Balkinization  

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Summer Reading on the Bush Administration

Stephen Griffin

Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side has been justly praised for its reporting on the development of the Bush administration's interrogation/torture policy. But those wishing for a more detailed legal discussion of what went wrong during the Bush administration would do well to check out James P. Pfiffner's book, Power Play, recently published by the Brookings Institution. Pfiffner, a professor of public policy at George Mason, obviously brings a wealth of knowledge about the presidency and some firm convictions about the need to reassert the relevance of constitutionalism and the rule of law in American government. He concentrates on four areas: detainee/habeas corpus policy, the torture controversy, the violation of FISA, and signing statements. I don't agree with all of his conclusions, but the book is well organized and makes compelling reading. A full assessment of the Bush administration needs to take into account Pfiffner's perspective.



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