The Presidency in a Separated System

by Jones, Charles O.

• ISBN13: 9780815747109
• ISBN10: 0815747101
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-06-01
• Publisher: Brookings Inst Pr

Summary

This book shows how a separated system of government works under the circumstances created by the Constitution and encouraged by a two-party system. Careful examination of the organizational challenges facing presidents, their public standing, presidential agendas and mandates, and lawmaking make this book an important contribution to the understanding and functioning of the presidential institution.

Author Biography

Charles O. Jones, the Douglas Dillon Visiting Fellow in Governmental Studies at the Brookings Institution, is also Hawkins Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Table of Contents

Perspectives on the Presidency	p. 1
Landslides and Presidential Power	p. 3
Pictures in Our Heads	p. 7
The Dominant Perspective	p. 9
Variations in Party Splits	p. 12
Variations in Presidential Advantages	p. 15
An Alternative Perspective	p. 17
The Politics of Partisan Variations	p. 19
Change within Administrations	p. 23
What Is to Follow	p. 24
Presidents and the Presidency	p. 27
How They Come to Be There	p. 28
Who They Are	p. 42
Governing Strategies	p. 48
Organizing to Govern in the Separated System	p. 52
The White House Staff	p. 54
Cabinet Secretaries: Reaching Within	p. 59
Organizational Experience of Modern Presidents	p. 66
Organizing and Adapting	p. 101
Appendix	p. 105
Public Standing of the President	p. 112
The Most Popular President	p. 112
Approval Ratings and the Diffusion of Responsibility	p. 115
Going Public	p. 121
The Public Standing of Modern Presidents	p. 123
Public Approval and the Work of Government	p. 145
Presidents, Mandates, and Agendas	p. 147
Elections and Agendas in the Constitution	p. 147
The Mandate	p. 149
Judgments about Mandates	p. 153
The Continuing Agenda	p. 164
Agenda-Related Concepts	p. 167
Modern Presidents and the Agenda	p. 171
Summary	p. 180
Presidents and Lawmaking in a Separated System	p. 182
The Nature of Lawmaking	p. 183
Presidential Success with Congress	p. 189
Legislative Production: What Gets Done and When	p. 195
Legislative Timelines	p. 201
Summary	p. 206
Making Laws	p. 208
Presidential Preponderance	p. 212
Congressional Preponderance	p. 222
Joint Participation	p. 238
Sequence, Iteration, and Partisanship	p. 269
Appendix	p. 274
Thinking about Change	p. 281
Principal Observations	p. 282
Reform and Change	p. 285
Lessons for Presidents	p. 294
The Presidency in a Separated System	p. 297
Notes	p. 299
Index	p. 329
Tables
Split-Party Control, 1858-1994	p. 13
Split-Party Control, by Historical Period, 1856-1994	p. 14
Nomination Experience of Modern Presidents	p. 30
General Election Experience of Modern Presidents	p. 33
Legislative Experience of Modern Presidents	p. 45
Political Party Experience of Modern Presidents	p. 47
Advantages, Weaknesses, and Strategies of Modern Presidents	p. 48
Number of White House and Major Executive Office Staff, First Year of Administration, 1945-89	p. 55
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