The Provisional Pulpit

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The Provisional Pulpit

Author : Brandon Rottinghaus
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
ISBN 13 : 1603441956
Total Pages : 343 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis The Provisional Pulpit by : Brandon Rottinghaus

Download or read book The Provisional Pulpit written by Brandon Rottinghaus and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2010-04-07 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The cornerstone of the public presidency is the ability of the White House to influence, shape, and even manipulate public opinion. Ultimately, although much has been written about presidential leadership of opinion, we are still left with many questions pertaining to the success of presidential opinion leadership efforts throughout the modern presidency. What is still missing is a systematic, sequential approach to describe empirical trends in presidential leadership of public opinion in order to expand on important scholarly queries, to resolve empirical disputes in the literature, and to check the accuracy of conventional political wisdom on how, when, and under what conditions presidents lead public opinion. In The Provisional Pulpit, Brandon Rottinghaus develops a simple theory of presidential leadership, arguing that presidential messages are more likely to be received if there are fewer countervailing agents or messages to contradict the president’s message. He concludes, based upon the findings presented in this book, that the “bully pulpit” is largely provisional for modern presidents. The more the president can avoid the political echo chamber associated with partisan battles or communications, the better the chance the president has to lead public opinion. The Provisional Pulpit adds an important layer of understanding to the issue of how and under what conditions presidents lead public opinion. All modern presidents clearly attempt to lead public opinion; often, due to factors outside their control, they fail. This book is an exploration into how and when they succeed.

Image of U.S. Presidential Administrations

Author : Célia Belim
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 0739178261
Total Pages : 269 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Image of U.S. Presidential Administrations by : Célia Belim

Download or read book Image of U.S. Presidential Administrations written by Célia Belim and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2012-12-16 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited collection analyzes two American presidential administrations–George W. and Barack Obama. This book gives a European point of view and contributes to the study of U.S. presidencies. Making a comparison and giving outlooks from European academics’ standpoints, the political image analyzed fulfills a critical gab in the literature. Playing multiple hands, this work encompasses the vigor of young academics and the sapience of experienced researchers.

New Directions in Media and Politics

Author : Travis N. Ridout
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351364014
Total Pages : 567 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (513 download)

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Book Synopsis New Directions in Media and Politics by : Travis N. Ridout

Download or read book New Directions in Media and Politics written by Travis N. Ridout and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-10-09 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It would be difficult to find a more interesting topic than the relationship between the news media and politics, especially given that Americans are now living in the "Twitter presidency" of Donald Trump. Academic research in the area of media and politics is rapidly breaking new ground to keep pace with prolific media developments and societal changes. This innovative, up-to-date text moves beyond rudimentary concepts and definitions to consider exciting research as well as practical applications that address monumental changes in media systems in the US and the world. This carefully crafted volume explores key questions posed by academics and practitioners alike, exposing students to rigorous scholarship as well as everyday challenges confronted by politicians, journalists, and media consumers. Each chapter opens with a "big question" about the impact of the news media, provides an overview of the more general topic, and then answers that question by appealing to the best, most-up-to-date research in the field. The volume as a whole is held together by an exploration of the rapidly changing media environment and the influence these changes have on individual political behavior and governments as a whole. New Directions in Media and Politics makes an ideal anchor for courses as it digs deeper into the questions that standard textbooks only hint at—and presents scholarly evidence to support the arguments made. New to the Second Edition Fully updated through the 2016 elections and the early Trump presidency with a special focus on the role of social media. Adds three new chapters: The Move to Mobile; Media and Public Policy; and Fake News. Adds Discussion Questions to the end of each chapter.

Speechwriting in the Institutionalized Presidency

Author : Kenneth Collier
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 1498553729
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (985 download)

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Book Synopsis Speechwriting in the Institutionalized Presidency by : Kenneth Collier

Download or read book Speechwriting in the Institutionalized Presidency written by Kenneth Collier and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2018-04-18 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the development of presidential speechwriting from the administration of Franklin Roosevelt to the present. It argues that the institutionalization of speechwriting that has been blamed for bland presidential rhetoric has actually served the president well by helping presidents avoid the adverse effect of poorly chosen words.

