The distribution of political power between Congress and the presidency has fluctuated to extremes at numerous points in the history of the United States. These changes have occurred all within the formal framework of the U.S. Constitution. The books below include some of the classical accounts of the ebb and flow of the legislative and executive powers.
Wilson, Woodrow. Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin, 1885; Cleveland, OH: Meridian Books, 1956 (Introd. by Walter Lippmann); New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers (Introd. by William F. Connelly, Jr.), 2002.
Ford, Henry Jones. The Rise and Growth of American Politics. New York: MacMillan Co., 1898; New York: Da Capo Press, 1967.
Wilson, Woodrow. Constitutional Government in the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 1908; 1961; New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2002.
Kelly, Alfred H. and Winfred A. Harbison. The American Constitution: Its Origins and Development. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 1963.
Sundquist, James L. The Decline and Resurgence of Congress. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1981.