Authors: Terry M. Moe and William G. Howell

In “Trajectory of Power,” leading political scientists William Howell and Terry Moe provide a sweeping account of the historical rise of presidential power, arguing that it has now grown to the point where, in the wrong hands, it threatens to subvert American democracy and replace it with a de facto system of strongman rule.

The book shows that, for much of the 20th century, Republican and Democratic presidents pursued power in very similar ways and almost always within democratic bounds.