The Edge of the Republic: Presidential Power, Public Apathy, and the Waning Boundaries of Constitutional Governance

This paper examines the gradual erosion of constitutional boundaries under the guise of national security and executive necessity. Drawing upon recent events in which the U.S. presidency has authorized extraterritorial military actions without congressional consent, the study situates these developments within a broader historical continuum of executive expansion and civic disengagement. The research argues that the republic’s current crisis lies not only in the overreach of presidential power but also in the public’s silent complicity—an apathy that transforms exceptional measures into accepted norms.By tracing the evolution of constitutional justifications from Lincoln’s wartime prerogatives to the post-9/11 security state and now to unilateral actions against non-state entities abroad, this paper reveals how the rhetoric of “defense” has become a mechanism for constitutional evasion. It further contends that the absence of sustained legislative or judicial resistance marks a turning point in the balance of powers envisioned by the framers.Ultimately, The Edge of the Republic warns that when civic fidelity gives way to convenience and fear, the Constitution ceases to be a restraint on government and becomes a performative symbol. The study concludes that the preservation of republican order now depends less on institutional design and more on the moral vigilance of the citizenry.