Since the presidency of Lyndon Johnson between 1963 and 1968, there is
much reason to believe that the executive office is in trouble. For
the past twenty-five years, presidents have been subject to continuing
criticism, with dissatisfaction rising, approval rates falling, and
demands becoming impossible to meet. Is it that Americans have become
an unlucky people whose noble virtues have been undermined by the
unfortunate fact that they keep nominating and electing bad
presidents? Or is there a systemic reason for a beleaguered presidency
in the rise of an egalitarian culture, amplified through the media
which is opposed to authority? This book confronts these questions and
inquires into their consequences for presidential behavior.In
Wildavsky's view, the growth of political discord since the
sixties-opposing views on policy matters and social issues ranged
along egalitarian versus hierarchical lines-has created a demarcation
between a past presidency in which national leaders had a chance to do
well and present and future presidents seeking to adapt to their slim
chances of leaving office with their reputations intact.Wildavsky
demonstrates how various recent presidents have attempted to escape or
overcome their beleaguered status by such devices as focusing on only
a few issues or shedding responsibility (or blame) to other actors, or
treating policy problems as if they were essentially administrative in
nature. The book analyzes the wide divergence on public policy among
Democratic and Republican activists and assesses the efforts of
presidents from Nixon through Bush to cope, at times successfully,
often not, with these divisions.The final chapters contrast the
ideological presidency of Ronald Reagan with the procedural presidency
of George Bush. Both are considered in the context of a governmental
system that requires leadership but does not often support it. The
final chapter is the first effort to make sense out of George Bush's
relative lack of interest in
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781351485678
Publisert
2017
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Routledge
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter