I have two articles, in two different journals, appearing in the December 2007 issues, making for a pretty good December. The first is a co-written piece with my colleague, Bryan Marshall, that appears in the recent issue of "White House Studies." This issue of WHS features several essays comparing the Bush Presidencies, and our article is titled "The Bush Presidencies and the Unitary Executive Theory: The Implications of Presidential Signing Statements."
I also wrote for the special LAW section of "Presidential Studies Quarterly" an article titled "Contextualizing the Signing Statement." I wanted to both correct the distortions of the signing statement and provide context in a way that was accessible and easy to read--the article is less than 20 pages, and discusses how it has been used over time, the reason why the Reagan administration began adding it to the legislative history of bills signed into law, and ways the Congress can effectively respond to the use of the signing statement without having to bend over backwards to do so.
My hope is that both of these articles add to our understanding and to the discussion involving the signing statement and the nature of presidential power.
