The Dual Executive

"In The Dual Executive, Michelle Belco and Brandon Rottinghaus enrich and enliven our understanding of the president's powers of unilateral action. Expansive in their outlook and fair-minded in their approach, they open new intellectual space for creative exploration into the many purposes to which presidential power is put."—William G. Howell, University of Chicago

"In this timely book, Michelle Belco and Brandon Rottinghaus tackle one of the most pressing questions in contemporary politics: has presidential unilateralism fundamentally upset our constitutional system of checks and balances? By analyzing more than thirty-five years of empirical evidence and a wealth of historical examples, Belco and Rottinghaus provide fresh insight into the use and limits of unilateral power."—Douglas L. Kriner, Boston University

"The presidential magic wand is a myth with long, bipartisan roots. Belco and Rottinghaus's timely book slices this complex and often provocative history into data-enhanced, nuanced bites...Highly recommended."—J. Farrier, Choice

"In challenging the view that unilateral action always entails the furtherance of the chief executive's policy preferences at the expense of other actors, Belco and Rottinghaus have set forth an ambitious agenda for the field. The content of executive orders and proclamations matter, and it is no longer acceptable to treat them all as if they were solely reflections of the president's agenda.Belco and Rottinghaus's excellent new book is a giant leap in the right direction for the literature on presidential power."—Jacob R. Neiheisel, Political Science Quarterly

In The Dual Executive: Unilateral Orders in a Separated and Shared Power System, Michelle Belco and Brandon Rottinghaus take us a long way toward the theory and methodology of a second generation of unilateral studies. In their well-written book, Belco and Rottinghaus integrate the routine orders that presidents issue as part of their administrative function, along with the more consequential, transformative orders that represent the powers of a command-oriented independent presidency."—Richard W. Waterman, Congress and the Presidency