The Unilateral Presidency and the News Media

The Unilateral Presidency and the News Media PDF Author: Mark Major
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137387890
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Get Book

Book Description
Media coverage of presidential actions can not only serve journalistic purposes, but can also act as a check against unilateral decision making. The book seeks to uncover how the news media has worked to curtail overreaching power within the executive branch, demonstrating how the fourth estate keeps presidential overreach at bay.

The Unilateral Presidency and the News Media

The Unilateral Presidency and the News Media PDF Author: Mark Major
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137387890
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Get Book

Book Description
Media coverage of presidential actions can not only serve journalistic purposes, but can also act as a check against unilateral decision making. The book seeks to uncover how the news media has worked to curtail overreaching power within the executive branch, demonstrating how the fourth estate keeps presidential overreach at bay.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Hiding in Plain Sight PDF Author: Mark Major
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Executive orders
Languages : en
Pages : 186

Get Book

Book Description
This dissertation explores the dynamic process of traditional print and online news media framing of direct presidential actions. Since President George Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality, the proper scope and exercise of executive unilateral powers are an ongoing debate. With a mere "stroke of the pen, " presidents can change the political status quo. However, the legality of unilateral powers remains murky, at best, as the US Constitution is silent about these actions. This research investigates the role of news institutions in bringing attention to these unwritten powers of the presidency, examining the amount of coverage, type of frames that are used, who influences the frames, and whether these frames serve as a substantive check on the unilateral powers of the American presidency. Employing content and textual analyses of more than 1,000 news items and nearly 7,000 quoted sources from the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today as well as top online blogs like Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Townhall, Hot Air, and Michelle Malkin, across twelve presidential administrations, it is argued that the framing of direct presidential action is largely favorable to executive power. This is due to presidential sources being treated as more authoritative than congressional sources and other political actors in the news and a passive political system that is indifferent to presidential unilateral actions. Thus, the news provides cover to the president by normalizing the use of these unwritten powers. However, when the political system pushes back against unitary executive actions, the media responds in kind.

The Myth of the Imperial Presidency

The Myth of the Imperial Presidency PDF Author: Dino P. Christenson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022670436X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 295

Get Book

Book Description
Throughout American history, presidents have shown a startling power to act independently of Congress and the courts. On their own initiative, presidents have taken the country to war, abolished slavery, shielded undocumented immigrants from deportation, declared a national emergency at the border, and more, leading many to decry the rise of an imperial presidency. But given the steep barriers that usually prevent Congress and the courts from formally checking unilateral power, what stops presidents from going it alone even more aggressively? The answer, Dino P. Christenson and Doulas L. Kriner argue, lies in the power of public opinion. With robust empirical data and compelling case studies, the authors reveal the extent to which domestic public opinion limits executive might. Presidents are emboldened to pursue their own agendas when they enjoy strong public support, and constrained when they don’t, since unilateral action risks inciting political pushback, jeopardizing future initiatives, and further eroding their political capital. Although few Americans instinctively recoil against unilateralism, Congress and the courts can sway the public’s view via their criticism of unilateral policies. Thus, other branches can still check the executive branch through political means. As long as presidents are concerned with public opinion, Christenson and Kriner contend that fears of an imperial presidency are overblown.

Power without Persuasion

Power without Persuasion PDF Author: William G. Howell
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400874394
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 263

Get Book

Book Description
Since the early 1960s, scholarly thinking on the power of U.S. presidents has rested on these words: "Presidential power is the power to persuade." Power, in this formulation, is strictly about bargaining and convincing other political actors to do things the president cannot accomplish alone. Power without Persuasion argues otherwise. Focusing on presidents' ability to act unilaterally, William Howell provides the most theoretically substantial and far-reaching reevaluation of presidential power in many years. He argues that presidents regularly set public policies over vocal objections by Congress, interest groups, and the bureaucracy. Throughout U.S. history, going back to the Louisiana Purchase and the Emancipation Proclamation, presidents have set landmark policies on their own. More recently, Roosevelt interned Japanese Americans during World War II, Kennedy established the Peace Corps, Johnson got affirmative action underway, Reagan greatly expanded the president's powers of regulatory review, and Clinton extended protections to millions of acres of public lands. Since September 11, Bush has created a new cabinet post and constructed a parallel judicial system to try suspected terrorists. Howell not only presents numerous new empirical findings but goes well beyond the theoretical scope of previous studies. Drawing richly on game theory and the new institutionalism, he examines the political conditions under which presidents can change policy without congressional or judicial consent. Clearly written, Power without Persuasion asserts a compelling new formulation of presidential power, one whose implications will resound.