The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations

Author : Justin S. Vaughn
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
ISBN 13 : 1623491215
Total Pages : 245 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (234 download)

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Book Synopsis The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations by : Justin S. Vaughn

Download or read book The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations written by Justin S. Vaughn and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2014-02-15 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Campaign rhetoric helps candidates to get elected, but its effects last well beyond the counting of the ballots; this was perhaps never truer than in Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. Did Obama create such high expectations that they actually hindered his ability to enact his agenda? Should we judge his performance by the scale of the expectations his rhetoric generated, or against some other standard? The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency grapples with these and other important questions. Barack Obama’s election seemed to many to fulfill Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the “long arc of the moral universe . . . bending toward justice.” And after the terrorism, war, and economic downturn of the previous decade, candidate Obama’s rhetoric cast broad visions of a change in the direction of American life. In these and other ways, the election of 2008 presented an especially strong example of creating expectations that would shape the public’s views of the incoming administration. The public’s high expectations, in turn, become a part of any president’s burden upon assuming office. The interdisciplinary scholars who have contributed to this volume focus their analysis upon three kinds of presidential burdens: institutional burdens (specific to the office of the presidency); contextual burdens (specific to the historical moment within which the president assumes office); and personal burdens (specific to the individual who becomes president).

The Black Deal

Author : Freddie R. Burnett
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 13 : 1465330194
Total Pages : 170 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (653 download)

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Book Synopsis The Black Deal by : Freddie R. Burnett

Download or read book The Black Deal written by Freddie R. Burnett and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2011-05-26 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Madam Nancy Mae Webster is a successful black nightclub and restaurant owner during the 50s and 60s Jim-Crow South. Due to her heroin addiction and a heroin overdose her lifes story becomes the body of the story as it is told by the conscious of her incarcerated son, while he waits to see her in the waiting room at the hospital. Her white-like skin and her sons very black complexion complicate everything. The great differences in their complexions are the results of her being raped and left for dead by two black men when she is an innocent young farm girl in West Tennessee. The son, Joel Webster, is the hopeful protagonist of his own story, while he is the despised antagonist in the story of his mothers trouble-ridden life. The two dramatic tales have him as a convict visiting the hospital to see his dying mother, while guarded by two sets of alternating prison guards one good and the other one bad. He tries to escape from his own impending death from jailhouse hit men because he witnesses two guards beating a black inmate to death in his jail cell and they want him dead where he can't testify against them. His and his mothers world are split in two black and white worlds that create tension and friction between family members. There are the two uncles Tom and Pete that add suspense to his every thought as he recalls his dying mothers life from her innocent childhood to her reprehensible demise at forty-one years old. Joel Webster is born into a life of rejection, hatred, and violence because of his black skin and being the son of one of the two black men that raped his mother and his uncles had killed for doing it. After much painful recalling a beautiful black woman that looks white, and his mothers double life as she passes for white in a bigoted society, and the rich white man that she loves and he loves her, he meets Bobby Lucky. He tells a different side of Nancys life and his own life and his wife is ready to kick him out and his mother threatens to disinherit him from the familys fortune if he doesnt dump his Negro mistress. He repents and begs Joel for forgiveness for separating him from his mother when he is younger. He befriends Joel and works to help him get out of jail. He tells Joel everything that has happened to Nancy in the white world where she lives in a fine mansion with her heroin addiction and her servants that she struggles to conceal her true identity from while he is in reform school and jail. Joel is arrested for a robbery that he doesnt commit. Joels life story is told in the present time of the early 70s when the civil-right struggles are in full-bloom and hes in the protests. Drugs and riotous living invade the black community like a wave of cold air and he sees the devastating effects of it in many of those around him. Nancys best friend, Helen Bond, sheds many tears while Bobby Lucky tells of Nancys heroin addiction and her betrayal. Nancy only wants to become a schoolteacher and have a family but life gives her everything but what she wants. She befriends the wrong person and it destroys her. Helen Bond serves her heroin when she is at her lowest point or what she thinks is her lowest point until the heroin hooks her. Her grandma Tina has long been dead but her pain goes deep into her grave. Her black son is a paradox in her life and he is the only link to her true identity in her white-world existence and she evades him at a great cost to both of their lives. She doesnt want to work as a five-dollar-per-day maid any longer and she takes a job in a house of prostitution as a recruiter. She is soon able to give her son everything he wants but her love and he goes to the reform school to escape his torment on the streets from everyone that knows him because of what his mother does for a living. She meets and old acquaintance who is rich and white and madly in love with her. He takes her out of the whorehouse and sets her up with a nightclub and restaurant. Still her jealous fr

