuscitate public accountability and the principle of checks and balances. But, first, they need to read this book."

"Shane writes here about the enormous expansion of presidential power and its violation of constitutional principles. In particular, he argues that the rise in presidential power is contrary to the intentions of the framers, who imagined a restrained executive subject to the checks and balances of Congress and the judiciary. In modern history, the author argues, we have seen the rise of an aggressive presidency that too often ignores the will of Congress, which has led to bad decision making and illegal acts. Shane calls this 'presidentialism' and explores this theme throughout the book, giving examples of unrestrained presidential power, such as the Terrorist Surveillance Program of George W. Bush and the conduct of the Iraq War. Although he draws notable examples from the recent Bush administration, Shane is careful to say that many Presidents have been guilty of presidentialism; he traces the concept back to the New Deal and cites Watergate as a notorious instance. Later chapters offer solutions to the problem of expanding presidential power, e.g., election reform and increased access to broadband Internet. Recommended for academic and large public libraries."

"Since the Obama administration now has czars for cars, information technology, bonuses, financial products, etc., can a book czar be far behind? Well, here's a memo for the inbox of our book czar to-be. It's about a slender volume that I want our new czar to mandate as a 'must-read' for every American from middle school to grad school and way beyond. The book is titled Madison's Nightmare."

"Shane writes deftly to explain constitutional debates . . . in terms comprehensible to lay readers. His analysis of Bush 43's use of executive privilege, control over regulatory policy making, and presidential signing statements are particularly illuminating. . . . Highly recommended. All readership levels."