The United States' presidential selection process is intricate, constantly evolving, and imperfectly understood by most American voters. The long campaign brings to light conflicting concepts of the role of the president, inherent constraints on his powers, contradictions in the selection process, and possibilities for change or compromise that are at once its strength and its weakness.

The Selection and Election of Presidents is based on a series of meetings and seminars organized by a French-American organization concerned with the presidential selection/election process....