The Frailty of the Strong Executive

Peter D. Ore, Andrew Paul Davis

Abstract


This essay reflects on the contemporaneous empowerment of the executive branch under the Trump administration with regard to other branches of government, as well as the disempowerment of the nation's bureacracy. We argue that this combination leads to a simultaneously unfettered, yet feeble executive that has little oversight, yet is routinely ineffective. We explore how tensions in organizational and political theory with regard to private and public governance have presaged this administrative move. This essay concludes by discussing why elite actors might support such an unencumbered, yet ineffective executive.

Keywords


Bureaucracy; Democratic Theory; Neoliberalism

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.32855/fcapital.202001.005

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ISSN: 1930-014X