Leadership in American Politics
Leadership in American Politics

Author: Jeffery A. Jenkins

Publisher: University Press of Kansas

Published: 2018-01-15

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0700625143

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In the polarized governing environment of American politics today, the problem of leadership becomes ever more pressing and ever more vexed. What defines leadership, what determines its importance and effectiveness, and how does it differ from one sphere of influence to another: these are the questions Leadership in American Politics addresses in an effort to clarify the causes and consequences of the actions that public leaders take. The authors—prominent scholars from the major subfields of American politics—discuss the form and content of leadership in their areas of expertise across the spectrum of American government: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches; political parties; interest groups; bureaucracies; the states; and foreign policymaking. Combining historical, theoretical, and empirical approaches, their essays evaluate the constraints, opportunities, and influence of leadership in each area, as well as the challenges of bridging different realms. At a time when understanding the nature and limits of leadership is more important than ever, this volume lays the groundwork for the systematic study of leadership within and across American political institutions.

American Political Leaders, Third Edition
American Political Leaders, Third Edition

Author: Richard Wilson

Publisher: Infobase Holdings, Inc

Published: 2021-10-01

Total Pages: 582

ISBN-13: 1646938704

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Praise for previous editions: "...accessible...this book is an excellent addition to collections serving general readers, high schools, and undergraduates."-American Reference Books Annual "This readable volume is recommended for high-school, public, and undergraduate libraries..."-Booklist "...[an] outstanding reference tool...Biographical dictionaries abound, in political science as in other fields...[but] Wilson's work is more accessible, benefitting from his straightforward approach and simpler organization...Highly recommended."-Choice "Recommended."-Library Media Connection "...an authoritative and readable guide...serves as a helpful resource for high school, college, and public libraries..."-Christian Library Journal American Political Leaders, Third Edition contains 286 biographical profiles of men and women in the United States who have demonstrated their political leadership primarily by being elected, nominated, or appointed to significant political offices in the United States or by having attained some special prominence associated with political leadership. This reference work provides students and general readers with a concise, readable guide to present and past leaders in U.S. politics. Included in this book are presidents, vice presidents, major party candidates for president, significant third-party candidates, important Supreme Court justices, Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives, senators, representatives, cabinet officers, significant agency heads, and diplomats. Since much of U.S. political leadership involves the representation of successive waves of new groups within the U.S. political system, special care has been taken to include the contributions of women, Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Americans who represented earlier waves of immigrants to the United States. Profiles include: John Adams: president, vice president, diplomat, Revolutionary leader, author Amy Coney Barrett: justice of the Supreme Court Pete Buttigieg: secretary of transportation; candidate for president Andrew Cuomo: governor of New York Jefferson Davis: secretary of war, senator, representative, president of the Confederate States of America Kamala Harris: senator; vice president John Lewis: civil rights activist; representative Gavin Newsom: governor of California Barack Obama: senator, president Sonia Sotomayor: associate justice of the Supreme Court Elizabeth Warren: senator; candidate for president

Presidential Leadership in Political Time
Presidential Leadership in Political Time

Author: Stephen Skowronek

Publisher: University Press of Kansas

Published: 2020-01-30

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0700629432

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In this expanded third edition, renowned scholar Stephen Skowronek, addresses Donald J. Trump’s presidency. Skowronek’s insights have fundamentally altered our understanding of the American presidency. His “political time” thesis has been particularly influential, revealing how presidents reckon with the work of their predecessors, situate their power within recent political events, and assert their authority in the service of change. A classic widely used in courses on the presidency, Skowronek’s book has greatly expanded our understanding of and debates over the politics of leadership. It clarifies the typical political problems that presidents confront in political time, as well as the likely effects of their working through them, and considers contemporary innovations in our political system that bear on the leadership patterns from the more distant past. Drawing out parallels in the politics of leadership between Andrew Jackson and Franklin Roosevelt and between James Polk and John Kennedy, it develops a new and revealing perspective on the presidential leadership of Clinton, Bush, Obama, and now Trump. In this third edition Skowronek carefully examines the impact of recent developments in government and politics on traditional leadership postures and their enactment, given the current divided state of the American polity, the impact of the twenty-four-hour news cycle, of a more disciplined and homogeneous Republican party, of conservative advocacy of the “unitary theory” of the executive, and of progressive disillusionment with the presidency as an institution. A provocative review of presidential history, Skowronek’s book brims with fresh insights and opens a window on the institution of the executive office and the workings of the American political system as a whole. Intellectually satisfying for scholars, it also provides an accessible volume for students and general readers interested in the American presidency.

