Norman C. Thomas

The symbolic presidency : how presidents portray themselves

Describing how American presidents present themselves and their governments to the people, this text analyzes the entire staging of a presidential appearance. Focusing on the modern presidents, from Truman to Bush, the authors research is rooted in the Public Papers of each president.

Policy Formulation for Education: The Johnson Administration

T his paper views the formulation of national education policy from a systems perspective. A policy system is a process whereby inputs, i.e., demands and support, from organized interests, concerned individuals, and the mass public are converted into policy outputs and ultimately fed back in the form of new inputs. The conversion process, the making of national policy, is the basic activity of the policy system. The educational policy system considered here, included individuals located in the United States Office of Education (USOE), the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), the Executive Office of the President, the legislative and appropriations subcommittees in both houses of Congress having jurisdiction over USOE programs, education interest groups, other lobby groups with an interest in education, and persons in the education profession or the general public with access to the official policy-makers. I identified the members of the policy system through a procedure that used position, reputation and activity as criteria (Gergen, 1968). Initially, I compiled a list of potential members including all persons holding formal positions of authority, persons having a reputation among informed observers and other potential members as influential participants in the policy process, and individuals who appeared as contributors of inputs to the policy system through such vehicles as testifying before congressional committees or service on presidential task forces and other major advisory bodies. The list contained 175 persons.

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.

Social Science & the Study of Education

For the past several years social scientists have shown an increasing interest in education as a subject for inquiry. This interest has led some political scientists to form the Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Educational Research Association. The SIG also includes scholars from other social science disciplines as well as some trained in graduate schools of education. sIGs major concern is with the political aspects of education and not with the study of politics. Other political scientists maintain a more discipline-based orientation and approach education as an aspect of the public sector. Both approaches are represented in the books under review here. These works resemble other social science

Jimmy Carter, Public Policy, and the Public Interest

By most assessments, Jimmy Carters presidency was a failure. The popular image of Carter is that of a president who was politically naive, an inept manager, a well-meaning but nettlesome scold, and an unsuccessful leader. According to two recent scholarly evaluations, Carter was an ineffective leader who ranks in the bottom quintile of the thirty-nine presidents who have preceded George Bush.

Reagan and Jackson: Parallels in Political Time

There is widespread agreement among scholars that Franklin D. Roosevelt created the modern presidency, and he serves as their paradigm of successful presidential leadership. James MacGregor Burns, Richard Neustadt, Clinton Rossiter, and others who took their cues from them found in FDR the ideal heroic president. He combined extensive and sustained popularity, partisan support, skillful power-sensitive bargaining and persuasion, adept use of the prerogatives of the office, and consummate performance of the multiple roles of the president to make the American constitutional system work.