Presidential Leadership: Politics and Policy Making

PUBLISHING JANUARY 3, 2020!

This book is about the leadership dilemma that all presidents face. First they must win election. Once in office, they need to obtain the public’s support, win Congress’s backing for legislation, make wise decisions, and implement a vast array of policies. The authors examine how presidents attempt to fulfill their responsibilities, exercise their powers, and utilize their organizational structures to affect the output of government. To do so, they posit two models of presidential leadership: one in which a strong president dominates his environment as a director of change, and one in which the president has a more limited role as facilitator of change. These models provide students with a framework with which to better understand leadership in the modern presidency, and evaluate the performance of individual presidents.

The eleventh edition is richly illustrated with timely examples and wide-ranging coverage of the Trump presidency in every chapter. Moreover, separate chapters are devoted to essential aspects of President Trump’s approach to governing such as on media relations, leading the public, and decision making.

New to this Edition

Expanded treatment of the president’s constitutional authority and the development of presidential powersExplanation of political science research on the 2016 presidential electionExtensive discussions of unilateral actionHistorical development of presidential staff and White House OrganizationDonald Trump’s challenge to longstanding norms and practices

George C. Edwards III is University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies at Texas A&M University. He has served as both the Winant Professor of American Government and the Olin Professor of American Government at Oxford. He was also the founder and from 1991-2001 the director of The Center for Presidential Studies. A leading scholar of the presidency, he has written or edited 26 books on American politics and public policy making and more than 80 articles and book chapters.

Kenneth Mayer is professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His expertise is in the presidency, campaign finance, and election administration. He is the author of With the Stroke of a Pen: Executive Orders and Presidential Power, and an award-winning teacher.

Steve Wayne is professor of political science at Georgetown University. An expert on the American Presidency, he has authored over 100 articles, chapters, and book reviews and written 12 books, several in multiple editions, including Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Election?