The expansion of executive powers amid the war on terrorism has brought the presidency to the center of heated public debate. Now, in The American Presidency, presidential authority Charles O. Jones provides invaluable background to the current controversy, in a compact, reliable guide to the office of the chief executive. This marvelously concise survey is packed with information about the presidency, some of it quite surprising. We learn, for example, that the Founders adopted the word "president" over "governor" and other alternatives because it suggested a light hand, as in one who presides, rather than rules. Indeed, the Constitutional Convention first agreed to a weak chief executive elected by congress for one seven-year term, later calling for independent election and separation of powers. Jones sheds much light on how assertive leaders, such as Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, and FDR enhanced the power of the presidency, and illuminating how such factors as philosophy (Reagan's anti-Communist conservatism), the legacy of previous presidencies (Jimmy Carter following Watergate), relations with Congress, and the impact of outside events have all influenced presidential authority. He also explores the rise of federal power and the dramatic expansion of federal agencies, showing how the president takes a direct hand in this vast bureaucracy, and he examines the political process of selecting presidents, from the days of deadlocked conventions to the rise of the primary after World War II. "In 200 years," he writes, "the presidency had changed from that of a person--Washington followed by Adams, then Jefferson--to a presidential enterprise with a cast of thousands." Jones explains how this remarkable expansion has occurred and where it may lead in the future.

作者

查尔斯•琼斯　美国威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校霍金斯政治学荣誉退休教授，布鲁金斯学会非常驻高级研究员。著有《分权体制中的总统制》《克林顿与国会：1993－1996》 《通往总统职位之路》等。

序言作者

张千帆　 美国得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校政府学博士。曾任南京大学法学院教 授、博士生导师，《南京大学法律评论》主编。现任北京大学法学院、政府管理学院双聘教授，博士生导师；中国宪法学会副会长，北京大学宪法与行政法研究中心常务副主任及北大法学院人大与议会研究中心主任。主要研究中外宪政，并在相关领域出版专著和主编教材近二十部。