A Critique of Samuel Hendel's "Separation of Powers Revisited in Light of 'Watergate'"

• Date: 01 December 1974
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297402700402
• Published date: 01 December 1974
• Author: Manning J. Dauer
• Subject Matter: Articles

A CRITIQUE OF SAMUEL HENDEL’S
"SEPARATION OF POWERS REVISITED
IN LIGHT OF ’WATERGATE’"
MANNING J. DAUER
University of Florida
AMUEL
HENDEL has written an able statement on the traditional mean-
ing of separation of powers and of the effects of Watergate on this doctrine.
~ He also has presented some interesting proposals for governmental reform.
At the same time he recognizes the necessity for strong leadership by the President.
The result is a balanced appraisal and a thoughtful one.
Hendel correctly assumes that the abuses of presidential power which have
occurred in the Nixon Administration need correction. But he has avoided the
trap of proposing so strict an implementation of separation of powers as to create
an unworkable system that would result in deadlock. Instead he desires an open
dialogue between Congress and the President with the public also a part of this
discussion. He wants an end to secrecy, except in genuine national security areas;
an end to &dquo;dirty tricks&dquo;; and a genuine partnership in policy making between the
Executive and the Congress. This is sound reasoning and follows in the tradition
of the best practice in the United States under strong presidents such as Jefferson,
Jackson, the two Roosevelts, Wilson, and Truman. He thus follows in the tradition
of Woodrow Wilson’s work on Congressional Government with the well-known
doctrine that the growth of political parties can be the vehicle for this necessary
coordinate relationship in policy making between the President and the Congress.’
At the same time Hendel correctly points out the self-defeating nature of the &dquo;im-
perial presidency&dquo; (to use Arthur M. Schlesinger’s phrase) concept of the John-
son and Nixon administrations. George Reedy, who was an aide to President
Lyndon Johnson, in his book, The Twilight of the Presidency,3 also discusses the
isolation of the President and the secrecy surrounding his decisions. Further he
discusses the problem of a &dquo;palace...