Presidential leverage
Subtitle: presidents, approval, and the American state
By: Daniel E. Ponder
Series: Studies in the modern presidency; Studies in the modern presidency
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9781503602830; 9781503604063
Subjects: Politics and government; Presidents; Public opinion; Executive power
Description: "For scholars, pundits, the public, and presidents themselves, presidential approval is an evergreen subject. Its actual impact, however, is often unclear: all too frequently approval is reported in a vacuum, dissociated from the American state writ large. [This book] reaffirms the importance of this contested metric. By situating approval within the context of public trust in government, [the author] reveals how approval shapes presidential strategies for governing, providing a useful measure of the president's place in the political system. The leverage that presidents derive from public opinion exercises considerable influence on their incentives and opportunities for action. Though it is more tenuous and fragile than the authority they derive from the Constitution or the law, it makes certain kinds of executive action more attractive at a given time. Using a quantitative index of presidential leverage, [the author] examines this contextualized approval from John F. Kennedy's administration through Barack Obama's, showing how it has shaped presidential capacity and autonomy, agenda setting, landmark legislation, and unilateral action. His analysis sheds light not only on the complexities of presidential power, but also on a broad swath of national politics and the American state."--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-214) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : locating presidents in the Americna political system; title: Presidents, approval, and trust : toward a concept of presidential leverage; title: The quest for presidential leverage : the presidency and the American state; title: Measuring presidential leverage; title: Presidential leverage and the creation of public policy; title: A refuge of low-leveraged presidents : politicized capacity and policy centralization; title: Conclusion : the place of the president's "place" in American politics.