<i>Presidents Creating the Presidency: Deeds Done in Words</i> (review)

Offi ce”—the answer will have to come from the people regaining their power and making demands that ultimately check the president and overthrow the logic of presidentialism (182). In the book’s conclusion, Nelson speculates about ways that citizens might reclaim democratic power for ourselves, from experimenting with new technologies and open systems to learning from the wisdom of crowds and leaderless organizations. Most of these solutions are not new; on the contrary, Nelson draws on a rich literature from diverse academic fi elds attempting to imagine alternative futures for our democracy. But Nelson’s point is a provocative one— that far from enabling citizen agency or promoting democracy, presidentialism works to weaken “our capacity to imagine alternatives” (197). It is this capacity that we will need in the coming years if we are to return our democratic culture to health—if citizens can somehow fi nd the will and the courage to unmask the wizard behind the curtain, to kill the king, and to question the father.