The Moral Authority of Government
The Moral Authority of Government

Author: Moorhead Kennedy

Publisher: Transaction Publishers

Published:

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9781412837842

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These new essays prepared to commemorate the centennial of the National Institute of Social Sciences have been carefully crafted to deal with an overriding concern of our time--those elements in political rule that go beyond legal rights and responsibilities into the moral requirements of effective governance. The principal theme of this book is presidential leadership. The presidency personifies government authority, including moral authority. In the first part of this book most of the essays argue that the moral authority of leaders depends on high personal standards as well as policy outcomes. The second segment on the rule of law and character raises considerations not limited to the presidency. Character and the authority that derives from it are demonstrated most effectively not by what someone does in his or her personal life, but in the moral values of the causes espoused and effectiveness in pursuing them. In the realm of international affairs, governmental leadership must wrestle with the moral and constitutional guidelines known as "reasons of state." Under what circumstances is it morally acceptable for a leader or government to practice deception upon the citizenry, to overthrow other governments, to bomb civilians? Many contributors raise the issue of what permits a government to take actions that would be immoral or illegal in individuals or groups. The final segment expands and deepens this theme by exploring the work and role of non-governmental agencies that influence both leaders and citizens in the public arena. In short, at a period that brings to a close a period in which the presidency has become more visible as well as more prominent, this collective effort sheds new light on classic themes. It will be an invaluable guide as we enter the new century. The contributors include an illustrious galaxy of public officials and political scientists, including Madeleine K. Albright, Judith A. Best, Betty Glad, C. Lowell Harriss, Travis Beal Jacobs, Ruth P. Morgan, Stanley A. Renshon, Donald L. Robinson and William vanden Heuvel. Moorhead Kennedy is author of several works on terrorism and recipient of the Medal of Valor from the Department of State. R. Gordon Hoxie is founding president of C.W. Post College, chancellor of Long Island University, and founding president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. He is author and editor of many books, and founding editor of Presidential Studies Quarterly. Brenda Repland studied at the University of Oregon and Harvard Business School. She was formerly corporate account manager at Digital Equipment Corporation, and current president and managing partner of the Moorhead Kennedy Group.

Choosing the Leader
Choosing the Leader

Author: Matthew N. Green

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2019-01-01

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 0300222572

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The first comprehensive study in more than forty years to explain congressional leadership selection How are congressional party leaders chosen? In the first comprehensive study since Robert Peabody's classic Leadership in Congress, political scientists Matthew Green and Douglas Harris draw on newly collected data about U.S. House members who have sought leadership positions from the 1960s to the present--data including whip tallies, public and private vote commitments, interviews, and media accounts--to provide new insights into how the selection process truly works. Elections for congressional party leaders are conventionally seen as a function of either legislators' ideological preferences or factors too idiosyncratic to permit systematic analysis. Analyzing six decades' worth of information, Harris and Green find evidence for a new comprehensive model of vote choice in House leadership elections that incorporates both legislators' goals and their connections with leadership candidates. This study will stand for years to come as the definitive treatment of a crucial aspect of American politics.

Political and Civic Leadership
Political and Civic Leadership

Author: Richard A. Couto

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Published: 2010-09-14

Total Pages: 1185

ISBN-13: 1452266344

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This work within The SAGE Reference Series on Leadership provides undergraduate students with an authoritative reference resource on political and civic leadership. This 2-volume set focuses on the 100 most important topics, issues, question, and debates specific to politics and civic society. Entries provide students with more detailed information and depth of discussion than typically found in an encyclopedia entry while avoiding much of the jargon, detail and density one might find in a journal article or a research handbook chapter. Key Features Includes entries written by a global panel of renowned experts Offers broad coverage of important, of-the-moment topics related to political and civic leadership, including explorations of the personalities and environments of political leaders, leadership roles in governance and allegiance, citizen activists and civic engagement, political campaigning, urban politics and leadership, public management, ethics in politics, policy development and implementation, executive management of public opinion, political speechmaking and the "bully pulpit," congressional leadership, crisis management, and more Considers the history of political and civic leadership, with examples from the lives of pivotal figures, as well as the institutional settings and processes that lead to both opportunities and constraints unique to the political realm Provides students with more depth than usual encyclopedic entries while avoiding the jargon, detail, and density of more advanced works Features an approachable and clear writing style with appeal to undergraduate researchers and offers a list of further readings after each entry, as well as a detailed index and an online version of the work to maximize accessibility for today′s students

Follow the Leader?
Follow the Leader?

Author: Gabriel S. Lenz

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2013-01-29

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 0226472159

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In a democracy, we generally assume that voters know the policies they prefer and elect like-minded officials who are responsible for carrying them out. We also assume that voters consider candidates' competence, honesty, and other performance-related traits. But does this actually happen? Do voters consider candidates’ policy positions when deciding for whom to vote? And how do politicians’ performances in office factor into the voting decision? In Follow the Leader?, Gabriel S. Lenz sheds light on these central questions of democratic thought. Lenz looks at citizens’ views of candidates both before and after periods of political upheaval, including campaigns, wars, natural disasters, and episodes of economic boom and bust. Noting important shifts in voters’ knowledge and preferences as a result of these events, he finds that, while citizens do assess politicians based on their performance, their policy positions actually matter much less. Even when a policy issue becomes highly prominent, voters rarely shift their votes to the politician whose position best agrees with their own. In fact, Lenz shows, the reverse often takes place: citizens first pick a politician and then adopt that politician’s policy views. In other words, they follow the leader. Based on data drawn from multiple countries, Follow the Leader? is the most definitive treatment to date of when and why policy and performance matter at the voting booth, and it will break new ground in the debates about democracy.

