The Executive BranchJoel D. Aberbach, Mark A. Peterson The presidency and the agencies of the executive branch are deeply interwoven with other core institutions of American government and politics. While the framers of the Constitution granted power to the president, they likewise imbued the legislative and judicial branches of government with the powers necessary to hold the executive in check. The Executive Branch, edited byJoel D. Aberbach and Mark A. Peterson, examines the delicate and shifting balance among the three branches of government, which is constantly renegotiated as political leaders contend with the public's paradoxical sentiments-yearning for strong executive leadership yet fearing too much executive power, and welcoming the benefits of public programs yet uneasy about, and indeed often distrusting, big government. The Executive Branch, a collection of essays by some of the nation's leading political scientists and public policy scholars, examines the historical emergence and contemporary performance of the presidency and bureaucracy, as well as their respective relationships with the Congress, the courts, political parties, and American federalism. Presidential elections are defining moments for the nation's democracy-by linking citizens directly to their government, elections serve as a mechanism for exercising collective public choice. After the election, however, the work of government begins and involves elected and appointed political leaders at all levels of government, career civil servants, government contractors, interest organizations, the media, and engaged citizens. The essays in this volume delve deeply into the organizations and politics that make the executive branch such a complex and fascinating part of American government. The volume provides an assessment from the past to the present of the role and development of the presidency and executive branch agencies, including analysis of the favorable and problematic strategies, and personal attributes, that presidents have brought to the challenge of leadership. It examines the presidency and the executive agencies both separately and together as they influence-or are influenced by-other major institutions of American government and politics, with close attention to how they relate to civic participation and democracy. |
Contents
The Evolution of National Bureaucracy in the United States | 41 |
Giving Direction to Government in Comparative Perspective | 72 |
Presidential Elections and American Democracy Stephen J Wayne | 103 |
The Paradox of Politicization | 135 |
Presidential | 174 |
The Person of the President Leadership and Greatness | 218 |
The Legacies | 243 |
The People and the Challenge | 283 |
The President Congress and | 312 |
Reforming the Executive Branch of the U S Government | 344 |
SECTION | 377 |
The Executive Branch and the Legislative Process | 419 |
The Courts Jurisprudence and the Executive Branch | 452 |
Federalism and the Executive Branch Thomas Gais and James Fossett | 486 |
Dilemmas of the Executive Branch | 525 |
Other editions - View all
Institutions of American Democracy: The Executive Branch Joel D. Aberbach,Mark A. Peterson No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
Aberbach action agenda American Political authority Bill Clinton Brookings Institution Brownlow Committee budget bureaucracy Bush Bush's Cabinet campaign candidates career century civil servants civil service Clinton coalition Committee congressional Constitution created decisions democracy Democratic Department domestic economic efforts elected officials electoral employees executive agencies executive branch Executive Office federal government Federalist Federalist Paper George George H. W. Bush George W grants Homeland Security Independent Commission influence interest groups issues leaders legislative major Medicaid ment modern presidency national security Nixon organizations parliamentary system partisan Patricia Ingraham percent political appointees Political Science politicized polling presidential leadership presidential power prime minister problem programs public service Reagan reform regulation regulatory Republican responsibility Richard Richard Nixon role Roosevelt Senate spending strategy subgroups Supreme Court tion tive United University Press veto vote voters waivers Washington White House White House staff Wirthlin York