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Active-Negative
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the presidential power paradigm
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Active-negative presidents
give us a good opportunity to explore (Wilson, Johnson, Nixon) the problem of self-esteem: 1) parents who demand perfection 2) children either are told they are or feel inadequate 3) have an all or nothing component to their actions 4) always trying to control their aggression 5) always have the temptation to fight or quit 6) often see the world in terms of conspiracy and/or chaos 7) feel they live in a dangerous
world where you either fight or quit they all RIGIDIFY the process of rigidification: 1) they fight against giving in 2) they think that if they work harder things will change 3) they view themselves as alone 4) they appeal to faith 5) the identify an enemy Richard
Nixon as Archetypal Active-Negative a great deal of work without much enjoyment the grueling campaigner who succeeded by "slowing the pace" in 1968 life isn't about enjoyment, but
about conquest Nixon as self-manager Nixon world view Nixon style Keys to Nixon: childhood college and ultimately his presidency: 1) his attitude towards "enemies" leads to an enemies list and a desire to "get" them 2) his focus on his place in history leads to Watergate and US policy in Viet Nam James
David Barber's Pulse of Politics Not only do we need to know the
character of the person who occupies the office but we need to know about
the public mood Barber posits a recurring series
of themes in elections 1) conflict 2) conscience 3) conciliation Conflict: people ready for action and struggle Conscience: people question the "morality" of action Conciliation: people demand a
respite
The
Match Between Personality and Mood Climate of Expectations: "dominated by the tide of reaction against too long and hard a time of troubles, too much worry, too much tension and anxiety....Reagan came on as a friend, a pal, a guy to reassure us that the story was going to come out all right" Power situation: "fragile...having won in an election with the lowest turnout in 32 years". Style: "dominated by rhetoric, with little interest in homework on the issues and little taste for the charms of personal negotiation...particularly if they involve an element of disagreement or confrontation. Further, his rhetoric is essentially ahistorical and apolitical . He is bound to contribute to the ever widening gap in American politics between speech and meaning". Worldview: "despite various attributions of ideology, would be simpler than supposed: He is a Republican millionaire and hangs around with those folks...As long as Reagan's business friends are happy with moderation, he will be, too". Character: "Passive-positive. That meant he would be definitely no Nixon--not a rigidified compulsive. Rather the danger was in his type's tendency to drift, particularly with forces in the close-up environment. The danger is confusion, delay, and then impulsiveness". Time analysis "Thus if there were those who stepped into the Reagan years expecting him to be the rigid ideologue his opponents had described him to be, or a withdrawn, philosopher-king President like his hero Calvin Coolidge, or a go-get-'em results achiever like the Roosevelts, they were wrong. They had significantly misdirected their attention to the wrong clues because they had begun with the wrong questions. Reagan was a passive-positive linked through his extraordinary rhetorical style to a public ready, for the moment, for just such a hopeful and reassuring personality. That combination would turn out to be the simplist and the most significant thing to point out as the world rolled over towards 1984'. "...understanding the "institution" of the Presidency tells you far less than you want to know, and provides only the shape of the stage and the arrangement of the furniture on and around which the action will take place. Theory which fails to reach the person of the Presient will fall short of useful prediction and into the ga will stop whatever speculations politicians can generate, as they struggle to bring power to bear on urgent problems". The Presidential Power Equation |
