Executive orders as an instrument of presidential power. Analysis of Executive Orders in the period 1993-2021

This thesis analyzes executive orders as a key tool of unilateral presidential power in the USA in the period 1993-2021. The aim of the work is to identify factors that influence the frequency of issuing these orders, with an emphasis on the influence of divided government and ideological polarization between the president and Congress. The theoretical framework of the work is based on the discussion between the traditional bargaining model of presidential power and the theory of unilateral action. The empirical part uses a negative binomial regression analysis of annual and quarterly data covering the administrations of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. The statistical models are complemented by a descriptive analysis that places executive activity in a broader political and historical context. The results of the regression analysis show that the monitored political and economic factors do not reach statistical significance, which suggests that the use of executive orders is a complex process that depends more on the individual strategies of presidents and the specific content of policies than on the institutional arrangement itself. The analysis also confirms specific behavioral patterns, such as an increase in executive activity at the end of terms of office, the...