The Presidency In A Separated System

by Jones, Charles O.

• ISBN13: 9780815747178
• ISBN10: 0815747179
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-06-23
• Publisher: Ingram Publisher Services, Inc.

Summary

Media coverage and popular interpretations of American government typically concentrate on the presidency. Observers often attribute the fortunes of an entire government to one person or his small circle of advisers. In an updated and revised edition of his classic book, Charles O. Jones explains how too exclusive a focus on the presidency distorts the picture of how national government really works. He explores how presidents find their place in the permanent government and how they are "fitted in" by others, most notably those on Capitol Hill. Powerful though it may be, the Oval Office is not the source of all authority in government.Jones examines the organizational, political, and procedural challenges facing presidents, as well as the role of public approval. The author compares the post-World War II presidents and identifies their strengths and weaknesses in working within a separated system of government. The new edition extends through the Clinton and George W. Bush presidencies. It explains how split-party control, differing partisan strategies, and our recent "narrow-margin politics" have changed the Washington landscape, reshaping relations among the branches of government.Once again, in this edition, the author draws several lessons for presidents working in a separated system. Most have heeded these lessons, while analysts often ignore them in favor of perpetuating unrealistic expectations of what presidents can do."Jones has achieved a major milestone in research on the role of the president in the legislative process." --Journal of Politics"Jones has effectively and authoritatively replaced a popular view of the American presidency with a more accurate one. His argument and his evidence will enlarge and enrich our thinking about the office." --Richard F. Fenno, Jr., University of Rochester

Author Biography

Charles O. Jones is the Hawkins Professor of Political Science (emeritus) at the University of Wisconsin, and a former president of the American Political Science Association.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	xi
Preface to the First Edition	xiii
Perspectives on the Presidency	1	(34)
Landslides, No Slides, and Presidential Power	4	(4)
Pictures in Our Heads	8	(2)
The Dominant Perspective: Unitarianism and Party Government	10	(3)
Variations in Party Splits	13	(4)
Variations in Presidential Advantages	17	(2)
An Alternative Perspective: Separationism and a Government of Parties	19	(4)
The Neustadt Formulation	23	(2)
The Politics of Partisan Variations	25	(6)
Change within Presidencies	31	(4)
Presidents and the Presidency	35	(31)
How They Come to Be There	37	(14)
Standing on Entering Office	51	(3)
Who They Are	54	(6)
Governing Incentives	60	(6)
Organizing to Govern in the Separated System	66	(62)
The Presidential Branch	68	(5)
Cabinet Secretaries: Reaching Within	73	(7)
Organizational Experience of Postwar Presidencies	80	(44)
Organizing and Adapting	124	(4)
Public Standing of the President	128	(49)
The Most Popular Presidents	129	(4)
Approval Ratings and the Diffusion of Responsibility	133	(8)
Going Public	141	(2)
The Public Standing of Postwar Presidents	143	(31)
Public Approval and the Work of Government	174	(3)
Presidents, Mandates, and Agendas	177	(44)
Elections and Agendas in the Constitution	177	(3)
The Mandate	180	(4)
Judgments about Mandates	184	(14)
The Continuing Agenda	198	(3)
Agenda-Related Concepts	201	(5)
Postwar Presidents and the Agenda	206	(13)
Summary	219	(2)
Presidents and Lawmaking in a Separated System	221	(33)
The Nature of Lawmaking	222	(10)
Presidential Success with Congress	232	(8)
Legislative Production: What Gets Done and When	240	(7)
Legislative Time Lines	247	(5)
Summary	252	(2)
Making Laws	254	(85)
Presidential Preponderance	259	(9)
Congressional Preponderance	268	(15)
Joint Participation	283	(31)
Sequence, Speculation, Iteration, and Partisanship	314	(4)
Applying the Lessons to Clinton and Bush 43	318	(21)
Thinking about Change	339	(22)
Presidents and the Presidency	341	(2)
Reform and Change	343	(11)
Lessons for Presidents	354	(4)
The Presidency in a Separated System	358	(3)
Notes	361	(26)
Index	387