Take Up Your Pen: Unilateral Presidential Directives in American Politics

Executive orders and proclamations afford presidents an independent means of controlling a wide range of activities in the federal government--yet they are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. In fact, the controversial edicts known as universal presidential directives seem to violate the separation of powers by enabling the commander-in-chief to bypass Congress and enact his own policy preferences. As Clinton White House counsel Paul Begala remarked on the numerous executive orders signed by the president during his second term: Stroke of the pen. Law of the land. Kinda cool.