By Executive Order: Bureaucratic Management and the Limits of Presidential Power

How the executive branch—not the president alone—formulates executive orders, and how this process constrains the chief executive's ability to act unilaterally

The president of the United States is commonly thought to wield extraordinary personal power through the issuance of executive orders. In fact, the vast majority of such orders are proposed by federal agencies and shaped by negotiations that span the executive branch. By Executive Order provides the first comprehensive look at how pre...