Although they note that the transformation of executive branch secrecy into a systemized means of political control has become most complete under the administration of George W. Bush, the authors (professors of political science, U. of Texas at El Paso) stress that it is important to analyze the development of presidential secrecy as an institutional matter in which legal processes created by Congress and active abdication of judicial responsibility for executive oversight have also played a role. This thematic perspective is applied to examinations of the presidential power to classify information, the state secret privilege for national security matters, and executive privilege for information not connected to national security. In the end, they conclude that this constellation of presidential privileges has created unchecked and unaccountable power that must be countered by aggressive action in the courts, as congressional measures paradoxically insulate the president and establish bureaucratic machinery and processes that enable precisely the types of activities they appear to be intended to check. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

As seen on The Daily Show, July 24

State secrets, warrantless investigations and wiretaps, signing statements, executive privilege — the executive branch wields many tools for secrecy. Since the middle of the twentieth century, presidents have used myriad tactics to expand and maintain a level of executive branch power unprecedented in this nation's history.

Most people believe that some degree of governmental secrecy is necessary. But how much is too much? At what point does withholding information from Congress, the courts, and citizens abuse the public trust? How does the nation reclaim rights that have been controlled by one branch of government?

With Presidential Secrecy and the Law, Robert M. Pallitto and William G. Weaver attempt to answer these questions by examining the history of executive branch efforts to consolidate power through information control. They find the nation's democracy damaged and its Constitution corrupted by staunch information suppression, a process accelerated when black sites, enemy combatants, and ghost detainees were added to the vernacular following the September 11, 2001, terror strikes.

Tracing the current constitutional dilemma from the days of the imperial presidency to the unitary executive embraced by the administration of George W. Bush, Pallitto and Weaver reveal an alarming erosion of the balance of power. Presidential Secrecy and the Law will be the standard in presidential powers studies for years to come.