Ingber: The Obama War Powers Legacy and the Internal Forces that Entrench Executive Power

Rebecca Ingber (Boston Univ. - Law) has posted The Obama War Powers Legacy and the Internal Forces that Entrench Executive Power (American Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

In exploring the Obama war powers legacy, this essay examines the systemic forces inside the executive branch that influence modern presidential decision-making and, barring a total reimagining of the executive branch, will operate on administrations to come. These mechanisms and norms fall broadly within two categories: (1) features that favor continuity and hinder presidents from effecting change, including both novel assertions of executive power and attempts to dial back that power; and (2) features that incrementally aggrandize such power claims. Together, these two sets of forces operate as a one-way ratchet, slowly expanding and ultimately entrenching executive branch power.