The Managerial Presidency

The Managerial Presidency
Author :
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages : 372
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0890968608
ISBN-13 : 9780890968604
Rating : 4/5 (08 Downloads)

Synopsis The Managerial Presidency by : James P. Pfiffner

As the scope and size of the U.S. government has expanded, the importance of good management to the success of a presidency has also increased. Although good management cannot guarantee political or policy success, poor management can certainly undermine good policy and political efforts. In this second edition of The Managerial Presidency James P. Pfiffner brings together both classic analyses and more recent treatments of managerial issues that affect the presidency. Some of the foremost presidency scholars have contributed to this volume, including Richard Neustadt, Charles O. Jones, Hugh Heclo, George Edwards, and Louis Fisher. This second edition includes more recent scholarship by Roger Porter, Steven Kelman, Peri Arnold, and Ronald Moe. The focus of this collection is the extent to which presidents can exercise control over the executive branch bureaucracies and whether it is wise for them to exert that control. Part one deals with the question of how to organize the White House staff. If this organizational problem is not resolved, solving the broader problems of organization and policy will be that much more difficult. Part two addresses the question of how much control presidents should exert over the departments and agencies of the executive branch and how the White House staff and other political appointees relate to career civil servants. The final section examines presidential managerial reform efforts and the congressional role in managing the government. Although the contributors to this collection do not all agree on how the presidency should be managed, there is surprising consensus on which questions ought to be asked. The analyses addressing those questions will be of interest to students and scholars of the modern presidency as well as those interested in executive leadership and public administration.

Making the Managerial Presidency

Making the Managerial Presidency
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 472
Release :
ISBN-10 : UOM:39015047088557
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (57 Downloads)

Synopsis Making the Managerial Presidency by : Peri E. Arnold

Examines the political history of administrative reform undertaken by 20th-century presidents. Attempting to explain the growth of modern bureaucracy within an 18th-century framework and the expansion of presidential control over administrative powers, the author explores the relationship between administrative theory and the dilemmas posed for a developing administrative state by the separation of powers. He also looks at and compares successive cases of presidentially initiated comprehensive reform planning, in order to understand the implications for the president's institutional role. Paper edition (unseen), $25.00. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Rethinking the Administrative Presidency

Rethinking the Administrative Presidency
Author :
Publisher : JHU Press
Total Pages : 209
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781421418490
ISBN-13 : 1421418495
Rating : 4/5 (90 Downloads)

Synopsis Rethinking the Administrative Presidency by : William G. Resh

The first book to explore the tension between presidents and federal agencies from the perspective of careerists in the executive branch. Winner of the Herbert A. Simon Book Award of the American Political Science Association Why do presidents face so many seemingly avoidable bureaucratic conflicts? And why do these clashes usually intensify toward the end of presidential administrations, when a commander-in-chief’s administrative goals tend to be more explicit and better aligned with their appointed leadership’s prerogatives? In Rethinking the Administrative Presidency, William G. Resh considers these complicated questions from an empirical perspective. Relying on data drawn from surveys and interviews, Resh rigorously analyzes the argument that presidents typically start from a premise of distrust when they attempt to control federal agencies. Focusing specifically on the George W. Bush administration, Resh explains how a lack of trust can lead to harmful agency failure. He explores the extent to which the Bush administration was able to increase the reliability—and reduce the cost—of information to achieve its policy goals through administrative means during its second term. Arguing that President Bush's use of the administrative presidency hindered trust between appointees and career executives to deter knowledge sharing throughout respective agencies, Resh also demonstrates that functional relationships between careerists and appointees help to advance robust policy. He employs a “joists vs. jigsaws” metaphor to stress his main point: that mutual support based on optimistic trust is a more effective managerial strategy than fragmentation founded on unsubstantiated distrust.

Why Presidents Fail And How They Can Succeed Again

Why Presidents Fail And How They Can Succeed Again
Author :
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages : 136
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780815727798
ISBN-13 : 0815727798
Rating : 4/5 (98 Downloads)

Synopsis Why Presidents Fail And How They Can Succeed Again by : Elaine C. Kamarck

Failure should not be an option in the presidency, but for too long it has been the norm. From the botched attempt to rescue the U.S. diplomats held hostage by Iran in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter and the missed intelligence on Al Qaeda before 9-11 under George W. Bush to, most recently, the computer meltdown that marked the arrival of health care reform under Barack Obama, the American presidency has been a profile in failure. In Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again, Elaine Kamarck surveys these and other recent presidential failures to understand why Americans have lost faith in their leaders—and how they can get it back. Kamarck argues that presidents today spend too much time talking and not enough time governing, and that they have allowed themselves to become more and more distant from the federal bureaucracy that is supposed to implement policy. After decades of "imperial" and "rhetorical" presidencies, we are in need of a "managerial" president. This White House insider and former Harvard academic explains the difficulties of governing in our modern political landscape, and offers examples and recommendations of how our next president can not only recreate faith in leadership but also run a competent, successful administration.

Making the Managerial Presidency

Making the Managerial Presidency
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 374
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0691077045
ISBN-13 : 9780691077048
Rating : 4/5 (45 Downloads)

Synopsis Making the Managerial Presidency by : Peri E. Arnold

The Description for this book, Making the Managerial Presidency: Comprehensive Reorganization Planning, 1905-1980, will be forthcoming.

President as Leader

President as Leader
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 301
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781351223645
ISBN-13 : 135122364X
Rating : 4/5 (45 Downloads)

Synopsis President as Leader by : Michael E Siegel

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 President's Book of Secrets

The President's Book of Secrets
Author :
Publisher : PublicAffairs
Total Pages : 401
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781610395960
ISBN-13 : 1610395964
Rating : 4/5 (60 Downloads)

Synopsis The President's Book of Secrets by : David Priess

Every president has had a unique and complicated relationship with the intelligence community. While some have been coolly distant, even adversarial, others have found their intelligence agencies to be among the most valuable instruments of policy and power. Since John F. Kennedy's presidency, this relationship has been distilled into a personalized daily report: a short summary of what the intelligence apparatus considers the most crucial information for the president to know that day about global threats and opportunities. This top-secret document is known as the President's Daily Brief, or, within national security circles, simply "the Book." Presidents have spent anywhere from a few moments (Richard Nixon) to a healthy part of their day (George W. Bush) consumed by its contents; some (Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush) consider it far and away the most important document they saw on a regular basis while commander in chief. The details of most PDBs are highly classified, and will remain so for many years. But the process by which the intelligence community develops and presents the Book is a fascinating look into the operation of power at the highest levels. David Priess, a former intelligence officer and daily briefer, has interviewed every living president and vice president as well as more than one hundred others intimately involved with the production and delivery of the president's book of secrets. He offers an unprecedented window into the decision making of every president from Kennedy to Obama, with many character-rich stories revealed here for the first time.

The Institutional Presidency

The Institutional Presidency
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 302
Release :
ISBN-10 : UOM:39015050038119
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (19 Downloads)

Synopsis The Institutional Presidency by : John P. Burke

Beginning with the institutional presidency that emerged during the Roosevelt administration, this new edition includes a revised chapter on the Bush administration and a new chapter on Bill Clinton.

The Administrative Presidency

The Administrative Presidency
Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages : 228
Release :
ISBN-10 : UOM:39015001611667
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (67 Downloads)

Synopsis The Administrative Presidency by : Richard P. Nathan

The Leadership Question

The Leadership Question
Author :
Publisher : Praeger Publishers
Total Pages : 280
Release :
ISBN-10 : STANFORD:36105037616823
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (23 Downloads)

Synopsis The Leadership Question by : Bert A. Rockman