Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive

Session Submission Type: In-Person Author meet critics

Session Description

Skowronek, Stephen, John A. Dearborn, and Desmond King. 2021. Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive. New York City, NY: Oxford University Press.

President Trump pitted himself repeatedly against the institutions and personnel of the executive branch. In the process, two once-obscure concepts came center stage in an eerie faceoff. On one side was the specter of a “Deep State” conspiracy—administrators threatening to thwart the will of the people and undercut the constitutional authority of the president they elected to lead them. On the other side was a raw personalization of presidential power, one that a theory of “the unitary executive” gussied up and allowed to run roughshod over reason and the rule of law. The Deep State and the unitary executive framed every major contest of the Trump presidency. Like phantom twins, they drew each other out.

Sub Unit

• Division 23: Presidents and Executive Politics

Chairs

• Margaret Weir Brown University

• John A. Dearborn Vanderbilt University

• Desmond King University of Oxford

Presenters

• Saladin Malik Ambar Eagleton Institute of Politics - Rutgers University

• Amanda Hollis-Brusky Pomona College

• Frances E. Lee Princeton University

• Suzanne Mettler Cornell University

• Jeffrey K. Tulis The University of Texas, Austin

• Stephen Skowronek Yale University