POL 313

“Studying the Presidency: Why Presidents Need Political Scientists” Lyn Ragsdale

“American presidents are surrounded by experts....But political scientists are rarely asked to the White House to instruct presidents about the presidency”  “Studying the presidency or any subject involves three elements: perspectives, methods, and content. The first two involve how to study a subject; the last pertains to what is studied. Perspectives define different ways of looking at the same subject....Five main perspectives have dominated the study of the presidency: (1) historical – the evolution of the office, (2) constitutional – the expansion of constitutional powers and precedents set by presidents, (3) psychological – the effect of individual president’s personalities and leadership styles on their decisions, (4) political power – individual presidents’ influence on others through political give and take, and (5) institutional – the constraints placed on presidents’ behavior by the White House organization that surrounds them”. “Methods are the techniques scholars adopt to gain answers to the questions they derive from these several perspectives. The techniques involve gathering data or materials, analyzing them, and drawing conclusions. Two principle methods are used: qualitative and quantitative”.  “Research perspectives and methods yield content. Content, of course, involves the various topics researchers investigate. But more than this, it includes the patterns and relationships found in these investigations. Content thus entails empirical generalizations about the presidency drawn from the various perspectives and methods”.  “Currently, the power and institutional perspectives are dominant, and quantitative research is viewed as more scientifically rigorous than qualitative research”.  “The first thing presidents need to know about the presidency is that it has two major dimensions: imagery and institution”. Generalizations about Presidential Imagery  These two dominant features of the contemporary presidency emerge at the turn of the 20^th century as public expectations move from expectations of presidential restraint to presidential activism. Principles of Image Making  1. Through their speeches, presidents present themselves as representatives of the people and as moral and religious leaders. Their own words typically portray them as nonpartisan leaders.  2. Public opinion polls show that the public most consistently expects presidents to place the interests of the country ahead of politics, be intelligent, exeercise sound judgment in a crisis, take firm stands on the issues, get the job done, and be concerned about the average citizen.  3. People respond to presidents more through emotions than rational calculations about government’s performance or presidents’ positions on the issues  4. Early press coverage, which deals with family stories and future policy plans, is more favorable than subsequent press coverage. Closing the Image Gap  5. Short successful wars, sudden international crises, and significant diplomatic efforts temporarily improve the president’s public approval rating.  6. Major television address also temporarily improve the president’s public approval rating.  7. Protracted wars, domestic riots, public protests and demonstrations, and declining economic conditions diminish public approval.  8. During the course of their terms, presidents face a decline in public approval. In second term, high is the first year and declines through the third year. Inside the Institution  9. Hierarchical staff systems with a single chief of staff are generally more successful than collegial systems in which every top adviser reports directly to the president.  10. Presidents’ own rhetoric to the contrary, cabinet government does not work.  11. Presidents are not in charge of the 1600 people who are employed in the Executive Office of the President Interinstitutional Relations  12. Efforts to politicize the bureaucracy and bureaucratize the White House have only limited effect on presidents’ success in policy implementation.  13. Presidents who establish their legislative agenda early – in the first three to six months of their term – are more successful at getting specific agenda items passed than those who wait.  14. The higher the president’s level of legislative activity (ie., the more pieces of legislation on which he takes a position) the lower his legislative success. Conversely, the lower the activity, the more successful is the president.  15. Presidential addresses and public approval increase presidents’ success in Congress. In turn, presidential success in Congress improve public approval.