The more fundamental issue seems to me to be the ever increasing power vested in the presidency by the presidents themselves above and beyond anything that was envisioned in the Constitution. Virtually all presidents cite a constitutional basis for expanding the power of the presidency, and most partisans tolerate it as long as it is his or her party’s president that is exercising the power. This thirst for power does erode democratic principles and ideals.

This past year, Bruce Ackerman raised concerns about the ultra-imperial presidency in his book “The Decline and Fall of the American Republic”; Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. popularized the “Imperial Presidency” term in his 1973 book; and Lord Acton may have articulated the issue more clearly in his often quoted insight that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” We can look for reasons why it is happening here in the United States, but I suspect that the search for blame probably should begin with all of us individually. We tolerate it, and at times support it, and it continues to reoccur.