Media

Trump's spree of firings exposes a dilemma for Congress: a reliance on presidents to respect the independence of executive branch officials.

Now the Supreme Court is all that stands in the way of a "unitary executive."

Congress needs to find creative ways to engage the executive branch that favor cooperation over conflict.

After years of Trump flexing his executive power, Biden's "good government" approach will have to get results.

An interview with Mark Tushnet, Stephen Skowronek, and John A. Dearborn. Hosted by Doug Becker.

An interview with Desmond King and John A. Dearborn. Hosted by Kirk Meighoo.

An interview with John A. Dearborn. Hosted by Lilly Goren.

An interview with Stephen Skowronek and John Dearborn. Hosted by Lilly Goren.

An interview with Stephen Skowronek, John A. Dearborn, and Desmond King. Hosted by Doug Becker.

Impact of Tennessee Presidents.

Join CLEAR's Dr. William Resh in conversation with Dr. John Dearborn (Vanderbilt) about his book Power Shifts: Congress and Presidential Representation.

In Power Shifts, Dr. Dearborn shows that legislators acted on the idea that the president was the best representative of the national interest. Congress subordinated its own claims to stand as the nation’s primary representative institution and designed reforms that assumed the president was the superior steward of all the people. In the process, Congress recast the nation’s chief executive as its chief representative.

Stephen Skowronek, John A. Dearborn, and Desmond King discuss their book, "Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive" (Oxford University Press, 2021), with Meena Bose.  An Academy Forum moderated by Marylena Mantas, with a welcome from Robert Y. Shapiro.

A conversation with the authors of three new, groundbreaking books.

In this discussion, moderated by Professor David Lewis, Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Professors Alexander Bolton (Emory), Sharece Thrower (Vanderbilt), Douglas Kriner (Cornell), and John Dearborn (Vanderbilt) explore key issues about the modern presidency and how the public, Congress, and the courts can influence - and check - executive power.

What happens when a U.S. president violates the law - or the norms that make them work?

"They will carry out the orders... without going through the trouble of firing everyone who resists."

Trump plans to pack administration with loyalists after career officials stymied first term plans.

As bills now move through Congress, here's the state of his agenda.

After the extraordinary events of the past five months, American democracy may be under stress like never before in the modern era.

Political scientists Stephen Skowronek and John Dearborn discuss their new book, “Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic,” and the expansion of executive power.