Download or read book The Effect of Public Approval on Presidential Power written by Melissa Rachel Michelson and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 852 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book No Blank Check written by Andrew Reeves and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-09-22 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concerns about unaccountable executive power have featured recurrently in political debates from the American founding to today. For many, presidents' use of unilateral power threatens American democracy. No Blank Check advances a new perspective: Instead of finding Americans apathetic towards how presidents exercise power, it shows the public is deeply concerned with core democratic values. Drawing on data from original surveys, innovative experiments, historical polls, and contexts outside the United States, the book highlights Americans' skepticism towards presidential power. This skepticism results in a public that punishes unilaterally minded presidents and the policies they pursue. By departing from existing theories of presidential power which acknowledge only institutional constraints, this timely and revealing book demonstrates the public's capacity to tame the unilateral impulses of even the most ambitious presidents. Ultimately, when it comes to exercising power, the public does not hand the president a blank check.
Download or read book The Myth of the Imperial Presidency written by Dino P. Christenson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-07-13 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout American history, presidents have shown a startling power to act independently of Congress and the courts. On their own initiative, presidents have taken the country to war, abolished slavery, shielded undocumented immigrants from deportation, declared a national emergency at the border, and more, leading many to decry the rise of an imperial presidency. But given the steep barriers that usually prevent Congress and the courts from formally checking unilateral power, what stops presidents from going it alone even more aggressively? The answer, Dino P. Christenson and Douglas L. Kriner argue, lies in the power of public opinion. With robust empirical data and compelling case studies, the authors reveal the extent to which domestic public opinion limits executive might. Presidents are emboldened to pursue their own agendas when they enjoy strong public support, and constrained when they don’t, since unilateral action risks inciting political pushback, jeopardizing future initiatives, and further eroding their political capital. Although few Americans instinctively recoil against unilateralism, Congress and the courts can sway the public’s view via their criticism of unilateral policies. Thus, other branches can still check the executive branch through political means. As long as presidents are concerned with public opinion, Christenson and Kriner contend that fears of an imperial presidency are overblown.
Download or read book Investigating the President written by Douglas L. Kriner and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Tables and Figures -- Acknowledgments -- CHAPTER 1: Introduction -- CHAPTER 2: When Congress Investigates -- CHAPTER 3: Investigations and Public Opinion -- CHAPTER 4: The Direct Influence of Congressional Investigations on Policy Outcomes -- CHAPTER 5: The Indirect Influence of Congressional Investigations on Policy Outcomes -- CHAPTER 6: Investigations in the Age of Obama -- CHAPTER 7: Conclusion -- References -- Index
Download or read book Who Leads Whom written by Brandice Canes-Wrone and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-07-15 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who Leads Whom? is an ambitious study that addresses some of the most important questions in contemporary American politics: Do presidents pander to public opinion by backing popular policy measures that they believe would actually harm the country? Why do presidents "go public" with policy appeals? And do those appeals affect legislative outcomes? Analyzing the actions of modern presidents ranging from Eisenhower to Clinton, Brandice Canes-Wrone demonstrates that presidents' involvement of the mass public, by putting pressure on Congress, shifts policy in the direction of majority opinion. More important, she also shows that presidents rarely cater to the mass citizenry unless they already agree with the public's preferred course of action. With contemporary politics so connected to the pulse of the American people, Who Leads Whom? offers much-needed insight into how public opinion actually works in our democratic process. Integrating perspectives from presidential studies, legislative politics, public opinion, and rational choice theory, this theoretical and empirical inquiry will appeal to a wide range of scholars of American political processes.
Download or read book Presidential Power written by Robert Y. Shapiro and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building on Richard Neustadt's work "Presidential Power: the Politics of Leadership", this work offers reflections and implications from what has been learned about presidential power. Each essay takes a different look at the state of the American presidency.
Download or read book Presidential Power written by John P. Burke and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-05-04 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presidential power is perhaps one of the most central issues in the study of the American presidency. Since Richard E. Neustadt's classic study, first published in 1960, there has not been a book that thoroughly examines the issue of presidential power. Presidential Power: Theories and Dilemmas by noted scholar John P. Burke provides an updated and comprehensive look at the issues, constraints, and exercise of presidential power. This book considers the enduring question of how presidents can effectively exercise power within our system of shared powers by examining major tools and theories of presidential power, including Neustadt's theory of persuasion and bargaining as power, constitutional and inherent powers, Samuel Kernell's theory of going public, models of historical time, and the notion of internal time. Using illustrative examples from historical and contemporary presidencies, Burke helps students and scholars better understand how presidents can manage the public's expectations, navigate presidential-congressional relations, and exercise influence in order to achieve their policy goals.
