The Beleaguered Presidency

Description

Since the presidency of Lyndon Johnson between 1963 and 1968, there is much reason to believe that the executive office is in trouble. For the past twenty-five years, presidents have been subject to continuing criticism, with dissatisfaction rising, approval rates falling, and demands becoming impossible to meet. Is it that Americans have become an unlucky people whose noble virtues have been... Read more

Since the presidency of Lyndon Johnson between 1963 and 1968, there is much reason to believe that the executive office is in trouble. For the past twenty-five years, presidents have been subject to continuing criticism, with dissatisfaction rising, approval rates falling, and demands becoming impossible to meet. Is it that Americans have become an unlucky people whose noble virtues have been undermined by the unfortunate fact that they keep nominating and electing bad presidents? Or is there a systemic reason for a beleaguered presidency in the rise of an egalitarian culture, amplified through the media which is opposed to authority? This book confronts these questions and inquires into their consequences for presidential behavior.In Wildavsky's view, the growth of political discord since the sixties-opposing views on policy matters and social issues ranged along egalitarian versus hierarchical lines-has created a demarcation between a past presidency in which national leaders had a chance to do well and present and future presidents seeking to adapt to their slim chances of leaving office with their reputations intact.Wildavsky demonstrates how various recent presidents have attempted to escape or overcome their beleaguered status by such devices as focusing on only a few issues or shedding responsibility (or blame) to other actors, or treating policy problems as if they were essentially administrative in nature. The book analyzes the wide divergence on public policy among Democratic and Republican activists and assesses the efforts of presidents from Nixon through Bush to cope, at times successfully, often not, with these divisions.The final chapters contrast the ideological presidency of Ronald Reagan with the procedural presidency of George Bush. Both are considered in the context of a governmental system that requires leadership but does not often support it. The final chapter is the first effort to make sense out of George Bush's relative lack of interest in policy and very great interest in procedures for unravelling the puzzles of his presidency. Few books answer the questions raised here or manifest such a wide-ranging cultural approach to the modern presidency. The Beleaguered Presidency will be of interest to political scientists, historians, political sociologists, and public sector policymakers. Read less

1: “Greatness” Revisited: Evaluating the Performance of American Presidents in Terms of Cultural Dilemmas; 2: The Two Presidencies; 3: The Two Presidencies Thesis Revisited at a Time of Political Dissensus; 4: The Past and Future Presidency; 5: Putting the Presidency on Automatic Pilot; 6: The Prophylactic Presidency; 7: The Party of Government, the Party of Opposition, and the Party of Balance: An American View of the Consequences of the 1980 Election; 8: The Turtle Theory, or Why Has the Democratic Party Lost Five Out of the Last Six Presidential Elections, yet Retained Strong Control of the House, Won Majorities in the Senate, and Retained Three-Fifths of State Houses and Most Governorships?; 9: Richard Nixon, President of the United States; 10: System Is to Politics as Morality Is to Man: A Sermon on Watergate and the Nixon Presidency; 11: Jimmy Carter’s Theory of Governing; 12: Reagan as a Political Strategist; 13: What the Hell Is Going On? Reagan, Iran, and the Presidency; 14: Presidential Succession and Disability: Policy Analysis for Unique Cases; 15: The Plebiscitary Presidency, or Politics without Intermediaries; 16: The Human Side of Government; 17: Making The Process Work: The Procedural Presidency of George Bush

Editor(s)

Biography

Aaron Wildavsky

The Beleaguered Presidency

Description

Table of Contents

Editor(s)

Biography

SOCIAL NETWORKS

Secure Shopping Payment Options