Presidential Studies Quarterly articles from September 2004

Presidential Studies Quarterly archives from September 2004

The public presidency, personal approval ratings, and policy making.
September 1, 2004... In this article, I argue that personal popularity is less essential to how a president's public activities affect policy making than commonly presumed, and provide two types of evidence for this argument. First, I show that unpopular as well as...

If the news is so bad, why are presidential polls so high? Presidents, the news media, and the mass public in an era of new media.
September 1, 2004... By almost any standard, 1998 was a horrible year for any president. Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky became public, leading to his impeachment. The Republican-controlled Congress heartily attacked him, and the news media, never easy...

Verbal certainty in American politics: an overview and extension.
September 1, 2004... One of the most important questions about political leadership is also one of the oldest: How strong must a leader be? For many, the answer is simple: A leader must be the strongest person on the block, able to conquer all rivals. But a...

The second face of the public presidency: presidential polling and the shift from policy to personality polling.
September 1, 2004... Research on the public presidency has focused on the direct and often unmediated appeals that modern presidents make to the general public. Presidents have been portrayed as first among the talking heads--"going public" over the heads of...

The changing presidential media environment.
September 1, 2004... If the power of the presidency is the power to persuade, then the ability to communicate with the American public is one key tool in exercising that power. When presidents speak to the nation they expect to garner a large viewing audience, and...

Presidential rhetoric and economic leadership.
September 1, 2004... The two most important areas of leadership for any president are the economy and foreign policy. Presidential leadership in these two areas is mutually dependent, because foreign policy actions can affect U.S. macroeconomic performance (Wood...

Presidential rhetoric and the power of definition.
September 1, 2004... Presidential rhetoric is studied from the perspectives of both the social sciences and the humanities. From a humanistic perspective, scholars are concerned with the uniqueness of exemplary cases as well as with recurrent patterns, and they...

The contemporary presidency: the presidency and image management: discipline in pursuit of illusion.
September 1, 2004... "Presidential government is an illusion.... " Heclo and Salamon (1981, 1). A triumphant president lands in a jet on an aircraft carrier, to celebrate with loyal troops a stunning victory over a tyrannical despot. The sailors greet him with...

Elections: the American process of selecting a president: a comparative perspective.
September 1, 2004... The United States has fallen well behind worldwide trends in presidential elections. Its electoral college regionalizes the contest for the national executive, contrary to a worldwide trend toward direct election. U.S. states continue to select...

The law: recess appointments to Article III courts.
September 1, 2004... On January 16, 2004, during the recess between the first and second sessions of the 108th Congress, President George W. Bush appointed Charles W. Pickering to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. On February 20, three days before...

Source material: new presidents and network news: covering the first year in office of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
September 1, 2004... Introduction New presidents and their executive branch teams endeavor to make a good first impression. To that end, incoming presidential administrations carefully organize their public affairs staff, select issues they wish to emphasize,...

Models of Voting in Presidential Elections: The 2000 U.S. Election.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... Models of Voting in Presidential Elections: The 2000 U.S. Election. Edited by Herbert F. Weisberg and Clyde Wilcox. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004. 292 pp. Herbert Weisberg and Clyde Wilcox have assembled a valuable collection...

The Presidency and the Law: the Clinton Legacy.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... The Presidency and the Law: The Clinton Legacy. Edited by David Gray Adler and Michael A. Genovese. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2002. 234 pp. The subtitle to The Presidency and the Law is "The Clinton Legacy." President Clinton's...

On Deaf Ears: the Limits of the Bully Pulpit.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... On Deaf Ears: The Limits of the Bully Pulpit. By George C. Edwards III. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 303 pp. In On Deaf Ears, George Edwards presents an evaluation of the ability of recent presidents to influence public opinion....

FDR and Fear Itself: the First Inaugural Address.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... FDR and Fear Itself: The First Inaugural Address. By Davis W. Houck. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2002. 166 pp. In this latest work, Davis W. Houck continues his research on Depression-era presidential communication. Houck's...

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln: Competing Perspectives on Two Great Presidencies.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... Franklin D. Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln: Competing Perspectives on Two Great Presidencies. Edited by William D. Pederson and Frank J. Williams. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 2003. 287 pp. If you are interested in a systematic analysis...

The Presidency and Political Science: Two Hundred Years of Constitutional Debate.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... The Presidency and Political Science: Two Hundred Years of Constitutional Debate. By Raymond Tatalovich and Thomas S. Engeman. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. 268 pp. Raymond Tatalovich and Thomas Engeman are not shy about...

Workways of Governance: Monitoring Our Government's Health.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... Workways of Governance: Monitoring Our Government's Health. Edited by Roger H. Davidson. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2003. 177 pp. The jacket of this book states "in this first volume of analysis arising from the Workways of...

Administrative Renewal: Reorganization Commissions in the 20th Century.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... Administrative Renewal: Reorganization Commissions in the 20th Century. By Ronald C. Moe. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2003. 154 pp. Six months after September 11, 2001, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)...

Empowering the White House: Governance under Nixon, Ford, and Carter.(Book Review)
September 1, 2004... Empowering the White House: Governance under Nixon, Ford, and Carter. By Karen M. Hult and Charles E. Walcott. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004. 264 pp. Empowering the White House is the sequel to the Neustadt Award-winning...