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Trajectory of Power: The Rise of the Strongman Presidency
A penetrating account of how, over many decades, conservative backlash to the administrative state led to the rise of a strongman presidency that threatens American democracy
In Trajectory of Power, leading political scientists William Howell and Terry Moe provide a sweeping account of the historical rise of presidential power, arguing that it has now grown to the point where, in the wrong hands, it threatens to subvert American democracy and replace it with a de facto system of strongman rule, whether led by Donald Trump or someone else.
The book shows that, for much of the twentieth century, Republican and Democratic presidents pursued power in very similar ways and almost always within democratic bounds. But Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan, in a transformation that has grown increasingly extreme over time, have gone beyond the “normal” incentives that have traditionally shaped presidential behavior—and still shape the behavior of Democratic presidents—to pursue a presidency of such expansive unilateral power, and with such disregard for basic democratic requirements, that it puts democracy at serious risk.
Trajectory of Power traces this divergence in approach to the backlash of conservatives against the administrative state, and to their epiphany that a war on big government could only be waged through a presidency of extraordinary power. With this vision in mind, Reagan’s Justice Department pioneered the Unitary Executive Theory, which justified vast expansions of unilateral presidential power and was further radicalized over the decades as the Republican Party became more ideologically extreme, more populist, more anti-system, and ultimately more supportive of a strongman presidency.
Timely, urgent, and original, Trajectory of Power reveals how the presidency has been profoundly transformed during the modern era—and why it now puts our democracy in imminent danger.
In Trajectory of Power, leading political scientists William Howell and Terry Moe provide a sweeping account of the historical rise of presidential power, arguing that it has now grown to the point where, in the wrong hands, it threatens to subvert American democracy and replace it with a de facto system of strongman rule, whether led by Donald Trump or someone else.
The book shows that, for much of the twentieth century, Republican and Democratic presidents pursued power in very similar ways and almost always within democratic bounds. But Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan, in a transformation that has grown increasingly extreme over time, have gone beyond the “normal” incentives that have traditionally shaped presidential behavior—and still shape the behavior of Democratic presidents—to pursue a presidency of such expansive unilateral power, and with such disregard for basic democratic requirements, that it puts democracy at serious risk.
Trajectory of Power traces this divergence in approach to the backlash of conservatives against the administrative state, and to their epiphany that a war on big government could only be waged through a presidency of extraordinary power. With this vision in mind, Reagan’s Justice Department pioneered the Unitary Executive Theory, which justified vast expansions of unilateral presidential power and was further radicalized over the decades as the Republican Party became more ideologically extreme, more populist, more anti-system, and ultimately more supportive of a strongman presidency.
Timely, urgent, and original, Trajectory of Power reveals how the presidency has been profoundly transformed during the modern era—and why it now puts our democracy in imminent danger.
- GenresNonfiction
328 pages, Hardcover
Published August 19, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 2, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I am FREE!!!!! If ur wondering why my Goodreads has been shackled by presidency-related books, it was a course I was in and I am done now. Wow. Yay. Hurrah.
This was one very good and really helped me make sense of how republicans and democrats got to where we are now and how trump gained his audience — overall one of my favorites from the course!! I am so happy to be free though. Get ready to see fiction books on here again🧘🏼♀️🧘🏼♀️🧘🏼♀️
I am FREE!!!!! If ur wondering why my Goodreads has been shackled by presidency-related books, it was a course I was in and I am done now. Wow. Yay. Hurrah.
This was one very good and really helped me make sense of how republicans and democrats got to where we are now and how trump gained his audience — overall one of my favorites from the course!! I am so happy to be free though. Get ready to see fiction books on here again🧘🏼♀️🧘🏼♀️🧘🏼♀️
January 1, 2026
For an observer of the overreach of the modern presidency, this book is a great picture of the how & why we got here.
The book traces two logics of presidential power: one common to all presidents, and one unique to modern Republicans. It identifies that the incentive for Republicans to undermine the liberal administrative state is what has paradoxically resulted in a presidency with hitherto unparalleled unilateral power.
The book traces two logics of presidential power: one common to all presidents, and one unique to modern Republicans. It identifies that the incentive for Republicans to undermine the liberal administrative state is what has paradoxically resulted in a presidency with hitherto unparalleled unilateral power.
December 1, 2025
Everyone needs to read this book.
February 3, 2026
Easy and prescient read
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews