Breaking Through the Noise: Presidential Leadership, Public Opinion, and the News MediaModern presidents engage in public leadership through national television addresses, routine speechmaking, and by speaking to local audiences. With these strategies, presidents tend to influence the media's agenda. In fact, presidential leadership of the news media provides an important avenue for indirect presidential leadership of the public, the president's ultimate target audience. Although frequently left out of sophisticated treatments of the public presidency, the media are directly incorporated into this book's theoretical approach and analysis. The authors find that when the public expresses real concern about an issue, such as high unemployment, the president tends to be responsive. But when the president gives attention to an issue in which the public does not have a preexisting interest, he can expect, through the news media, to directly influence public opinion. Eshbaugh-Soha and Peake offer key insights on when presidents are likely to have their greatest leadership successes and demonstrate that presidents can indeed "break through the noise" of news coverage to lead the public agenda. |
Contents
1 Introduction | 1 |
2 Presidential Leadership | 27 |
3 Theoretical Framework and Organization | 45 |
4 A Focused Strategy of Presidential Leadership | 81 |
5 A Sustained Strategy of Presidential Leadership | 120 |
6 Going Local as a Leadership Strategy | 153 |
7 Leadership and Responsiveness in the Public Presidency | 181 |
Keywords Index | 203 |
Notes | 205 |
| 221 | |
| 237 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
affect the public’s agenda leadership agenda setting American analysis attention to Iraq audience Barack Obama Bush’s campaign Canes-Wrone Chapter Clinton Cohen Congress democratic dents domestic travel economic issues efforts Eshbaugh-Soha and Peake examine expectations focus focused strategy George H. W. Bush George W goals Groeling health care reform impact important problem indirect leadership influence Iraq War lead the public leader leadership strategy lic’s media and public media attention media coverage media’s agenda Misery index month national addresses opinion leadership percent policy agenda policy areas policy priorities President Bush President George President Obama president’s agenda presidential attention presidential leadership presidential responsiveness presidential speeches Press public and media public leadership public opinion public support public’s agenda Reagan reelection relationship responsive to public salience hypothesis Social Security reform spending issues strategy of focused strategy of sustained success sustained attention tax cuts trips unemployment Union address variable White House