Presidential Power

Presidential Power

Forging the Presidency for the Twenty-First Century

Richard Neustadt's seminal work Presidential Power: The Politics of Leadership has endured for nearly four decades as the core of academic study of the American presidency. Now, building on and challenging many of the arguments in Neustadt's work, Presidential Power: Forging the Presidency for the Twenty-first Century offers reflections and implications from what we have learned about presidential power as the new century dawns.

These essays—including a new contribution by Neustadt himself—forge a solid reexamination of Neustadt's Presidential Power that address questions raised but not resolved by his work. A notable aspect of this volume's analysis is the transformed institution of the presidency in the wake of the impeachment hearings of the country's last twentieth-century president, Bill Clinton. From the portrayal of presidents as persuaders to the politics of presidential transitions, each of the constituent essays in this volume provides an engaging look at the state of the American presidency.
  • Contents
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • Contributors
  • 1. Introduction: Presidential Power
  • PART 1 Richard Neustadt's Presidential Power and American Political Science
  • 2. Neustadt's Power Approach to the Presidency
  • 3. Richard Neustadt in the History of American Political Science
  • PART 2 Presidents as Persuaders and the Personalization of Power
  • 4. Personal Power and Presidents
  • 5. Bargaining and Presidential Power
  • 6. The Timing of Presidential Speeches: Can the President Be an Effective Teacher
  • 7. The President’s Inner Circle: Personality and Leadership Style in Foreign Policy Decision-making
  • PART 3 Organizing and Institutionalizing the Presidency
  • 8. Staffing and Organizing the Presidency
  • 9. The Institutionalization of Power
  • 10. Staffing the White House, 1937-96: The Institutional Implications of Neustadt’s Bargaining Paradigm
  • 11. The Presidential Kaleidoscope: Advisory Networks in Action
  • PART 4 The President in the Political System
  • 12. The President in the Political System: In Neustadt’s Shadow
  • 13. Political Time and Policy Coalitions: Structure and Agency in Presidential Power
  • 14. The Institutional Face of Presidential Power: Congressional Delegation of Authority to the President
  • 15. Hitting the Ground Running: The Politics of Presidential Appointments in Transition
  • PART 5 The Potential for Leadership
  • 16. Presidential Power and the Potential for Leadership
  • 17. Presidential Polling and the Potential for Leadership
  • 18. The President as Message and Messenger: Personal Style and Presidential Communications
  • 19. The Limits of the Transformational Presidency
  • PART 6 Conclusion: Forging the Presidency for the 21st Century
  • 20. A Preachment from Retirement
  • 21. The Impeachment of President Bill Clinton: Background
  • 22. The “Hard Case” for Presidential Power: Impeachment Politics and Law
  • 23. Conclusion: Presidential Power, Institutions, and Democracy
  • Index