Download or read book Presidential Leadership in Public Opinion written by Jeffrey E. Cohen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-04-06 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although presidents may have a difficult time actually leading the public and Congress, voters still desire strong leadership from their commander in chief. In Presidential Leadership in Public Opinion, Jeffrey E. Cohen argues that the perception of presidential leadership in American politics is affected not so much by what presidents accomplish but by whether voters think their president is a good leader. When assessing whether a president is a good leader, voters ask two questions: does the president represent me and the nation? And, is the president strong? Cohen shows that presidential interactions with Congress affect voter perceptions of presidential representation and strength. These perceptions have important implications for public attitudes about American politics. They affect presidential approval ratings, the performance of candidates in presidential elections, attitudes toward Congress, and trust in government. Perceptions of presidential leadership qualities have implications not only for the presidency but also for the larger political system.
Download or read book Presidential Leverage written by Daniel E. Ponder and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2017-12-19 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For scholars, pundits, the public, and presidents themselves, presidential approval is an evergreen subject. Its actual impact, however, is often unclear: all too frequently approval is reported in a vacuum, dissociated from the American state writ large. Presidential Leverage reaffirms the importance of this contested metric. By situating approval within the context of public trust in government, Daniel E. Ponder reveals how approval shapes presidential strategies for governing, providing a useful measure of the president's place in the political system. The leverage that presidents derive from public opinion exercises considerable influence on their incentives and opportunities for action. Though it is more tenuous and fragile than the authority they derive from the Constitution or the law, it makes certain kinds of executive action more attractive at a given time. Using a quantitative index of presidential leverage, Ponder examines this contextualized approval from John F. Kennedy's administration through Barack Obama's, showing how it has shaped presidential capacity and autonomy, agenda setting, landmark legislation, and unilateral action. His analysis sheds light not only on the complexities of presidential power, but also on a broad swath of national politics and the American state.
Download or read book Power without Persuasion written by William G. Howell and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-07-15 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the early 1960s, scholarly thinking on the power of U.S. presidents has rested on these words: "Presidential power is the power to persuade." Power, in this formulation, is strictly about bargaining and convincing other political actors to do things the president cannot accomplish alone. Power without Persuasion argues otherwise. Focusing on presidents' ability to act unilaterally, William Howell provides the most theoretically substantial and far-reaching reevaluation of presidential power in many years. He argues that presidents regularly set public policies over vocal objections by Congress, interest groups, and the bureaucracy. Throughout U.S. history, going back to the Louisiana Purchase and the Emancipation Proclamation, presidents have set landmark policies on their own. More recently, Roosevelt interned Japanese Americans during World War II, Kennedy established the Peace Corps, Johnson got affirmative action underway, Reagan greatly expanded the president's powers of regulatory review, and Clinton extended protections to millions of acres of public lands. Since September 11, Bush has created a new cabinet post and constructed a parallel judicial system to try suspected terrorists. Howell not only presents numerous new empirical findings but goes well beyond the theoretical scope of previous studies. Drawing richly on game theory and the new institutionalism, he examines the political conditions under which presidents can change policy without congressional or judicial consent. Clearly written, Power without Persuasion asserts a compelling new formulation of presidential power, one whose implications will resound.
Download or read book Presidential Power and Accountability written by Bruce Buchanan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation Many analysts now believe that the growth of presidential war power relative to Congress is irreversible. This book contests that view. Buchanan focuses on diagnosing the origins of the problem and devising practical ways to work toward restoration of the constitutional balance of power between Congress and the president.
