This volume of Presidential Studies Quarterly features articles from top scholars on issues ranging from theoretical Presidential studies to the crucial role empathy plays during a President's term. Fresh themes are touched upon, such as the Vice Presidential vetting process, and debate sizzles from the college campuses to the Capitol.
Terry Moe's "The Revolution in Presidential Studies" examines the pivotal role Rational Choice Theory has had on theoretical discussions in the past, while suggesting that a more scientific, computational and agent-based model will become the prime vehicle through which to study Presidential efficacy. Clay Johnson, Former Deputy Director for Management in the Office of Management and Budget and the man charged with preparing federal agencies for the transition from the Bush to Obama Administrations, explains the unique factors that lead to a superbly orderly passing of duties. Professor Martha Kumar of Towson University weighs in on the transition as well, pointing to unprecedented planning from both the Bush and Obama campaigns that led to a new level of cooperation between the outgoing and incoming Administrations. Mel Laracey's commentary on Jeffrey Tulis' The Rhetorical Presidency sparks lively conversation amongst academics about the communicative methods employed by pre-20th century Presidents, and Fordham Professor Costas Panagopoulos examines the accuracy and bias in national and sub-national pre-election polls conducted during the 2008 Presidential cycle.
Announcements
Karen Hult Steps Down as Book Review Editor
The 2010 George C. Edwards III Dissertation Award
Articles
The Eagleton Affair: Thomas Eagleton, George McGovern, and the 1972 Vice Presidential Nomination - James N. Giglio
Checking Presidential Detention Power in the War on Terror: What Should We Expect from the Judiciary? - Darren A. Wheeler
Symposium: The Future of Presidential Studies
The Revolution in Presidential Studies - Terry M. Moe
We All Want a Revolution: Neustadt, New Institutionalism, and the Future of Presidency Research - Matthew J. Dickinson
Building Reliable Theories of the Presidency - Lawrence R. Jacobs
Thoughts on "The Revolution in Presidential Studies" - Kenneth R. Mayer
Does the Revolution in Presidential Studies Mean "Off With the President's Head"? - Bert A. Rockman
Mission Accomplished - Stephen Skowronek
Pontificating About Moe's Pontifications - B. Dan Wood
Transition Studies
The 2008-2009 Presidential Transition: Preparing Federal Agencies - Clay Johnson
The 2008-2009 Presidential Transition Through the Voices of Its Participants - Martha Joynt Kumar
Features
The Contemporary Presidency: The Political Utility of Empathy in Presidential Leadership - Colleen J. Shogan
The Law: Bush, Cheney, and the Separation of Powers: A Lasting Legal Legacy? - Gordon Silverstein
Polls and Elections: Preelection Poll Accuracy in the 2008 General Elections - Costas Panagopoulos
ControversyThe Rhetorical Presidency Today: How Does It Stand Up? - Mel Laracey
The Rhetorical Presidency: Still Standing Tall - David A. Crockett
Book Reviews
From the Primaries to the Polls: How to Repair America's Broken Presidential Nomination Process by Thomas Gangale - Wayne P. Steger
The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform by Marty Cohen, David Karol, Hans Noel, and John Zaller - Holly Brasher
Attack Politics: Negativity in Presidential Campaigns Since 1960 by Emmett H. Buell, Jr., and Lee Sigelman - Todd L. Belt
Spinner in Chief: How Presidents Sell Their Policies and Themselves by Stephen J. Farnsworth - Charles Bierbauer
The Right Talk: How Conservatives Transformed the Great Society into the Economic Society by Mark A. Smith - Donald T. Critchlow
Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Training and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning by Robert J. Spitzer - David Schultz
Power Play: The Bush Presidency and the Constitution by James P. Pfiffner - Artemus Ward
Apocalypse Management: Eisenhower and the Discourse of National Insecurity by Ira Chernus - T. Michael Ruddy
National Missile Defence and the Politics of U.S. Identity: A Poststructural Critique by Natalie Bormann - Laura Sjoberg
Intelligence and National Security Policymaking on Iraq: British and American Perspectives edited by James P. Pfiffner and Mark Phythian - David N. Edger
U.S. Presidents and Latin American Interventions: Pursuing Regime Change in the Cold War by Michael Grow - Gregory Weeks
Woodrow Wilson: Princeton to the Presidency by W. Barksdale Maynard - Brian J. Cook
Barbara Bush: Presidential Matriarch by Myra G. Gutin - Lisa M. Burns
Staff Contact
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