Standing Armies Inflate Executive Power

When a republic maintains a large, permanent military, political gravity shifts toward the branch that commands it. The essay argues the U.S. has proven the Anti‑Federalists prescient: as the military swelled, Congress retreated and the presidency became imperial. Military scale doesn’t just reflect policy—it quietly rebalances the Constitution. — This reframes debates over war powers and executive overreach by treating force structure as a causal driver of constitutional imbalance, not just a policy choice.