POS 4412 Exam 2 Outline I The importance of the Person of President a Neustadt s treatment in Presidential power and personal basis of power largely this is review Power based on persuasion rather than command a Argues that presidents cannot lead directly In other words just because a president says he wants something done does not mean it will be done Instead presidential power is a function of his or her ability to persuade relevant Washington actors that it is their best interest to cooperate b Neustadt s model of persuasive power role of professional reputation public prestige and so forth a Presidents professional reputation how Washington views the president ex governors military leaders and congress The better the reputation of the President the easier it will be to facilitate negotiations to implement policy is basically how the public views the President Even though the public has no direct association with policymaking the public s view of the president affects how legislation moves through the web of American gov t b Public Prestige c He also implies that a president should think and act prospectively so the decision he makes today will aid his ability to persuade tomorrow b The importance and role of presidential personality Barber s treatment 1 Active Positives 2 Active Negatives Importance of character political style and worldwide a b Barber s personality types emerging for activity passivity and positivity negativity dimensions 4 Personality Types invest energy and enjoy the job High self esteem relate well and flexible with big goals Ex JFK Carter Ford FDR and H W Bush intense effort but do not enjoy the job Ex Hoover Nixon LBJ and Wilson manipulated low self esteem is overcome by ingratiating personality and superficially optimistic Ex Reagan duty avoids power and responds rather than initiates avoids conflict and uncertainty Ex Dwight Eisenhower seeks to be loved easily responds to a sense of 4 Passive negatives 3 Passive Positives c Which personality is most dangerous Danger of active negatives inability to admit failure weakness may fixate on failing line of policy Ex Johnson d Criticisms of Barber s approach Too subjective More than two dimensions External events and conditions more important than Like Neustadt reflects bias toward activist liberal personality presidents Renshon s assessment emphasis on Clinton s personality in class Clinton s Personality High Risk taking behavior in personal life Had no model of limits on behavior b Character style emphasis on ambition integrity and relatedness Ambition it is a drive to pursue and accomplish one s objectives and values Too much of it can be dysfunctional because it wraps perceptions obscures reality and tends toward rationalizing decisions rather than deciding problems rationally Integrity it is the capacity to remain true to one s ideals and beliefs standing for something and acting on it Integrity provides an ethical framework that makes it possible for people to see and understand themselves within the greater society Relatedness how a person interacts with other Interpersonal relations can be friendly or hostile intimate or distant Greenstein s treatment and his presidential assessments in The Presidential Difference what are six qualities that Greenstein assesses which does he think is the single most important which modern presidents are especially strong and weak with various qualities a Six qualities that relate to Presidential Performance HIGH JFK FDR Reagan HIGH Eisenhower LOW Public Communication Organizational capacity LOW Clinton CARTER Political Skills Vision Bush LOW Reagan Truman Cognitive Style HIGH LBJ Reagan LOW Carter HIGH Nixon Eisenhower LOW H W HIGH Nixon Eisenhower JFK Emotional Intelligence LOW LBJ Nixon Clinton HIGH Ford H W Bush b For Greenstein EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE is key President s ability to manage his her emotions and turn them to constructive purposes rather than being dominated by them and allowing them to diminish his her leadership II PRESIDENT AND THE PUBLIC a Public approval and factors that affect it Public Approval the in real time assessment Gallop Do you approve or disapprove of the way the President is handling his job Approval Ratings a Role of Time honeymoon followed by decay mueller s Coalition of Minorities makes it inevitable that the President s approval rate will decline b Role of Economy c Role of international events d Role of scandal b Kernell s Going Public Strategy Leadership strategy involves public appeals generalized Force Pressure on other politicians coercive strategy costs and penalties Bully in the pulpit of the Presidency Differs from Neustadt s Public Prestige which enhances Presidents ability to persuade bargain others in D C outsiders Presidents with weal ties to party and D C and inexperienced at bargaining persuasion experienced at appealing to the public advances in technology and transportation Why How c Rise of Presidential Polling and the Permanent Campaign Permanent campaign as a combination of image making and strategic calculation that turns governing into a perpetual campaign and remarks gov t into an instrument designed to sustain and elected officials popularity Creation of polling spawned an immense industry for studying manufacturing organizing and manipulating public voices in support of candidates and causes III PRESEIDENCY AND THE MEDIA a Nature of the relationship Reporters first obtained space in the white house in 1896 but it was Theodore Roosevelt who made the greatest strides in exploiting the new opportunities to reach the public provided by the mass circulation press Presidents have found that they need the press because it is their primary link to the people b Press Office and Press Secretary Because of the importance of the press to the president the white house goes to great lengths to encourage the administration policies Efforts include holding press conferences interviews and daily handouts The President s press secretary is the person in the white house who daily deals directly with the press making announcements regarding policies responding to the actions and criticisms of others and commenting on breaking news To be effective to Press secretary must maintain 1 Truth 2 Access to and respect of the president and senior white house officials Press secretary also serves as conduits from the press sometimes explaining the needs of the press to the President c Phases of Modern Journalism in Regards to the