The Presidency in a Separated System / Edition 1

by Charles O. Jones

Overview

"Popular interpretations of American government tend to center on the presidency. Successes and failures of government are often attributed to presidents themselves. But, though the White House stands as a powerful symbol of government, the United States has a separated system intentionally designed to distribute power, not to concentrate it. Charles O. Jones explains that focusing exclusively on the presidency can lead to a seriously distorted picture of how the national government works. The role of the president varies widely, depending on his resources, advantages, and strategic position. Public expectations often far exceed the president's personal, political, institutional, or constitutional capacities for achievement. Jones explores how presidents find their place in the permanent government and how they are "fitted in" by others, most notably those on Capitol Hill. This book shows how a separated system of government works under the circumstances created by the Constitution and encouraged by a two-party system. Jones examines the organizational challenges facing presidents, their public standing and what it means, presidential agendas and mandates, and lawmaking—how it works, where the president fits in, and how it varies from issue to issue. He compares the post-World War II presidents and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each in working within the separated system. Jones proposes a view of government as a legitimate, even productive, form of decisionmaking and emphasizes the varying strategies available to presidents for governing. He concludes with a number of important lessons for presidents and advice on how to make the separated system work better.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815747093
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/01/1994
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.04(w) x 8.99(h) x 0.87(d)
Lexile:	1330L (what's this?)

About the Author

"Charles O. Jones is a nonresident senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, the Hawkins Professor of Political Science (emeritus) at the University of Wisconsin, and a former president of the American Political Science Association. His books include Clinton and Congress, 1993-96 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1999) and Passages to the Presidency (Brookings, 1998)."

Table of Contents

1.	Perspectives on the Presidency	1
	Landslides and Presidential Power	3
	Pictures in Our Heads	7
	The Dominant Perspective	9
	Variations in Party Splits	12
	Variations in Presidential Advantages	15
	An Alternative Perspective	17
	The Politics of Partisan Variations	19
	Change within Administrations	23
	What Is to Follow	24
2.	Presidents and the Presidency	27
	How They Come to Be There	28
	Who They Are	42
	Governing Strategies	48
3.	Organizing to Govern in the Separated System	52
	The White House Staff	54
	Cabinet Secretaries: Reaching Within	59
	Organizational Experience of Modern Presidents	66
	Organizing and Adapting	101
	Appendix	105
4.	Public Standing of the President	112
	The Most Popular President	112
	Approval Ratings and the Diffusion of Responsibility	115
	Going Public	121
	The Public Standing of Modern Presidents	123
	Public Approval and the Work of Government	145
5.	Presidents, Mandates, and Agendas	147
	Elections and Agendas in the Constitution	147
	The Mandate	149
	Judgments about Mandates	153
	The Continuing Agenda	164
	Agenda-Related Concepts	167
	Modern Presidents and the Agenda	171
	Summary	180
6.	Presidents and Lawmaking in a Separated System	182
	The Nature of Lawmaking	183
	Presidential Success with Congress	189
	Legislative Production: What Gets Done and When	195
	Legislative Timelines	201
	Summary	206
7.	Making Laws	208
	Presidential Preponderance	212
	Congressional Preponderance	222
	Joint Participation	238
	Sequence, Iteration, and Partisanship	269
	Appendix	274
8.	Thinking about Change	281
	Principal Observations	282
	Reform and Change	285
	Lessons for Presidents	294
	The Presidency in a Separated System	297
	Notes	299
	Index	329
	Tables
1-1.	Split-Party Control, 1858-1994	13
1-2.	Split-Party Control, by Historical Period, 1856-1994	14
2-1.	Nomination Experience of Modern Presidents	30
2-2.	General Election Experience of Modern Presidents	33
2-3.	Legislative Experience of Modern Presidents	45
2-4.	Political Party Experience of Modern Presidents	47
2-5.	Advantages, Weaknesses, and Strategies of Modern Presidents	48
3-1.	Number of White House and Major Executive Office Staff, First Year of Administration, 1945-89	55

Editorial Reviews

Through detailed examinations of ten post-war administrations and their relationship with Congress, Jones (political science, U. of Wisconsin) shows that despite the headlines and public visibility that presidents command, all find their power to govern restrained by party politics, divided government, special interests, media scrutiny, and especially by the constitutional prerogatives of the legislative branch. Paper edition (unseen), $16.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"All students of American politics, not just presidential scholars, will want to read what Jones has written." — American Political Science Review

"Jones has effectively and authoritatively replaces a popular view of the American presidency with a more accurate one. His arguments and his evidence will enlarge and enrich our thinking about the office." —Richard F Fenno., Jr., University of Rochester

"One of the most important books on American government to have appeared for a generation. traditionally, the relations between the presidency and Congress have been portrayed as confrontational, with the presidency assumed to be responsible for taking most important policy initiatives. Jones shows that this view is mistaken —that Congress typically has its own agenda, its own capacity for taking initiatives, and its own policy momentum. In years to come, students of American politics will refer to 'Jones' as they now refer to 'Neustadt.'" —Anthony King, University of Essex

"Jones powerfully elaborates the point that ours is not a 'presidential system,' but instead a system of separated institutions deliberately mixed up in one another's dings. For action and reform alike, that is the beginning of wisdom, and there Jones begins. I hope it is widely read, especially by all who now purport to use the system, or to change it. The country would gain in they all understood it. Jones does." —Richard E. Neustadt, Harvard University

From the Publisher