Was the 2004 presidential election stolen?

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Jack Goldsmith

Conventional wisdom holds that 9/11 sounded the death knell for presidential accountability. In fact, the opposite is true. The novel powers that our post-9/11 commanders in chief assumed--endless detentions, military commissions, state secrets, broad surveillance, and more--are the culmination of a two-century expansion of presidential authority. But these new powers have been met with thousands of barely visible legal and political constraints--enforced by congressional committees, government lawyers, courts, and the media--that have transformed our unprecedentedly powerful presidency into one that is also unprecedentedly accountable. These constraints are the key to understanding why Obama continued the Bush counterterrorism program, and in this light, the events of the last decade should be seen as a victory, not a failure, of American constitutional government. We have actually preserved the framers' original idea of a balanced constitution, despite the vast increase in presidential power made necessary by this age of permanent emergency.--Publisher description.

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Gleaves Whitney

"The volume is prefaced by a detailed introduction discussing the importance of the valedictory address and the power of presidential rhetoric, and each speech is preceded by a brief contextualizing statement. In the last official words of each president, readers will find cautions, hopes, and suggestions relevant for today's world and future generations. American Presidents is an invaluable reference, especially for scholars of the presidency, but also for anyone interested in the history, politics, and culture of the United States."--BOOK JACKET.

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Dana D. Nelson

"Throughout our history, Americans have been simultaneously inspired and seduced by the American presidency and concerned about the misuse of presidential power - from the time of Lincoln, Wilson, and FDR to Nixon, Reagan, and George W. Bush - as a grave threat to the United States. In Bad for Democracy, Dana D. Nelson goes beyond blaming particular presidents for jeopardizing the delicate balance of the Constitution to argue that it is the office of the presidency itself that endangers the great American experiment." "This urgent book reveals the futility of placing all of our hopes for the future in the American president and encourages citizens to create a politics of deliberation, action, and agency. Arguing for a return of the balance of power - both symbolically and in practice - to all the branches of government, Nelson ultimately calls on Americans to change our own course and imagine a democracy that we, the people, lead together."--BOOK JACKET.

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Charlotte Bretherton and Michael Mannin

"This book presents a comparative perspective to the study of European politics, focusing on the unique and transformative effect of European Union on the politics of its member states - in effect, the Europeanization of European politics. For no other world region is there a similar intensity of Treaty and other obligations on a set of neighboring states, nor a comparable depth of of supranational governance. The concept of Europeanism as an evaluative theme is used to explore this unique, sui generis, region, its states, and its political transformation in the 21st century."--Publisher's website.