The “False Front” of Presidential Power

In a time of vigorous debate about the proper extent of presidential power, Kenneth Lowande argues in False Front that presidents will sometimes forgo their usual push for substantive legislation in favor of symbolic moves designed to provide quick political wins. Lowande's study concludes by contending that democracy is threatened by an excessively powerful president. This observation dovetails with scholarly debates over the “unitary executive” theory and its apparently prominent role as intellectual grounding for officials serving in the second Trump administration.