The Oxford Handbook of the American Congress
The Oxford Handbook of the American Congress

Author: Eric Schickler

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-03-14

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 0191628255

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No legislature in the world has a greater influence over its nation's public affairs than the US Congress. The Congress's centrality in the US system of government has placed research on Congress at the heart of scholarship on American politics. Generations of American government scholars working in a wide range of methodological traditions have focused their analysis on understanding Congress, both as a lawmaking and a representative institution. The purpose of this volume is to take stock of this impressive and diverse literature, identifying areas of accomplishment and promising directions for future work. The editors have commissioned 37 chapters by leading scholars in the field, each chapter critically engages the scholarship focusing on a particular aspect of congressional politics, including the institution's responsiveness to the American public, its procedures and capacities for policymaking, its internal procedures and development, relationships between the branches of government, and the scholarly methodologies for approaching these topics. The Handbook also includes chapters addressing timely questions, including partisan polarization, congressional war powers, and the supermajoritarian procedures of the contemporary Senate. Beyond simply bringing readers up to speed on the current state of research, the volume offers critical assessments of how each literature has progressed - or failed to progress - in recent decades. The chapters identify the major questions posed by each line of research and assess the degree to which the answers developed in the literature are persuasive. The goal is not simply to tell us where we have been as a field, but to set an agenda for research on Congress for the next decade. The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics are a set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of scholarship on American politics. Each volume focuses on a particular aspect of the field. The project is under the General Editorship of George C. Edwards III, and distinguished specialists in their respective fields edit each volume. The Handbooks aim not just to report on the discipline, but also to shape it as scholars critically assess the scholarship on a topic and propose directions in which it needs to move. The series is an indispensable reference for anyone working in American politics. General Editor for The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics: George C. Edwards III

Presidential Leadership in Political Time
Presidential Leadership in Political Time

Author: Stephen Skowronek

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13:

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"Renowned scholar Stephen Skowronek's insights have fundamentally altered our understanding of the American presidency. His seminal works have identified broad historical patterns in American politics and explained the dynamics at work behind them. His "political time" thesis has been particularly influential, revealing how presidents reckon with the work of their predecessors, situate their power within recent political events, and assert their authority to change things. In this new book, Skowronek revisits his political time thesis and focuses on how it helps us make sense of the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The essays--some of which predate his book The Politics Presidents Make, some of which followed it, and one of which is wholly original to this volume--make his arguments about the politics of leadership generally accessible while also drawing them forward and highlighting new issues for our times. Skowronek explains the typical political problems that presidents confront in political time, as well as the likely effects of their working through them. This allows him to draw out parallels in the politics of leadership between Andrew Jackson and Franklin Roosevelt and between James Polk and John Kennedy--and to develop a new and revealing perspective on the leadership of George W. Bush. All along the way, Skowronek considers contemporary innovations in the American political system that bear on the leadership patterns he draws from the more distant past. The impact of the 24-hour news cycle, of a more disciplined and homogeneous Republican party, of conservative advocacy of the "unitary theory" of the executive, and of progressivedisillusionment with the presidency--all come under fresh scrutiny. A provocative review of presidential history, Skowronek's book brims with fresh insights and opens a window on the institution of the executive office and the workings of the American political system as a whole. Intellectually satisfying for scholars, it also provides an accessible volume for students and general readers interested in the American presidency." -- Publisher.

The Oxford Handbook of Political Leadership
The Oxford Handbook of Political Leadership

Author: R. A. W. Rhodes

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2014-05-29

Total Pages: 905

ISBN-13: 0191645869

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Political leadership has made a comeback. It was studied intensively not only by political scientists but also by political sociologists and psychologists, Sovietologists, political anthropologists, and by scholars in comparative and development studies from the 1940s to the 1970s. Thereafter, the field lost its way with the rise of structuralism, neo-institutionalism, and rational choice approaches to the study of politics, government, and governance. Recently, however, students of politics have returned to studying the role of individual leaders and the exercise of leadership to explain political outcomes. The list of topics is nigh endless: elections, conflict management, public policy, government popularity, development, governance networks, and regional integration. In the media age, leaders are presented and stage-managed--spun--DDLas the solution to almost every social problem. Through the mass media and the Internet, citizens and professional observers follow the rise, impact, and fall of senior political officeholders at closer quarters than ever before. This Handbook encapsulates the resurgence by asking, where are we today? It orders the multidisciplinary field by identifying the distinct and distinctive contributions of the disciplines. It meets the urgent need to take stock. It brings together scholars from around the world, encouraging a comparative perspective, to provide a comprehensive coverage of all the major disciplines, methods, and regions. It showcases both the normative and empirical traditions in political leadership studies, and juxtaposes behavioural, institutional, and interpretive approaches. It covers formal, office-based as well as informal, emergent political leadership, and in both democratic and undemocratic polities.