Executive Power

As a follow-up to our discussion about the legality of the NSA spying program, we take a Deeper Dive into the essential and transcendent notion of "executive power" and the critically ambiguous role it plays the creation and maintenance of modern political life. To fully understand the origins and implications of "executive power" we begin with Machiavelli's famous discussion of the Prince who opens and maintains the political space through the terrifying and awe-inspiring "execution." We then trace the way this dark truth of modern political life finds expression in Hobbes, Locke, and the founding fathers. This is a critical discussion for any real understanding of modern power and politics.