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emiged's review
3.0
I appreciate books that argue intelligently against "common knowledge." Power and Constraint is one of those. I've heard from multiple sources that the executive branch, and particularly the presidency, has been wielding enormous, unchecked power since 9/11, and rarely heard any statements, much less arguments, to the contrary until Mr. Goldsmith stepped up to write this book.
His analysis of why Obama's policies, in spite of his rhetoric before the election, have ended up fairly close to Bush's policies is fascinating. He also addresses the power of the media, the judicial and legislative branches, and public sentiment in pushing back against the presidential over-reach in response to terrorist attacks. Mr. Goldsmith describes this uneasy balance aptly as "a harmonious system of mutual frustration undergirding a surprising national consensus--a consensus always fruitfully under pressure from various quarters--about the proper scope of the President's counterterrorism authorities."
Towards the end of the book, he states that "we are prisoners of informational uncertainty and psychological biases, and government is an imperfect science." Isn't that the truth!?!?
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
His analysis of why Obama's policies, in spite of his rhetoric before the election, have ended up fairly close to Bush's policies is fascinating. He also addresses the power of the media, the judicial and legislative branches, and public sentiment in pushing back against the presidential over-reach in response to terrorist attacks. Mr. Goldsmith describes this uneasy balance aptly as "a harmonious system of mutual frustration undergirding a surprising national consensus--a consensus always fruitfully under pressure from various quarters--about the proper scope of the President's counterterrorism authorities."
Towards the end of the book, he states that "we are prisoners of informational uncertainty and psychological biases, and government is an imperfect science." Isn't that the truth!?!?
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
mephistia's review
5.0
It was all at one disappointing, reassuring, and depressing. Basically, presidents all look alike because the position is basically a figurehead one. Also, congress is pretty useless.
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