Set Up: Chief Executives

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Set Up Chief Executives
PS 202 -- American Political Institutions and
Processes
Fall 2001
2
Images of Leadership Opportunities
Deterministic
Automaton
Legalist
Reactor
Agency
Autocrat
Barometer
Environment
Transformer
Transactor
Richard Neustadt, Presidential Power
Free Spirit
Probabilistic
Mark Peterson, Presidential Power and the
Potential for Leadership, 2000.
3
Richard Neustadt, Presidential Power
Four-Point Foundation of His Argument
1. The Chief Executives position is unique, and
thus so is his or her perspective
1. The Chief Executives position is unique, and
thus so is his or her perspective
2. Because of the constitutional separated
institutions sharing powers, the position of the
chief executive is unique, but his or her power
is not -- it is shared
2. Because of the constitutional separated
institutions sharing powers, the position of the
chief executive is unique, but his or her power
is not -- it is shared
3. Power means having actual influence on
governmental action
3. Power means having actual influence on
governmental action
4. Formal powers, from constitutional and
statutory authority, are never irrelevant to
power, but they are rarely sufficient to ensure
actual influence
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Protecting Future Power Stakes
Public Prestige
Public Prestige
Public Prestige
Public Prestige
D
D
D
Reputation
Reputation
Reputation
Reputation
T1
T2
T3
Current Decision
Future Power Stakes
From Richard Neustadt, Presidential Power
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The Contexts of Chief Executive Influence
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The Contexts of Chief Executive Influence
Institutional Arrangements
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Institutional Arrangements

• Constitutional Features
• Organization of the Legislature
• Organization of the Party System
• Organization of the Interest Group System
• Organization of the Executive Branch
• Role of the Courts

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The Contexts of Chief Executive Influence
Institutional Characteristics
Political Characteristics
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Political Characteristics

• Partisan Distribution of Seats in the
  Legislature
• Number of Seats
• Unified vs. Divided Government
• Election Results for Chief Executive
• Popular Vote (and Electoral College Vote)
• Presence of a Mandate
• Public Opinion
• Chief Executives Public Standing
• Policy Opinion
• Strategic Use of Public Opinion

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The Contexts of Chief Executive Influence
Institutional Characteristics
Political Characteristics
Economic Resources
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Economic Resources

• The Status of the Economy
• Unemployment
• Inflation
• The Federal Budget
• Deficit vs. Surplus

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The Contexts of Chief Executive Influence
Institutional Characteristics
Political Characteristics
Economic Resources
Programmatic Characteristics
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Programmatic Characteristics

• Using a Legislative versus Administrative
  Approach
• Timing of the Agenda
• Scope of the Policy Initiatives
• Substantive Characteristics of the Policy
  Initiatives

Constituent
Distributive
Regulatory
Redistributive
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The Contexts of Chief Executive Influence
Institutional Characteristics
Political Characteristics
Economic Resources
Programmatic Characteristics
Strategic Organizational Choices
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Strategic Organizational Choices

• Executive Office of the President
• White House Staff (hierarchy, adhocracy, multiple
  advocacy)
• Office of Management and Budget (Neutral
  Competence vs . Responsive Competence)
• Cabinet
• Fusion vs. Separation of Powers
• Cabinet Government vs. White House Control

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The Contexts of Chief Executive Influence
Institutional Characteristics
Political Characteristics
Tactical Choices and Actions
Economic Resources
Programmatic Characteristics
Strategic Organizational Choices
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Tactical Choices and Actions

• Anticipating Reactions in Policy Formulation
• Approach to Policy Formulation
• Involve the Legislature or Keep Secret
• Partisan, Copartisan, Bipartisan, Cross Partisan
  (Jones)
• Overall Approach to Influencing Other Policy
  Makers
• Chief Executives Individual Involvement
• Level of Involvement
• Style of Involvement (Bargaining, Going Public)

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The Contexts of Chief Executive Influence
Institutional Characteristics
Political Characteristics
Tactical Choices and Actions
Economic Resources
Programmatic Characteristics
Chief Executives Influence
Strategic Organizational Choices
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Congressional Responses to Presidential
Initiatives
Overall Enacted
67
48
69
46
25
33
54
Mark A. Peterson, Legislating Together, 1990,
Table 7.1.
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Presidential Legislative Lobbying Effort by
Individual Presidents from Eisenhower to Reagan
!
p lt .10
Mark A. Peterson, Legislating Together, 1990,
Table 7.3.