ABSTRACT
Unilateral orders are a significant presidential policy-making tool. Although they are an exercise of the administrative process, unilateral orders also have the force of law that enables them to be used as an alternative to legislation. Yet presidents are strategic in issuing unilateral orders in order to exercise their influence within the legislative process. An analysis of executive orders and policy proclamations reveals the strategic interplay between unilateral and legislative action and how administrative policy making becomes part of the legislative continuum. Importantly, this piece is intended to explain how presidents use unilateral orders to set policy on their own and as an institutional tool to shape the design of legislation.
