Imperial Presidency and American Politics

Benjamin Ginsberg is the David Bernstein Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Center for Advanced Governmental Studies at Johns Hopkins University, USA. He is the author, co-author, or editor of 30 books including The Fall of the Faculty; Presidential Government; Downsizing Democracy; The Captive Public; Politics By Other Means; and America’s State Governments: A Critical Look at Disconnected Democracies (Routledge, 2021). Ginsberg received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1973 and was Professor of Government at Cornell until 1992 when he joined the Hopkins faculty.

• AcknowledgmentsChapter 1: How the Imperial Presidency Has Poisoned American PoliticsChapter 2. The Rise of Presidential Imperialism and the Politics of Edicts and CoupsChapter 3. Fighting to Control the Nation’s BureaucraciesChapter 4. How the FBI and Other Security Agencies Interfere in American PoliticsChapter 5. How the Courts Enable the Imperial PresidencyChapter 6. The Presidency and America’s FutureIndex

Praise for The Imperial Presidency and American PoliticsThe modern presidency seems to be out of control—powerful, unilateral, and, ultimately, destabilizing to the political system. In this provocative and engaging book, Benjamin Ginsberg diagnoses these long-term developments and treats Donald Trump’s presidency as emblematic of, rather than a departure from, the disturbing trends of presidentialization, bureaucratic in-fighting and legal warfare, and the overall decline of democratic control over national government.--Douglas B. Harris, Loyola University MarylandA giant in the field of institutional politics, Benjamin Ginsberg once again delivers a highly insightful and engaging work. The book shines a light on the growing and largely unchecked power of the U.S. presidency. This is a must-read for scholars and citizens alike who are concerned about the future of American democracy. --Jennifer Bachner, Johns Hopkins UniversityGinsberg brings together the fascination with Trump and the imperial presidency to lay out a driving narrative about the nature of American governance as it has evolved in recent decades to become ever-more presidency-centered. He has elegantly distilled this as "the politics of edicts and coups." Yet this is not simply a polemical work. Ginsberg parses the component elements that have brought the country to this point, examining battles over the bureaucracy, the role of law enforcement/security agencies, and consistently pro-executive court rulings. Ginsberg’s end point is as sober as it is significant: that the American system is about power, not democracy.--Robert J Spitzer, SUNY Cortland