Consider James Madison’s description of the separation of powers (Federalist# 47, 48, and 51) as well as Alexander Hamilton’s discussion of the scope and limits of presidential power (Federalist# 70, 69). Has the system of separation of powers worked in the way they anticipated when it comes to presidential power? Specifically, when presidents have exceeded the limits of their power, has there been meaningful accountability? If presidential power has not worked in the way Madison and Hamilton expected, what has gone wrong and what changes, if any, are necessary? If presidential power has worked as Madison and Hamilton expected, what specific examples of accountability can be shown when presidents exceeded the limits of their power? In writing your paper, please consider (1) how to define what it means for presidents to exceed the limits of their power (2) what accountability means, in light of Madison’s and Hamilton’s writings (as well as the text of the Constitution). Please use specific examples from at least three presidents we have studied this semester, at least two of which must be presidents we have studied since the midterm.
Please also use at least five scholarly books or articles as sources for your paper. A scholarly book means one that is published by a university press or similar peer reviewed publication and a scholarly article means one that is published by a peer reviewed academic journal (if you’re not sure what qualifies, just ask). Please use any standard citation style–e.g. University of Chicago, MLA, APA, Turabian for all necessary cites (including but not limited to the five scholarly citations).
The paper should be approximately 2,500 – 3,000 words long: this is a guideline and it is perfectly fine to go somewhat over or somewhat under the guideline. Please be sure to submit the assignment on time–the deadline is available in this Assignment and on the syllabus.