The DOI matches its Crossref record; 57 of the 57 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The New Unitary Executive and Democratic Theory: The Problem of Alexander Hamilton
Open accessAbstract
Central to the recent argument from the “unitary executive” is the claim that the unitary executive is consistent with the text and history of the Constitution. But because this veracity and importance of this claim is contested, unitarians also argue that the unitary executive is consistent with democratic theory. This article examines that argument by addressing a question in the political thought of Alexander Hamilton. Although Hamilton was an important defender of an energetic executive, and is associated with an expansive interpretation of executive power, he wrote in The Federalist that the president and Senate would share the removal power. In contrast with existing scholarship, which either overlooks Hamilton's statement on removals or dismisses it as a careless error, this article argues that Hamilton's statement limiting presidential removals illuminates his larger argument about executive energy. By showing how “duration” would check “unity,” this article clarifies Hamilton's political thought and offers an important critique of the modern argument from the unitary executive.
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Citations
Cites
Schlesinger, A. M. (1973) · Cited by 443
Taming the prince: the ambivalence of modern executive power
(1990) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.27-4129 · Cited by 285
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Jameson, J. F., & Hunt, G. (1903) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/1832758 · Cited by 183
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Ulmer, S. S., & Madison, J. H. (1966) · The Western Political Quarterly · doi:10.2307/444740 · Cited by 181
Constitutional Dictatorship: Crisis Government in the Modern Democracies
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McCoy, D. R., & Rakove, J. N. (1997) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/2170762 · Cited by 175
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Constitutional conflicts between Congress and the President
(1997) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.35-0569 · Cited by 151
Research works printed but not linked: 9
- Annals of Congress. 1789. House of Representatives, First Cong., 1st sess.
- Chernow, 2004, Alexander Hamilton
- Cohler, 1748, The Spirit of the Laws
- Yoo, 2003, “The Unitary Executive During the Second Half Century”, Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 26, 667
- 2005, The Constitution and America's Destiny
- Goldsmith, 2007, The Terror Presidency: Law and Limits Inside the Bush Administration
- Yoo, 2004, “The Unitary Executive During the Third Half Century, 1889–1945.”, Notre Dame Law Review, 80, 1
- Hamilton, 2000, The Federalist
- U.S. Congress. 1987. House. Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran. Senate. Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition. Report of the Congressional Committee Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair with Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views. Cong., 1st sess., H. Rept. No. 100–433, S. Rept. No. 100–216.
Metadata
- Authors
- BAILEY, J. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Houston (US)
- Corresponding author
- BAILEY, JEREMY D.
- Venue
- American Political Science Review
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2008-11
- Volume
- 102
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 453-465
- ISSN
- 0003-0554 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5943
- OpenAlex
- W1977867241
- Cited by
- 45
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 12 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 6.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Political Science Review (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › American Constitutional Law and Politics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
- Social Sciences › Law › Judicial and Constitutional Studies
- Keywords
- unitary executive, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers, presidential removal power, executive power, democratic theory, separation of powers, checks and balances
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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