Presidential Road Show

Author : Diane J. Heith
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317253531
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (172 download)

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Book Synopsis Presidential Road Show by : Diane J. Heith

Download or read book Presidential Road Show written by Diane J. Heith and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-12-03 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Presidential Road Show: Public Leadership in an Era of Party Polarization and Media Fragmentation, Diane J. Heith evaluates presidential leadership by critically examining a fundamental tenet of the presidency: the national nature of the office. The fact that the entire nation votes for the office seemingly imbues the presidency with leadership opportunities that rest on appeals to the mass public. Yet, presidents earn the office not by appealing to the nation but rather by assembling a coalition of supporters, predominantly partisans. Moreover, once in office, recent presidents have had trouble controlling their message in the fragmented media environment. The combined constraints of the electoral coalition and media environment influence the nature of public leadership presidents can exercise. Using a data set containing not only speech content but also the classification of the audience, Diane J. Heith finds that rhetorical leadership is constituency driven and targets audiences differently. Comparing tone, content, and tactics of national and local speeches reveals that presidents are abandoning national strategies in favor of local leadership efforts that may be tailored to the variety of political contexts a president must confront.

The Obama Legacy

Author : Bert A. Rockman
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
ISBN 13 : 0700627901
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis The Obama Legacy by : Bert A. Rockman

Download or read book The Obama Legacy written by Bert A. Rockman and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2019-05-31 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Hope” and “change” were the keywords of President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, and in his farewell address on January 10, 2017, he cited the evidence that he’d delivered—from reversing the Great Recession, rebooting the auto industry, and unleashing the longest stretch of job creation in the nation’s history to winning marriage equality and securing the right to health insurance for another 20 million citizens. At the same time, and with a view to the country’s divisive polarization, he made a plea for “the decency of our people” and “the sense of common purpose that we so badly need right now.” In hindsight, it is increasingly possible to understand whether and how Obama’s legacy matched his rhetoric as well as to evaluate from various angles what his presidency accomplished and what this has meant for US politics, public policy, and civic life going forward. In The Obama Legacy some of the leading observers and scholars of US politics take up this challenge. In twelve essays these writers examine Obama’s choices, operating style, and opportunities taken and missed as well as the institutional and political constraints on the president’s policy agenda. What were Obama’s personal characteristics as a leader? What were the policy aspirations, output, and strategy of his presidency? What was his role as a political and public leader to the various constituencies needed to generate presidential power? And how did his presidency interact with other political forces? Addressing these questions and others, the authors analyze Obama’s preferences, tactics, successes, and shortcomings with an eye toward balancing the personal and institutional factors that underlie each—all the while considering how resilient or fragile Obama’s legacy will be in the face of the Trump administration’s eager efforts to dismantle it.

The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security

Author : Nikolas K. Gvosdev
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190680016
Total Pages : 705 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (96 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security by : Nikolas K. Gvosdev

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security written by Nikolas K. Gvosdev and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 705 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Oxford Handbook of US National Security frames the context, institutions, and processes the US government uses to advance national interests through foreign policy, government institutions, and grand strategy. Contributors examine contemporary national security challenges and the processes and tools used to improve national security."--Provided by publisher.

The Ubiquitous Presidency

Author : Joshua M. Scacco
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0197520634
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (975 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ubiquitous Presidency by : Joshua M. Scacco

Download or read book The Ubiquitous Presidency written by Joshua M. Scacco and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2021 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "American democracy is in a period of striking tumult. The clash of a rapidly changing socio-technological environment and the traditional presidency has led to an upheaval in the scope and standards of executive leadership. Research on the presidency, although abundant, has been slow to adjust to changing realities associated with digital technologies, diverse audiences, and new political practices. Meanwhile, journalists and the public continue to encounter and shape emerging presidential efforts in deeply consequential ways. This book offers a comprehensive framework for understanding contemporary presidential communication: the ubiquitous presidency. Presidents harness new opportunities in the media environment to create a nearly constant and highly visible presence in political and nonpolitical arenas. They do this by trying to achieve longstanding presidential goals, namely visibility, adaptation, and control. However, in an environment where accessibility, personalization, and pluralism are omnipresent considerations, the strategies presidents use to achieve their goals are very different from what we once knew. Using this novel framework, the book undertakes one of the most expansive analyses of presidential communication to date. A wide variety of approaches-ranging from surveys and survey-experiments, to large-scale automated content and network analyses, to qualitative textual analysis-uncover new aspects of the intricate relationship between the president, news media, and the public. Focusing on the presidency since Ronald Reagan, and devoting particular attention to the cases of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the book uncovers remarkable shifts in communication that test the institution of the presidency and, consequently, democratic governance itself"--

