The Elected King Episode

Why did the framers of the American constitution invest the President with so many of the powers and trapping of a king? Why does he have the power to pardon felons (including his friends), to command the army, and to veto legislation? More to the point, why did the framers end up creating a Presidency that, although elected, nevertheless wields more power than did King George III, or any British monarch since the reign of James II? Adam talks to Steve Sarson, Professor of American Civilisation at Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, and Nicholas Cole, Senior Research Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford, to ask whether the American constitution created an elected king.

Download this episode here.