Checks in the Balance - (Princeton Studies in American Politics) by Alexander Bolton & Sharece Thrower

About the Book

"Congress is widely viewed as the most unpopular, unproductive, and ineffective branch of government. On both the left and the right, scholars and the public have noted an increasing imbalance between the power of the legislature and the power of the executive. At the core of this imbalance, Bolton and Thrower argue, is not a legislature unwilling to act against an energetic, muscular executive--but one that lacks the means and opportunity to do so. The executive branch has ample access to expertise and resources that the legistlative branch does not. Congress lacks, in the terminology of the authors, legislative capacity. In this book, Bolton and Thrower explore how capacity is key to separation of powers policymaking. Low-capacity legislatures face difficulties checking the executive branch, empowering executives to unilaterally bypass ideologically-opposed legislatures and to short-circuit the legislative process. When legislative capacity is high, however, the legislative branch can act to effectively stifle an ideologically opposed executive. Looking at Congress and state legislatures both historically and today, they show how capacity has varied over time and how this has affected the dynamics of power at both the state and federal level. While the work focuses on the US, their concluding chapter highlights other contexts in which this theory applies, and reinforces the general message that legislative capacity is key to understanding whether separated systems operate as intended and when executive power thrives"--

Book Synopsis

How access to resources and policymaking powers determines the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches

The specter of unbridled executive power looms large in the American political imagination. Are checks and balances enough to constrain ambitious executives? Checks in the Balance presents a new theory of separation of powers that brings legislative capacity to the fore, explaining why Congress and state legislatures must possess both the opportunities and the means to constrain presidents and governors--and why, without these tools, executive power will prevail.

Alexander Bolton and Sharece Thrower reveal how legislative capacity--which they conceive of as the combination of a legislature's resources and policymaking powers--is the key to preventing the accumulation of power in the hands of an encroaching executive. They show how low-capacity legislatures face difficulties checking the executive through mechanisms such as discretion and oversight, and how presidents and governors unilaterally bypass such legislative adversaries to impose their will. When legislative capacity is high, however, the legislative branch can effectively stifle executives. Bolton and Thrower draw on a wealth of historical evidence on congressional capacity, oversight, discretion, and presidential unilateralism. They also examine thousands of gubernatorial executive orders, demonstrating how varying capacity in the states affects governors' power.

Checks in the Balance affirms the centrality of legislatures in tempering executive power--and sheds vital new light on how and why they fail.

Review Quotes

"An exceptional resource for those seeking to gain a deeper understanding of how legislative capacity affects the actions of the executive."---Michelle Belco, Congress & the Presidency

"The conversation about separation of powers and the legislative branch's ability to check the executive continues to be one not just one for practitioners and academics but also for American society, and that conversation is one which Checks in the Balance effectively joins and enriches."---Jonathan Lewallen, Perspectives on Politics

"Winner of the Alan Rosenthal Prize, Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association"

About the Author

Alexander Bolton is assistant professor of political science at Emory University. Website alexanderbolton.com Twitter @alexbolton Sharece Thrower is associate professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. Website sharecethrower.com Twitter @ShareceThrower