Joseph A. Pika

Management Style and the Organizational Matrix: Studying White House Operations

Scholars and journalists have devoted a wealth of attention to White House organization and management, but have produced only modest conclusions on how presidential staffing is related to performance. This article assesses findings from two schools of staffing studies—personalist and institutionalist—and suggests that re-searchers ultimately need to examine the interactive effects of management style and organizational factors on performance. To this end, a typology is developed based on two dimensions of variation: a presidents managerial assertiveness and staff cohesion. The four resulting patterns are discussed in terms of the nine most recent administrations.

Moving Beyond the Oval Office: Problems in Studying the Presidency

No student of the presidency can avoid coming to grips with the impact which the president, himself, has on political affairs in general and, more particularly, the conduct of the office in which he serves. As Fred Greenstein (1979: p. 63) has observed,

The Presidency Since Mid-Century

AbstractMany scholars and observers claim that the presidential office and the political environment in which presidents operate have been transformed in the second half of the twentieth century. The starting point for examining these claims is Richard Neustadt’s classic assessment of the presidency at mid-century. Of particular interest are discussions of the presidency’s intensified relationship with the public, the so-called “postmodern” presidency, and leadership under conditions of divided government. Far from being a watershed, Ronald Reagan’s experience in office represents a continuation of existing trends with only limited impact on the institution and the conduct of its occupants. Neither Neustadt nor his critics have devised an answer for how presidents can close the gap between performance and expectations, although end-of-the-century presidents confront difficulties greater than ever.

Assessing Reagan's Legacy

Sidney Blumenthal and Thomas Byrne Edsall, eds., The Reagan Legacy. New York: Pantheon Books, 1988. Pp. 320.

The politics of the presidency

9.95. Charles O. Jones, ed., The Reagan Legacy: Promise and Performance. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers, 1988. Pp. 324.

Confrontation and compromise : presidential and congressional leadership, 2001-2006

14.95. B. B. Kymlicka and Jean V. Matthews, eds., The Reagan Revolution? Chicago: Dorsey Press, 1988. Pp. 250.

The presidential contest

12.00. John L. Palmer, ed., Perspectives on the Reagan Years. Washington: The Urban Institute, 1986. Pp. 235.

The White House Office of Public Liaison

12.95.