Beyond the “Imperial Presidency”: Constitutional Reform or Constitutional Revolution?

The reforms are substantial. Classifying public offices by their degree of political detachment, binding the President to the nominations of a reconstituted Council of State, electing MMDCEs and narrowing post-tenure immunity each take real power from the presidency. Yet they are reform and not revolution, because they change what the President may do without changing what the presidency is. Presidential dominance has never rested on one provision. It rests on the convergence of appointment, party and patronage, and a constitution can loosen one strand while the others hold.