Book Review: Alexander DeConde, Presidential Machismo: Executive Authority, Military Intervention, and Foreign Relations (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2000, 391 pp., no price given hbk.)
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/03058298000290030911 |
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| Author | Douglas A. Borer |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Book Reviews
945
Nigerians e ngaged in fraudulent activities of all sort s, both within and outside their
country, and Apte r accurately depicts civil society at its wo rst.
The works i n this volume focus on the capacity of civil society to chec k the state
and pre vent its eventua l e xcesses. Throughou t Civil Society and the Political
Imagination in Africa, it appears clearly that the idea of civil societ y is no t a
chasse-gard ée of Euro pe, and that other parts o f the world also curb the state’s
autocratic tend encies. In Africa, civil so ciety played an active role until put to sleep
by colonial powers. Postcoloni al African leaders, who also d espise challen ge and
opposition, continued, until recently, to repress civil society.
The authors have cogently and compelli ngly made t heir case for civil society’s
existence outside Europe. Any lingering doubt about civil society and its potential
in Africa sh ould be put to rest by Civil Society and the Political Imagination in
Africa. Aside from t he traditional difficulty of edi ted volume s in producin g a tightly
flowing and structured work, this book is an outstanding effort that deserves praise
and recommend ation.
MATHURIN C. HOUNGNIKPO
Mathurin C. Houngnikp o is Visiting Professor in th e Department of
Internatio nal Studies at Miami Univ ersity, Ohio
Alexander De Conde, Presidential Machismo: Executive Authority, Military
Intervention, and Foreign Relations (Boston: No rtheastern Universit y Press, 2000 ,
391 pp., no pri ce given hbk.).
According to Alexand er DeConde, Professor of Histor y at the University of
California Santa Barbara, the US presidency is the most powerful office in the
world. The auth or thus c oncurs with the op inion of Harry Truman , who asserted
that the US p resident has the abilit y to use military force in foreign affairs b ased
purely on p ersonal prerog ative, and in doing so, exercises a level of power that
would have made Cae sar or Genghis Khan envious. Starting from t his highly
contestable position, this book proceeds to o ffer a selected historiography of US
executive auth ority relating to the use of mili tary force. Beginning with a rev iew of
John Jay’s attempt to engend er a declaration of war against the B arbary Pira tes
while servin g as Secretary of Foreig n Affairs (during the Artic les of Confederation
period), to President Bill Clin ton’s decisions to use military force in Haiti, Bosnia,
and Ira q, the au thor covers vi rtually the ent ire history of how US presidents have
asserted their pri vilege to act as commander in chief.
DeConde acknowled ges that throughou t world history paramount political
leaders h ave been vested with a great deal of p ersonal power i n military decisio n-
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