Congress, and not the presidency, used to be the predominant power of the U.S. government. In this interview, we discuss the history of how politics, populism and polarization changed the balance of power in our government.
🚩Support My Program
In this interview:
►Where does the Constitutional principle of the "separation of powers" and "coequal" branches of government come from?
►How did John Locke and baron Montesquieu impact the Federalist papers?
►What are the powers that the Constitution grant to Congress or preserve for the president?
►In the beginning, which had more power: Congress or the Presidency?
►How did the following change the power of the presidency?
- Andrew Jackson
- Abraham Lincoln
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Franklin Roosevelt
- The industrial revolution
- The Civil Rights movement
- Polarization of our politics
►What is presidentialism and what are its perils?
►Why is presidential democracy an oxymoron?
🚩About My 191st Guest Scholar:
Dr. Sidney Milkis is a professor of politics at the Miller Center and in the Dept. of Politics at the University of Virginia (UVA), and the Interim Director of the Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy there. He is co-founder and co-director of an all-university initiative, Project on Democracy and Capitalism, which is exploring the complex relationship between self-government and markets. Dr. Milkis has published extensively on democracy and the presidency, including his 2025 book, which we discuss in this interview.
Watch this interview: 🎞️ https://bit.ly/HbN-S5E49-YT-Presidentialism
🚩My Recommendations:
►S3E1, Prof. Joel Paul: Pres. Jackon & Trump & GOP History
►S5E15, Prof. Adam Cox: Presidency's Awesome Immigration Power
►S5E22, Prof. Julian Davis Mortenson: Unitary Presidency
🚩Adel Aali
host & producer
☑️Where to find my program:
Adel on Facebook and X.com
🚩Support My Program:
Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you.
🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Succe
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.