Presented to you through Paradigm Publishing Services
Duke University Press
Book
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
The Federal Appointments Process
A Constitutional and Historical Analysis
-
-
Edited by:
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2003
About this book
Although the federal appointment of U.S. judges and executive branch officers has consistently engendered controversy, previous studies of the process have been limited to particular dramatic conflicts and have tended to view appointments in a vacuum without regard to other incidents in the process, other legislative matters, or broader social, political, and historical developments. The Federal Appointments Process fills this gap by providing the first comprehensive analysis of over two hundred years of federal appointments in the United States, revealing crucial patterns of growth and change in one of the most central of our democratic processes.
Michael J. Gerhardt includes each U.S. president’s performance record regarding appointments, accounts of virtually all the major confirmation contests, as well as discussion of significant legal and constitutional questions raised throughout U.S. history. He also analyzes recess appointments, the Vacancies Act, the function of nominees in the appointment process, and the different treatment received by judicial and nonjudicial nominations. While discussing the important roles played by media and technology in federal appointments, Gerhardt not only puts particular controversies in perspective but also identifies important trends in the process, such as how leaders of different institutions attempt to protect—if not expand—their respective prerogatives by exercising their authority over federal appointments. Employing a newly emerging method of inquiry known as “historical institutionalism”—in which the ultimate goal is to examine the development of an institution in its entirety and not particular personalities or periods, this book concludes with suggestions for reforms in light of recent controversies springing from the longest delays in history that many judicial nominees face in the Senate.
Gerhardt’s intensive treatment of the subject will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, government, history, and legal studies.
Michael J. Gerhardt includes each U.S. president’s performance record regarding appointments, accounts of virtually all the major confirmation contests, as well as discussion of significant legal and constitutional questions raised throughout U.S. history. He also analyzes recess appointments, the Vacancies Act, the function of nominees in the appointment process, and the different treatment received by judicial and nonjudicial nominations. While discussing the important roles played by media and technology in federal appointments, Gerhardt not only puts particular controversies in perspective but also identifies important trends in the process, such as how leaders of different institutions attempt to protect—if not expand—their respective prerogatives by exercising their authority over federal appointments. Employing a newly emerging method of inquiry known as “historical institutionalism”—in which the ultimate goal is to examine the development of an institution in its entirety and not particular personalities or periods, this book concludes with suggestions for reforms in light of recent controversies springing from the longest delays in history that many judicial nominees face in the Senate.
Gerhardt’s intensive treatment of the subject will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, government, history, and legal studies.
Author / Editor information
Michael J. Gerhardt is Professor of Law at the College of William and Mary School of Law. His other books include The Federal Impeachment Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis and Constitutional Theory: Arguments and Perspectives, each in their second edition.
Reviews
“There is simply no other book available that comprehensively addresses the appointments process with the amount of care and historical detail that Gerhardt provides. Like his previous book on the impeachment process, this will be used for reference and as a jumping-off point for public debate triggered by important political controversies.”—John O. McGinnis, Northwestern University School of Law
“This book is destined to become the leading scholarly study of the American appointments process. It is comprehensive, eminently reasonable, and beautifully written. Gerhardt has assembled a rich collection of examples and he has persuasively interpreted their significance for American political practice. The Federal Appointments Process will be indispensible to political scientists, historians, and law professors who study the American separation of powers.”—Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton University
Topics
-
Download PDFPublicly Available
Frontmatter
i -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Contents
vii -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Acknowledgments
xi -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Introduction to the Paperback Edition
xv -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Introduction
1 - Part One The Origins, Structure, and Evolution of the Federal Appointments Process
- Chapter One: The Original Understanding of the Federal Appointments Process
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Founders’ Deliberations on Allocating the Federal Appointments Authority
17 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Senate’s Prenomination Role
29 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Constitutional Limits on Presidential and Senatorial Discretion in the Appointments Process
34 - Chapter Two: The Structure of the Federal Appointments Process
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Significance of a Single Appointments Clause
39 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Presumption of Confirmation
41 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Agenda Setting
43 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Consensus
44 - Chapter Three: Historical Changes and Patterns
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Indispensability of Clear Context
45 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Social, Political, and Historical Developments
50 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Confirmation Patterns
74 - Part Two Evaluating The Roles of The Major Players in The Federal Appointments Process
- Chapter Four: The President’s Role in The Federal Appointments Process
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Limitations of a Personalized Evaluation
81 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Significance of Institutional Analysis
87 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Presidential Learning Curve Regarding the Challenges Posed by the Appointments Process
101 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Relationship between Presidents’ Nominating Authority or Selection Criteria and Control of Executive Performance and Judicial Policymaking
128 - Chapter Five: The Advice and Consent of The Senate
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Evaluating Senate Performance Generally
136 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Analyzing Senatorial Powers to Influence Federal Appointments
143 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Other Significant Patterns and Practices
162 - Chapter Six: The Nominee’s Functions
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Roles of Nominees
181 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Nominees as Active Agents on Their Own Behalf
194 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
What Kinds of People Qualify as Nominees?
201 - Chapter Seven: Public and Interest Group Participation in The Appointments Process
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Public’s Participation in the Federal Appointments Process
213 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Interest Group Participation in the Federal Appointments Process
217 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Dilemma of the American Bar Association
229 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Significance of Informal Advisers in the Appointments Process
231 - Chapter Eight: The Impact of Media and Technology on The Federal Appointments Process
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Media as Educator
235 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Media as Participant
242 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Media as Ombudsman
248 - Part Three Reforming The Federal Appointments Process
- Chapter Nine: The Need for Reform
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Preliminary Clarifications
254 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
General Separation-of-Powers Concerns in Reforming the Federal Appointments Process
260 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Feasibility of Legislating Minimal Qualifications
273 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Influencing the Terms of Debate
280 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Possibility of Reducing Some Conflict in the Appointments Process
285 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Enhancing Public Participation by Means of the Internet
286 - Chapter Ten: On The Future of Judicial Selection: Structure, Rules, and Norms
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Rethinking the Constitutional Structure for Judicial Selection
291 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Procedural Rules and Norms
298 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Postscript
325 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Afterword
341 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Notes
345 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Index
397
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
December 7, 2020
eBook ISBN:
9780822384977
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
