http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/339682079

President, prime minister, or constitutional monarch?

This paper is divided into three parts: an introduction, a brief statement on the issues of constitutional theory involved, and comments on four recent controversies involving these questions: (1) the Iran-Contra affair; (2) the Intelligence Surveillance legislation passed after the Watergate scandal, and the revisions considered by the 100th Congress; (3) the proposals to amend the War Powers Resolution of 1973; (4) and the violent political conflict about the interpretation of the ABM Treaty of 1972, which is reflected in turn in the history of the ratification of the INF Treaty. These four recent episodes are simply conspicuous and dramatic examples of a large class of statutes and practices no one has yet mapped systematically. Comparable constitutional questions arise throughout the realm of governmental activity. Some are trivial, others merely annoying, others still are intrinsically important. What is certain, however, is that the power of congress is growing, and that of the President is being leached away.

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