A Beleaguered Republic: The "Deep State" and the "Unitary Executive"

• In Event: Against the American State? Legitimacy and Reconfigurations.

Abstract

Coming up with a proper characterization of the American state has never been easy. Scholars have been wrestling with the challenge for decades. Recently, however, events on the ground have stirred the pot in ways that might reconfigure the debate. The intrusion of a new term, the “Deep State,” has thrown together a number of issues previously dealt with only here and there, and in so doing, it has pushed to the fore larger, long-simmering questions about institutional design, government management, and political accountability. With talk of the Deep State roiling national politics, that old academic puzzle no longer seems so arcane.

Authors

• Stephen Skowronek, Yale University

• John A. Dearborn, Vanderbilt University