Strategic Responsiveness: How Congress Confronts Presidential Power

As tensions accelerate between the Trump administration and Congress, this timely book delves deeply into the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government. The authors, who are all political scientists—Ainsworth (Univ. of Georgia), Brian M. Harward (Allegheny Coll.), and Kenneth W. Moffett (emeritus, Southern Illinois Univ., Edwardsville)—provide a scholarly review of the recent literature on the executive-legislative power struggle. They address the question of how Congress can effectively counter the increasing use of unilateral governing by the president. The authors also examine the use of executive orders, signing statements, and policy memos, with many examples from recent administrations. The unilateral actions of Trump and Biden are also compared, and the competition between the president and Congress to determine policy is discussed extensively, with a focus on the congressional response. The book contains many charts and graphs, though the data for most of these ends in 2018–19. The book was written prior to the second Trump administration, but the authors address some of the political events of 2024 (e.g., the legal cases against Trump and several Supreme Court decisions).