Why Federalist #70 is Wrong

In March, I'll give a lecture at Villanova on "The Real Unitary Executive Problem." My argument will be that the Framers erred by creating a president who is both the head of state and head of government. America managed this problem fairly well through a series of norms and fictions that lasted until the end of the Cold War. Today, though, the original misunderstanding about executive power is doing significant harm. Most constitutional democracies reject the Framers' model. They instead have a ceremonial head of state (a monarch or a president) and a functional head of government (a prime minister). There are many advantages to this executive organization, but for now I want to concentrate on why the Framers failed to grasp this point. Federalist #70 contains Hamilton's argument for a single executive. He contrasted that model with two alternatives drawn from classical history and state practice. One involved "two or more executives of equal dignity." The other involving requiring a…