Contenu
"Border walls, bathrooms in schools, student loans, gun control, diversity, abortion, climate change-today, nothing seems out of reach for the president's pen. But after all the press releases, ceremonies, and speeches, shockingly little gets done. The American presidency promises to solve America's problems, but presidents' unilateral solutions are often weak or empty. In this provocative new book, Kenneth Lowande argues this is no accident. The US political system is not set up to allow presidents to solve major policy problems. Yet, it lays these problems at their doorstep, and there is no other elected official better positioned to attract attention by appearing to govern. Like any politician, presidents are strategic actors who seek symbolic wins. They pursue executive actions, even when they know that these will fail, because doing so allows them to put on a compelling show for key constituencies. But these empty presidential actions are not costless: they divert energy from effective government-and, over time, undermine public trust. Drawing on thousands of executive actions, news coverage, interviews, and presidential archives, Lowande shows the root of presidents' real power is what presidents can get away with not doing"--