Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror (Hardcover)

by Frederick A. O. Schwarz (Author), Aziz Z. Huq (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Though another book criticizing the Bush presidency is of questionable necessity, Schwarz (Nigeria: The Tribes, the Nation, or the Race) and first-time author Huq, both of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, offer a clear look at what history has to say regarding controversial decisions made by the current administration. Covering "what went wrong," "why untrammeled executive power" is bad for America and what can be done "to reestablish the checks and balances that define our government," this call for transparency and accountability has a satisfying reach and focus. The first section traces abuse of presidential power throughout the Cold War, particularly in regard to intelligence communities. The second section demonstrates how efforts to correct that abuse were tragically reversed following 9/11, resulting in an executive branch that enacts policies of questionable legality in the name of fighting terrorists. The third section takes those policies to task, holding them up to the light of the Constitution, but ultimately just keeps hitting the same note. The authors' conclusion doesn't propose much of a plan for saving the republic, but the essential ingredient-citizens who demand more oversight, less obfuscation and greater access to information-should get a smart, historically adept kickstart here.
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Product Description
A scathing portrait of contemporary executive power run amok, by the author of the original 1976 Church Committee report on executive abuse.

"In thirty-four years, I have repeatedly seen an erosion of the powers and the ability of the president of the United States to do his job."—Vice President Dick Cheney

Thirty years after the Church Committee unearthed COINTELPRO and other instances of illicit executive behavior on the domestic and international fronts, the Bush administration has elevated the flaws identified by the committee into first principles of government.

Through a constellation of non-public laws and opaque, unaccountable institutions, the current administration has created a "secret presidency" run by classified presidential decisions and orders about national security. A hyperactive Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice is intent on eliminating checks on presidential power and testing that power's limits. Decisions are routinely executed at senior levels within the civilian administration without input from Congress or the federal courts, let alone our international allies. Secret NSA spying at home is the most recent of these. Harsh treatment of detainees, "extraordinary renditions," secret foreign prisons, and the newly minted enemy combatant designation have also undermined our values. The resulting policies have harmed counterterrorism efforts and produced few tangible results.

With a partisan Congress predictably reluctant to censure a politically aligned president, it is all the more important for citizens themselves to demand disclosure, oversight, and restraint of sweeping claims of executive power. This book is the first step.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: New Press (March 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595581170
• ISBN-13: 978-1595581174
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #588,540 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The right people to ring the alarm bells, May 6, 2007

By	Jesse Liberty "Silverlight Geek" (MA USA) - See all my reviews

Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. is senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He was chief counsel to the Church Committee. Aziz Z. Huq is associate counsel at the Brennan Center and previously clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court. This is a book you will not be able to put down, in which they demonstrate and document how the Bush administration has gone further than Nixon or Reagan ever dreamed to create a monarchical presidency with the acquiescence of a complicit Congress and a cowed judiciary.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Responsibly Written - Well Researched, May 23, 2007

By	Bob From New York "bookgroupbooks" (New York) - See all my reviews

The authors documents how the Bush Administration, in an effort to fight terrorism, has side-stepped the constitution, circumvented the Geneva Convention, and broken countless other laws. The authors describe how the net result is an erosion of the moral character of America, which, in the long run, is counterproductive in the war on terror.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love the PW review- as always, July 9, 2007

By	riviera123 (Chicago IL) - See all my reviews

I'm so glad we have the reader reviews on Amazon. The Publishers Weekly evaluations are often very biased and dismissive. "Though another book criticizing the Bush presidency is of questionable necessity" - really? We've reached the limit on books examining and critiquing the performance of the President of the United States? Thanks, PW! I'll stop worrying about the health of our democracy and go straight to bed.