Presidential Studies Quarterly articles from December 2004

Presidential Studies Quarterly archives from December 2004

Borges's encyclopedia and classification in presidential studies.
December 1, 2004... In her 1990 address before the Presidency Research Group, Betty Glad argued that the alleged low status of presidential studies was based in large part upon a model of science used in theoretical physics. Instead, she contended, if research in...

Executive prerogative and the "good officer" in Thomas Jefferson's letter to John B. Colvin.
December 1, 2004... There are several scholarly understandings regarding the Constitution and the prerogative power (Arnhart 1979; Scigliano 1989; Sorenson 1989; Thomas 2000). Each understanding agrees that laws are imperfect with regard to the future and must...

Does presidential rhetoric matter? Priming and presidential approval.
December 1, 2004... Does presidential rhetoric affect presidential approval? Surprisingly, virtually no research has addressed this question--despite widespread recognition that presidents invest substantial resources to perfect their rhetoric (Edwards 2002), and...

The secular decline in presidential domestic policy making: an organizational perspective.
December 1, 2004... Domestic policy making has been an area that has received considerable scholarly attention by students of the American presidency. This has been true of bilateral activities involving other institutions whether it concerns legislation (e.g.,...

The president as reformer: when do presidents initiate administrative reform through legislation?
December 1, 2004... The Bush administration's recent creation of a Department of Homeland Security has brought attention to executive reform. While massive reforms such as the formation of the Department of Homeland Security and the creation of the Department of...

Principled pragmatism: Abraham Lincoln's method of political analysis.
December 1, 2004... "If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we would then better judge what to do, and how to do it." --Opening lines of Abraham Lincoln's House Divided speech (Quoted in Basler 1953-1955, II, 461) ...

The contemporary presidency: presidents, lawmakers, and spies: intelligence accountability in the United States.
December 1, 2004... This article has two objectives. As a means for understanding the contemporary state of intelligence accountability, the first is to present a thumbnail sketch of executive-legislative relations in this policy domain since the end of the Second...

Elections: tax cut versus lockbox: did the voters grasp the tradeoff in 2000?
December 1, 2004... The 2000 presidential election was consequential for many reasons, among them being that soon after his inauguration George W. Bush was able to carry out his campaign promise of a large tax cut for all taxpayers. Had the election turned out...

The law: can you sue the White House? Opening the door for separation of powers immunity in Cheney v. District Court.
December 1, 2004... There is an old saying, "You can't sue city hall." The reference is that the executive is immune from lawsuits, so don't bother with litigation. It will just be a waste of time and resources. Cynics have interpreted executive immunity as an...

Source material: sequestered from the court of history: the Kissinger transcripts.
December 1, 2004... On February 11, 2002, after nearly 30 years, Henry Kissinger agreed to release 20,000 pages of transcripts of his telephone diplomacy with foreign leaders made between 1969 and September 1973 when he was special assistant to the president for...

The Presidency, Congress, and Divided Government: a Postwar Assessment.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... The Presidency, Congress, and Divided Government: A Postwar Assessment. By Richard S. Conley. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2003. pp. xi, 279 The Presidency, Congress, and Divided Government stands at the confluence of three...

Executive Privilege: Presidential Power, Secrecy, and Accountability.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Executive Privilege: Presidential Power, Secrecy, and Accountability. 2d ed., rev. By Mark Rozell. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2002. 222 pp. Mark Rozell's 1994 book, Executive Privilege, was widely read as an authoritative work...

The Character Factor: How We Judge America's Presidents.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... The Character Factor: How We Judge America's Presidents. By James P. Pfiffner. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004. 209 pp. James P. Pfiffner's useful and thought-provoking book deals with presidential lies, sex, and campaign...

Polling to Govern: Public Opinion and Presidential Leadership.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Polling to Govern: Public Opinion and Presidential Leadership. By Diane J. Heith. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004. 194 pp. Over the last 15 years or so, the scholarly interest in examining the connection between public opinion...

Jefferson Davis: Confederate President.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Jefferson Davis: Confederate President. By Herman Hattaway and Richard E. Beringer. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2002. 542 pp. Until the second half of the twentieth century, Confederate president Jefferson Davis remained,...

Uncommon Americans: the Lives and Legacies of Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Uncommon Americans: The Lives and Legacies of Herbert and Lou Henri Hoover. Edited by Timothy Walch. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003. 314 pp. Because this is not my time period, I hesitated before taking on this review. Having worked my way...

FDR, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church in America, 1933-1945.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... FDR, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church in America, 1933-1945. Edited by David B. Woolner and Richard G. Kurial. New York: Palgrave, 2003. 295 pp. FDR, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church in America, 1933-1945 succeeds on...

Another Such Victory: President Truman and the Cold War.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Another Such Victory: President Truman and the Cold War. By Arnold Offner. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002. 626 pp. Estimates of Harry Truman's foreign policy have tended, over the years, to become more and more flattering....

Jimmy Carter's Economy: Policy in an Age of Limits.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Jimmy Carter's Economy: Policy in an Age of Limits. By W. Carl Biven. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002. 346 pp. It was once commonplace to refer to Jimmy Carter's presidency as "failed" or a "tragedy." Such depictions,...

The Reagan Presidency: Pragmatic Conservatism and Its Legacies.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... The Reagan Presidency: Pragmatic Conservatism and Its Legacies. Edited by W. Elliot Brownlee and Hugh Davis Graham. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2003. 404 pp. Although conservatives may not succeed in getting Ronald Reagan's image...