Commissioned Book Review: S Skowronek, JA Dearborn and D King, Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and The Unitary Executive
| Author | Jonathan Hudson Drew |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14789299221075927 |
| Published date | 01 May 2023 |
| Date | 01 May 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Commissioned Book Review |
Political Studies Review
2023, Vol. 21(2) NP1 –NP2
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
Commissioned Book Review
1075927PSW0010.1177/14789299221075927Political Studies ReviewCommissioned Book Review
book-review2022
Commissioned Book Review
Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The
Deep State and The Unitary Executive by
S Skowronek, JA Dearborn and D King. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2021. 288 pp.,
AUD$35.54 (h/b), ISBN 9780197543085
It has been 4 years since Orren and Skowronek’s
seminal book The Policy State made a lasting
contribution to political science. Particularly
insightful was this book’s observation that the
increasing ease with which one can bring
about change through policy and the enfee-
bling of rules has led to a more powerful
Executive (Orren and Skowronek, 2017: 88,
124). Skowronek, Dearborn, and King now
revisit the burgeoning power of the Executive
with a fresh perspective in Phantoms of a
Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and
The Unitary Executive.
In the book’s first chapter, the authors con-
struct a balanced argument for the presence of
a Deep State residing in the Executive branch
that has the potential to operate outside and
frustrate Presidential authority but can none-
theless be a healthy check on that authority (pp.
5, 8). For the authors, depth in the state
describes the extent to which the lives of every
citizen are touched at every level by public
policy (p. 4). On one hand, depth refers to the
growth in administrative capabilities of the
Executive branch that has increased
Presidential power (pp. 5–7). On the other
hand, this same depth can be effective for
keeping Presidential power in check (pp. 5–7).
Trump is not the first US President whose
efforts have been frustrated by depth in the
Executive administration (pp. 7, 8). The
Presidential agendas of Obama and George W.
Bush have each been troubled by opposition
from Executive administrators (p. 8) (US
Department of Justice 2008; Risen 2016). Of
course, Trump very loudly called out what he
saw as deliberate and unacceptable efforts
from the Executive branch to undermine
Presidential authority (p. 8). The authors admit
that Trump’s argument has legitimacy insofar
as democratically elected Presidential power is
frustrated by unelected administrative opposi-
tion (pp. 11, 12). However, the corollary of this
is that without the depth of the administration,
the rule of law can be exploited by unbridled
Presidential power (p. 12).
In chapter 2, the authors discuss the contes-
tation between state depth and the Presidency
and, in so doing, shed light on the extent to
which the US exhibits a weak state or a strong
state design (pp. 20, 21). Whereas the US has
been characterized as a weak state when the
checks and balances in the constitution are kept
in view (pp. 13, 14) (Huntington 1968: 98-99),
Trump has showcased the strong state design
in the US through his contestation with the
Deep State (pp. 20, 21). The solution to the
state depth that frustrates Presidential resolve
is a “unitary executive” (p. 21) whereby
Presidents command the resources of the
Executive branch, but do not remain account-
able to it (pp. 5, 8) (Crouch, Rozell and
Sollenberger 2017).
A noteworthy commentary on Deep State
conspiracies is also provided in this chapter.
The claim that bureaucrats circumscribe
elected authority to advance personal interests
overlooks other benevolent reasons for admin-
istrative opposition (p. 21, 22). If the adminis-
trative opposition to elected authority was
always driven by disreputable reasons asserted
by Deep State conspiracies, a more powerful,
unbridled unitary executive would be attractive
(p. 21, 22). However, reasons for administra-
tive opposition could be that the administrator
considers that the demand could exacerbate the
issue or that it would mean acting outside the
law (p. 22). Whereas Deep State conspiracies
put forward a one-sided explanation of self-
seeking administrative resistance which no
doubt takes place at times, the authors call for
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