Download or read book Public Opinion and the President s Use of Executive Orders written by Brett Jones and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presidential approval ratings are a political resource that presidents and their advisors hope to influence through strategic action in order to achieve their policy goals (McAvoy 2008, 284). Through 1999, scholarly literature had largely ignored the president's use of unilateral powers. Since Moe and Howell (1999a, 1999b), however, the literature on the unilateral presidency has expanded rapidly. Despite the rapid growth of literature examining the unilateral presidency, and 45 years of presidential approval ratings literature, literature examining the link between the president's use of unilateral powers and subsequent presidential approval ratings is virtually nonexistent. Existing research has not statistically examined what effect, if any, the president's issuing executive orders has on subsequent job approval ratings. This thesis seeks to address that research gap. By modeling aggregate and individual-level presidential approval ratings, using fixed-effect models, OLS regression, and binary logistic regression, this thesis finds evidence indicating the president's issuing of executive orders has a negative impact on the subsequent presidential job approval ratings that individuals report. If an executive order is salient to the public, presidents receive lower presidential approval ratings from persons of all political parties; however, if the executive order is non-salient then presidents only receive lower presidential approval ratings from members of their own political party. Members of the opposition party report higher presidential approval ratings when the president issued non-salient executive orders. Thus, this thesis concludes that the president's issuing of executive orders has significant effects on subsequent presidential job approval ratings, and future research should be conducted to explore this relationship further.
Download or read book The Presidency and Public Policy Making written by George C. Edwards and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 1985-12-15 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The premise behind this book is that policy making provides a useful perspective for studying the presidency, perhaps the most important and least understood policy-making institution in the United States. The eleven essays focus on diverse aspects of presidential policy making, providing insights on the presidency and its relationship to other policy-making actors and institutions. Major topics addressed include the environment of presidential policy making and the constraints it places on the chief executive; relationships with those outside the executive branch that are central to presidential policy making; attempts to lead the public and Congress; presidential decision making; and administration or implementation of policies in the executive branch, a topic that has received limited attention in the literature on the presidency.
Download or read book Who Governs written by James N. Druckman and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America’s model of representational government rests on the premise that elected officials respond to the opinions of citizens. This is a myth, however, not a reality, according to James N. Druckman and Lawrence R. Jacobs. In Who Governs?, Druckman and Jacobs combine existing research with novel data from US presidential archives to show that presidents make policy by largely ignoring the views of most citizens in favor of affluent and well-connected political insiders. Presidents treat the public as pliable, priming it to focus on personality traits and often ignoring it on policies that fail to become salient. Melding big debates about democratic theory with existing research on American politics and innovative use of the archives of three modern presidents—Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan—Druckman and Jacobs deploy lively and insightful analysis to show that the conventional model of representative democracy bears little resemblance to the actual practice of American politics. The authors conclude by arguing that polyarchy and the promotion of accelerated citizen mobilization and elite competition can improve democratic responsiveness. An incisive study of American politics and the flaws of representative government, this book will be warmly welcomed by readers interested in US politics, public opinion, democratic theory, and the fecklessness of American leadership and decision-making.
Download or read book Presidential Vetoes and Public Policy written by Richard Abernathy Watson and published by Studies in Government and Public Policy. This book was released on 1993 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of presidential vetoes from FDR to Jimmy Carter which clarifies the problems caused by the veto and reveals how it has shaped public policy, Watson concludes that the veto power has operated well both in terms of public policy and relations between Congress and the president and argues that it would be a mistake to alter it through the adoption of an item veto.
Download or read book Congress as Public Enemy written by John R. Hibbing and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1995-09-29 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely book describes and explains the American people's alleged hatred of Congress and political institutions.
Download or read book While Dangers Gather written by William G. Howell and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-06-27 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly five hundred times in the past century, American presidents have deployed the nation's military abroad, on missions ranging from embassy evacuations to full-scale wars. The question of whether Congress has effectively limited the president's power to do so has generally met with a resounding "no." In While Dangers Gather, William Howell and Jon Pevehouse reach a very different conclusion. The authors--one an American politics scholar, the other an international relations scholar--provide the most comprehensive and compelling evidence to date on Congress's influence on presidential war powers. Their findings have profound implications for contemporary debates about war, presidential power, and Congress's constitutional obligations. While devoting special attention to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, this book systematically analyzes the last half-century of U.S. military policy. Among its conclusions: Presidents are systematically less likely to exercise military force when their partisan opponents retain control of Congress. The partisan composition of Congress, however, matters most for proposed deployments that are larger in size and directed at less strategically important locales. Moreover, congressional influence is often achieved not through bold legislative action but through public posturing--engaging the media, raising public concerns, and stirring domestic and international doubt about the United States' resolve to see a fight through to the end.
