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Presidential Responsiveness and Public Policy-Making: The Publics and the Policies that Presidents Choose
Jeffrey E. CohenWe expect a president to respond to public opinion as an elected official in a democracy. Indeed, the president needs public support to overcome opposition to his policies in Congress and the bureaucracy. At the same time the president may want to pursue policies that do not have widespread support. How does public opinion affect presidential policy making? Jeffrey Cohen finds that presidents are responsive to the public in selecting issues to focus on. If an issue has captured the interest of the people, then the president will focus on that issue. Cohen finds that having chosen to work on an issue, presidents pay less attention to public opinion when making a policy. The president will try to maintain control over the details of the policy so that the outcome fits his policy agenda.
Cohen examines the way presidents from Eisenhower through Clinton have dealt with public opinion in policy making. He uses case studies of issues such as Clinton and gays in the military, Bush and the extension of unemployment benefits, and Kennedy and cutting the income tax, to explore the relationship between presidents and public opinion. In addition Cohen uses a quantitative analysis of State of the Union addresses and positions on roll call votes of presidents from Eisenhower through George Bush to test his theories.
This book should appeal to political scientists and historians interested in the presidency and in public opinion, as well as general readers interested in the history of the American presidency.
Jeffrey Cohen is Professor of Political Science, Fordham University.
Cohen examines the way presidents from Eisenhower through Clinton have dealt with public opinion in policy making. He uses case studies of issues such as Clinton and gays in the military, Bush and the extension of unemployment benefits, and Kennedy and cutting the income tax, to explore the relationship between presidents and public opinion. In addition Cohen uses a quantitative analysis of State of the Union addresses and positions on roll call votes of presidents from Eisenhower through George Bush to test his theories.
This book should appeal to political scientists and historians interested in the presidency and in public opinion, as well as general readers interested in the history of the American presidency.
Jeffrey Cohen is Professor of Political Science, Fordham University.
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Cover
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Title
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Copyright
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Dedication
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Contents
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List of Figures
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List of Tables
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Acknowledgments
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Introduction
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Chapter 1. Public Expectations of the President and Presidential Policy-making Behavior
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Chapter 2. Presidential Leadership, Responsiveness, and the Agenda-setting Process: The President’s Most Important Problem
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Chapter 3. The Substantive Content of Presidential Agendas
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Chapter 4. Presidential Responsiveness and Policy Formulation
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Chapter 5. Presidential Ideology and Public Opinion: A More Detailed Look
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Chapter 6. Policy Legitimation and Presidential Responsiveness to Public Opinion
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Chapter 7. Presidential Policy Decisions and Responsiveness to Public Opinion I: Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Nixon
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Chapter 8. Presidential Policy Decisions and Responsiveness to Public Opinion II: Reagan, Bush, and Clinton
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Chapter 9. Conclusions
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Appendixes
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Notes
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References
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Index
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Citable Link
Published: 1997
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
- 978-0-472-08630-6 (paper)
- 978-0-472-02408-7 (ebook)