The Informal Powers of Western European Presidents

Author : Selena Grimaldi
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031333306
Total Pages : 531 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (313 download)

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Book Synopsis The Informal Powers of Western European Presidents by : Selena Grimaldi

Download or read book The Informal Powers of Western European Presidents written by Selena Grimaldi and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-08-14 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book explores how weak presidents directly or indirectly elected can still play a crucial role in the political arena. Weak presidents have been distinguished from strong ones by relying on the evaluation of the powers they display according to the constitution. Six Western European countries are analysed: Germany and Italy which present a consistent constitutional design (as weak presidents are elected indirectly), and Austria, Ireland, Finland and Portugal that present inconsistent constitutional design (as weak presidents are elected directly). In contrast to much of the existing comparative works on presidential powers and activism, the book emphasises the role and the use of informal powers beyond that of formal ones. In particular, a definition and a typology of informal powers are provided as well as an empirical investigation on informal presidential activism. The positive outcome of presidential informal interventions are studied by relying on an interactionist approach which combines presidency-centred as well as president centred-explanations. The book argues that when dealing with informal presidential activism the opportunity structure matters but presidential public support matters even more.

Selling War, Selling Hope

Author : Anthony R. DiMaggio
Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 1438457952
Total Pages : 433 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (384 download)

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Book Synopsis Selling War, Selling Hope by : Anthony R. DiMaggio

Download or read book Selling War, Selling Hope written by Anthony R. DiMaggio and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2015-09-21 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Details how presidents utilize mass media to justify foreign policy objectives in the aftermath of 9/11. Modern presidents have considerable power in selling U.S. foreign policy objectives to the public. In Selling War, Selling Hope, Anthony R. DiMaggio documents how presidents often make use of the media to create a positive informational environment that, at least in the short term, successfully builds public support for policy proposals. Using timely case studies with a focus on the Arab Spring and the U.S. War on Terror in the Middle East and surrounding regions, DiMaggio explains how official spin is employed to construct narratives that are sympathetic to U.S. officialdom. The mass media, rather than exhibiting independence when it comes to reporting foreign policy issues, is regularly utilized as a political tool for selling official proposals. The marginalization of alternative, critical viewpoints poses a significant obstacle to informed public deliberations on foreign policy issues. In the long run, however, the packaging of official narrative and its delivery by the media begins to unravel as citizens are able to make use of alternative sources of information and assert their independence from official viewpoints. Selling War, Selling Hope is an innovative project that pushes the fields of political science, political communication, public opinion, and presidential rhetoric into new and exciting directions. This book is essential reading. Mark Major, author of The Unilateral Presidency and the News Media: The Politics of Framing Executive Power This eye-opening exposition offers a radical new conclusion to the debate over why Americans oppose wars: Americans oppose particular wars for moral reasons. By capturing the wide range of presidential rhetoric from fear to hope, DiMaggio documents the depths plumbed by political and other elites to manipulate the American public to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In order to counteract American citizens moral opposition to war, political elites manipulate citizens fears into support for war by giving them hope, but the policies they choose, more often than not, lead to more war and reason for fear which creates a vicious cycle: fearhopewar. The challenge we face is to break through the noise and the manipulation of political, economic, and military elites. DiMaggio offers us a way to see clearly. Amentahru Wahlrab, University of Texas at Tyler

Trump Tweets, the World Reacts

Author : Regina Luttrell
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 1498563090
Total Pages : 245 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (985 download)

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Book Synopsis Trump Tweets, the World Reacts by : Regina Luttrell

Download or read book Trump Tweets, the World Reacts written by Regina Luttrell and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2018-05-25 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Trump Tweets, the World Reacts: Understanding What Is Relevant and Why illustrates and articulates the intimate connection between theories presented in communication and the mediums through which President Trump communicates. Drawing on a range of theoretical and empirical perspectives, this collection examines several transformations and implications of President Trump’s influence on the social sphere, within economies, among government entities, and on the communications profession.

