A number of steps exist in creating an executive
order. The seeds for executive orders typically come from
interests within the Executive Office of the President or
from the executive agencies (Mayer 2000). OMB provides
clearance for the order and then passes it to the
Department of Justice for legal consultation. Once the
president signs the order, it is published in the Federal
Register. Often times when presidents want to expedite the
process they will skip one of the steps. Typically,
presidents request expedition at the beginning or end of
the tenure in office (Mayer 2001).
Scholars have expressed a keen interest in when and
why presidents issue executive orders. Conventional wisdom
argues that presidents issue executive orders to bypass
Congress in the policy making process (Nathan 1985, Deering
and Maltzman 1999).
The legal literature dedicated to executive orders is
far more comprehensive than political science studies of
executive orders. Legal studies have focused attention on
the constitutionality of executive authority. Political
scientists have ignored the study of executive orders due
to Neustadt’s focus on the behavioral aspect of the
presidency (Howell 2000). Early studies by political
scientists assessing the power and usage of executive
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Convention