When Boris Yeltsin calls out the tanks and shells parliament, or when he pins medals on veterans, both acts are called executive decrees, but we do not understand both to be equivalent examples of executive discretion over policymaking. Executives increasingly take (or are given) the authority to act without concurrent legislative action. This book offers a theory of political institutions that predicts when executives should turn to decree and when legislatures should accept--or even prefer--this method of making policy. Extensive case studies demonstrate how decree has been used and abused in widely different political environments.

1. Calling out the tanks or filling out the forms? John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart; 2. When the president governs alone: the decretazo in Argentina 1989-93 Delia Ferreira Rubio and Matteo Goretti; 3. Presidential decree authority in Russia, 1991-5 Scott Parrish; 4. Presidential usurpation or congressional preference?: the evolution of executive decree authority in Peru Gregory Schmidt; 5. Presidential decree authority in Venezuela Brian F. Crisp; 6. Dancing without a lead: legislative decrees in Italy Vincent Della Sala and Amie Kreppel; 7. The pen is mightier than the congress: Presidential decree power in Brazil Timothy J. Power; 8. Executive decree authority in France John D. Huber; 9. In search of the administrative President: Presidential 'decree' powers and policy implementation in the United States Brian R. Sala; 10. Institutional design and executive decree John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart; Appendix; References.