Presidential Framing in the 21st Century News Media

Author : Jennifer Rose Hopper
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1315474123
Total Pages : 162 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (154 download)

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Book Synopsis Presidential Framing in the 21st Century News Media by : Jennifer Rose Hopper

Download or read book Presidential Framing in the 21st Century News Media written by Jennifer Rose Hopper and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-01-20 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act came into existence at a time when the president’s ability to lead the public was in question, political polarization had intensified, and the media environment appeared ever more fragmented, fast-moving, and resistant to control. Under such circumstances, how can contemporary American presidents such as Barack Obama build and maintain support for themselves and their policies, particularly as controversies arise? Using case studies of major contests over how key elements of the Affordable Care Act would be framed, and analysis of how those frames fared in influential and popular U.S. news sources, Hopper examines the conditions under which the president can effectively shape public debates today. She argues that despite the difficult political and communications context, the president retains substantial advantages in framing major controversial issues for the media and the public. These presidential framing advantages are conditional, however, and Hopper explores the factors that help make presidential frames more or less likely to gain hold in the news today. More so than in the past, an element of unpredictability in this news environment means that in pursuing favorable messaging, the president and his surrogates may also generate some unintentional consequences in how issues are portrayed to the public. Presidential frames can evolve with unfolding events to take on new meanings and applications, a process facilitated alternately by supporters, opponents, and media actors. Still, media figures and political opponents remain largely reactive to presidential communications, even as some seek to publicize and exploit weaknesses in the administration’s narratives. A close look at these recent cases casts new light on the scholarly debate surrounding the president’s ability to persuasively communicate and challenges conventional wisdom that the 21st century media largely present an unmanageable news environment for the White House. Presidential Framing in the 21st Century News Media engages with current events in American politics, focusing on the Obama Administration and the Affordable Care Act, while also reflecting upon the state of the American presidency, the news media, and the public in ways that have substantial implications for all of these actors, not merely in the present, but into the future, making it a compelling read for scholars of Political Science, Media Studies, Communication Studies, and Public Policy.

Elite-Led Mobilization and Gay Rights

Author : Benjamin George Bishin
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472038648
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis Elite-Led Mobilization and Gay Rights by : Benjamin George Bishin

Download or read book Elite-Led Mobilization and Gay Rights written by Benjamin George Bishin and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grassroots America supports LBGTQ rights even when leaders do not

The Presidency and Immigration Policy

Author : Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1003801927
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (38 download)

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Book Synopsis The Presidency and Immigration Policy by : Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha

Download or read book The Presidency and Immigration Policy written by Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-11-30 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive analysis of presidential immigration rhetoric quantifies the frequency, tone, and efficacy of public mentions of immigrants and immigration policy by the presidents from Washington through Biden. The book also explores the intersection of the presidential role with that of the other key actors in the immigration policy system—notably the press, the public, and Congress. For students of immigration studies, presidential studies, and political communication, this book also poses the question of which is of the greatest significance to the immigration policy agenda: presidential leadership making immigration a top priority or existing legislative support for comprehensive immigration reform.

Who Governs?

Author : James N. Druckman
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022623455X
Total Pages : 205 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (262 download)

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Book Synopsis Who Governs? by : James N. Druckman

Download or read book Who Governs? written by James N. Druckman and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America’s model of representational government rests on the premise that elected officials respond to the opinions of citizens. This is a myth, however, not a reality, according to James N. Druckman and Lawrence R. Jacobs. In Who Governs?, Druckman and Jacobs combine existing research with novel data from US presidential archives to show that presidents make policy by largely ignoring the views of most citizens in favor of affluent and well-connected political insiders. Presidents treat the public as pliable, priming it to focus on personality traits and often ignoring it on policies that fail to become salient. Melding big debates about democratic theory with existing research on American politics and innovative use of the archives of three modern presidents—Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan—Druckman and Jacobs deploy lively and insightful analysis to show that the conventional model of representative democracy bears little resemblance to the actual practice of American politics. The authors conclude by arguing that polyarchy and the promotion of accelerated citizen mobilization and elite competition can improve democratic responsiveness. An incisive study of American politics and the flaws of representative government, this book will be warmly welcomed by readers interested in US politics, public opinion, democratic theory, and the fecklessness of American leadership and decision-making.