The Unilateral Presidency and the News Media

The Unilateral Presidency and the News Media PDF Author: Mark Major
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137387890
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Get Book

Book Description
Media coverage of presidential actions can not only serve journalistic purposes, but can also act as a check against unilateral decision making. The book seeks to uncover how the news media has worked to curtail overreaching power within the executive branch, demonstrating how the fourth estate keeps presidential overreach at bay.

Presidential Power

Presidential Power PDF Author: Richard E. Neustadt
Publisher: Signet Book
ISBN: 9780451024428
Category : Presidents
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book

Book Description


Madison's Nightmare

Madison's Nightmare PDF Author: Peter M. Shane
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226749428
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book

Book Description
The George W. Bush administration’s ambitious—even breathtaking—claims of unilateral executive authority raised deep concerns among constitutional scholars, civil libertarians, and ordinary citizens alike. But Bush’s attempts to assert his power are only the culmination of a near-thirty-year assault on the basic checks and balances of the U.S. government—a battle waged by presidents of both parties, and one that, as Peter M. Shane warns in Madison’s Nightmare, threatens to utterly subvert the founders’ vision of representative government. Tracing this tendency back to the first Reagan administration, Shane shows how this era of "aggressive presidentialism" has seen presidents exerting ever more control over nearly every arena of policy, from military affairs and national security to domestic programs. Driven by political ambition and a growing culture of entitlement in the executive branch—and abetted by a complaisant Congress, riven by partisanship—this presidential aggrandizement has too often undermined wise policy making and led to shallow, ideological, and sometimes outright lawless decisions. The solution, Shane argues, will require a multipronged program of reform, including both specific changes in government practice and broader institutional changes aimed at supporting a renewed culture of government accountability. From the war on science to the mismanaged war on terror, Madison’s Nightmare outlines the disastrous consequences of the unchecked executive—and issues a stern wake-up call to all who care about the fate of our long democratic experiment.

US politics today

US politics today PDF Author: Edward Ashbee
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526124521
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Get Book

Book Description
Not only introducing the defining features of contemporary American politics but also considering the strengths and weaknesses of a system that is now under serious strain, this edition is ideal for students, teaching staff, and the general reader.

Media Attention and Strategic Timing in Politics

Media Attention and Strategic Timing in Politics PDF Author: Milena Djourelova
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Executive orders
Languages : en
Pages : 55

Get Book

Book Description
Do politicians tend to adopt unpopular policies when the media and the public are distracted by other events? We examine this question by analyzing the timing of the signing of executive orders (EOs) by U.S. presidents over the past four decades. We find robust evidence that EOs are more likely to be signed on the eve of days when the news are dominated by other important stories that can crowd out coverage of EOs. Crucially, this relationship only holds in periods of divided government when unilateral presidential actions are more likely to be criticized by a hostile Congress. The effect is driven by EOs that are more likely to make the news and to attract negative publicity, particularly those on topics on which president and Congress disagree. Finally, the timing of EOs appears to be related to predictable news but not to unpredictable ones, which suggests it results from a deliberate and forward-looking PR strategy.

The Dual Executive

The Dual Executive PDF Author: Michelle Belco
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503601986
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book

Book Description
Popular perception holds that presidents act "first and alone," resorting to unilateral orders to promote an agenda and head off unfavorable legislation. Little research, however, has considered the diverse circumstances in which such orders are issued. The Dual Executive reinterprets how and when presidents use unilateral power by illuminating the dual roles of the president. Drawing from an original data set of over 5,000 executive orders and proclamations (the two most frequently used unilateral orders) from the Franklin D. Roosevelt to the George W. Bush administrations (1933–2009), this book situates unilateral orders within the broad scope of executive–legislative relations. Michelle Belco and Brandon Rottinghaus shed light on the shared nature of unilateral power by recasting the executive as both an aggressive "commander" and a cooperative "administrator" who uses unilateral power not only to circumvent Congress, but also to support and facilitate its operations.