Executive Orders, the Very Definition of Tyranny, and the Congressional Solution, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act

Authors

Leanna M. Anderson

Abstract

James Madison wrote, "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands... may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." The Federalist No. 47, at 300 (James Madison) (Henry Cabot Lodge ed., 1888). Expansive executive orders are often criticized as the merger of legislative and executive powers in the hands of the President. This Note examines how the judiciary has worked to check this "tyranny." After examining the difficulties in challenging executive orders, this Note examines how the proposed Separation of Powers Restoration Act would facilitate legal challenges to executive orders.

Recommended Citation

Leanna M. Anderson, Executive Orders, the Very Definition of Tyranny, and the Congressional Solution, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, 29 Hastings Const. L.Q. 589 (2002).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol29/iss3/4