Showing results for "Accountable" in Political Science

Conventional wisdom holds that 9/11 sounded the death knell for presidential accountability. In fact, the opposite is true. The novel powers that our post-9/11 commanders in chief assumed - endless detentions, military commissions, state secrets, broad surveillance, and more - are the culmination of a two-century expansion of presidential authority. But these new powers have been met with thousands of barely visible legal and political constraints - enforced by congressional committees, government lawyers, courts, and the media - that have transformed our unprecedentedly powerful presidency into one that is also unprecedentedly accountable.

In Prosecuting the President, Andrew Coan offers a highly engaging look at the long, mostly forgotten history of special prosecutors in American politics. For more than a century, special prosecutors have struck fear into the hearts of presidents, who have the power to fire them at any time. How could this be, Coan asks? And how could the nation entrust such a high responsibility to such subordinate officials? With vivid storytelling and historical examples, Coan demonstrates that special prosecutors can do much to protect the rule of law under the right circumstances.