The fourth branch of government and the historical legacy of the Bush administration's information policies

摘要

In June 2007, Vice President Cheney declared his office to be exempt from the executive branch information reporting requirements because he had decided that the Office of the Vice President is not part of the executive branch. This argument is based on the idea that, as the titular President of the Senate, the Vice President has responsibilities both in the executive and legislative branches, so is part of neither. While this argument is virtually without merit in terms of the Constitution-the Vice Presidency is listed as part of the executive branch in the Constitution and has been a part of the executive branch for the history of the republic-it is indicative of a broad picture of misuses and abuses of the structure, history, and integrity of the republic itself resulting from the George W. Bush administration's obsessions with controlling information. It also reaffirms the tortured lengths to which this administration will go to achieve its aims of information control. Most significantly for scholars, it reinforces the need for research to focus on the broad tapestry of the information policies of the Bush administration to better understand the current and potential future impacts of these policies on society and governance.