This title brings together seven presidential politics scholars to address the Trump presidency and the current functioning of American democracy based on recent provocative research. These studies focus on several important topics, including presidential leadership theory and the Trump presidency, examining its mistruths, analyzing its record in the lower federal courts, probing its use of the pardon power, debating whether it requires an entirely new United States constitution to prevent future authoritarian threats, and assessing Trump's contribution to presidential power research. Taken together, these chapters represent a snapshot view of the early Trump presidency and its implications for US politics moving forward.
PUBLISHING JANURARY 3, 2020! With a focus on presidential leadership, the authors address the capacity of chief executives to fulfill their tasks, exercise their powers, and utilize their organizational structures to affect the output of government. The authors examine all aspects of the presidency in rich detail, including the president’s powers, presidential history, and the institution of the presidency. Guiding their analysis is their unique contrast between two broad perspectives on the presidency—the constrained president (“facilitator”) and the dominant president (“director”)—making the text a perennial favorite for courses on the presidency. The authors richly illustrate their engaging analysis with timely, fascinating examples. They fully integrate the Trump presidency into every chapter, offering wide-ranging coverage. Moreover, they devote separate chapters to essential aspects of President Trump’s approach to governing such as on media relations, leading the public, and decision making. Equally important, they incorporate the most recent scholarship and their own unique approach to show how the Trump presidency illuminates our basic understanding of the presidency, making Presidential Leadership the perfect vehicle for understanding the president and his impact on the office.
"In George C. Edward III's Changing their Minds? Donald Trump and Presidential Leadership, Edwards looks at the microcosm of Donald Trump's first term as president and uses it to evaluate current theories of the power of presidential persuasion. Edwards contends that the idea of the bully pulpit-the argument that presidents have the ability to persuade the public and members of Congress to support their policies because of their office and the media attention they receive-is nonsense, and that the way presidents accomplish their goals is by identifying strategic opportunities-alliances with rising interest groups or the cultivation of members of Congress-to make progress on issues for which there is already support for the president's position. Edwards is critical of presidents who think they can successfully restructure the politics of the country. His argument is that Trump had relatively limited opportunities to change the dialogue around issues such as health care and has done a bad job of taking advantage of the opportunities that he has been offered, except on taxes. He also looks at the way Trump has dealt with Congress and, placing it in the context of scholarly work on presidential-congressional relations, shows why Trump has been a failure in dealing with the legislature"--
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.
By analyzing the leadership skills of five recent American presidents, this book seeks to de-mystify the elements and dynamics of effective presidential leadership which our democracy has come to depend upon and value. Building on the pioneering work of political scientist Fred Greenstein and others, this book argues that leadership in the White House can be explained and assessed by using a consistent set of criteria to analyze presidential performance. Siegel shows that presidential leadership is exercised by real, flawed human beings, and not by superheroes or philosopher-kings beyond the reach of scrutiny or critique.
The End of the Rhetorical Presidency? Public Leadership in the Trump Era explores one of the most disruptive aspects of the Trump presidency. Since the FDR administration, presidents developed the capacity and skill to use the public to influence the legislative arena, gain reelection, survive scandal and secure their legacy. Consequently, presidential rhetorical leadership has its own norms and expectations. Comparing President Trump’s communications apparatus as well as rhetoric (including Twitter) to previous presidents, Diane Heith demonstrates how Trump exercises leadership by adhering to some of these norms and expectations, but rejects, abandons and undermines most. Heith argues that his individual, rather than institutional, approach to leadership represents a change in tone, language and style. She concludes that the loss of skill and capacity represents a devolution of the White House institution dedicated to public leadership, especially in the legislative arena. More significantly, the individual approach emphasizes weakening the ability of the press and other political elites to hold the president accountable. This book will appeal to students and scholars of the presidency as well as general readers who quest for a deeper understanding of the Trump White House.
This classic text on the American presidency, analyzes the institution and the presidents who hold the office through the key lens of leadership. Edwards, Mayer, and Wayne explain the leadership dilemma presidents face and their institutional, political, and personal capacities to meet it. Two models of presidential leadership help us understand the institution: one in which a strong president dominates the political environment as a director of change, and another in which the president performs a more limited role as facilitator of change. Each model provides an insightful perspectives to better understand leadership in the modern presidency and to evaluate the performance of individual presidents. With no simple formula for presidential success, and no partisan perspective driving the analysis, the authors help us understand that presidents and citizens alike must understand the nature of presidential leadership in a pluralistic system in which separate institutions share powers. This fully revised thirteenth edition is fully updated through the Biden administration, with recent policy developments, the 2022 midterm elections, changes to the media environment, and the latest data.
In this practical guide, Emmy Award-winning public broadcasting anchor Steve Adubato teaches readers to be self-aware, empathetic, and more effective leaders at work and at home. His powerful case studies spotlighting dozens of leaders—from Pope Francis to New Jersey governor Chris Christie—are complemented by concrete tips and tools based in real-life scenarios. With Lessons in Leadership, readers can learn to steer others through difficult economic times, to mentor rising leaders, to provide straight talk to underperforming employees, and even how to lead a company through a significant change.
The End of the Rhetorical Presidency? Public Leadership in the Trump Era explores one of the most disruptive aspects of the Trump presidency. Since the FDR administration, presidents developed the capacity and skill to use the public to influence the legislative arena, gain re-election, survive scandal and secure their legacy. Consequently, presidential rhetorical leadership has its own norms and expectations. Comparing President Trump's communications apparatus as well as rhetoric (including Twitter) to previous presidents, Diane Heith demonstrates how Trump exercises leadership by adhering to some of these norms and expectations, but rejects, abandons and undermines most. Heith argues that his individual, rather than institutional, approach to leadership represents a change in tone, language and style. She concludes that the loss of skill and capacity represents a devolution of the White House institution dedicated to public leadership, especially in the legislative arena. More significantly, the individual approach emphasizes weakening the ability of the press and other political elites to hold the president accountable. This book will appeal to students and scholars of the presidency as well as general readers who quest for a deeper understanding of the Trump White House in particular.
