Checking the American Presidency

A new book, No Blank Check, from political scientists Andrew Reeves and Jon C. Rogowski lets readers ponder one of the most important such features: Americans’ suspicion of an unchecked president. Of course, the big-C Constitution itself contains mechanisms that ensure the president cannot operate autonomously, but a more elemental sort of restraint—a “latent force,” as the authors call it—continuously operates in the background of our political dramas. In short, Americans resent leaders who get too big for their britches. They consistently exhibit a “deep-seated skepticism about presidential power” and a reverence for the separation of powers.