The President's Agenda: Domestic Policy Choice from Kennedy to Clinton

By Paul Light

Book Overview

In this third edition, Paul Light updates his study by weighing the successes and failures of the Bush and Clinton presidencies in setting up a legislative agenda of domestic issues for Congress. The most noticeable development, according to Light, is the shrinking of the agenda and the absence of fresh new ideas. Explaining the emergence of the derivative presidency, he attributes this increasingly limited social arena to the problems associated with the end of the welfare state, the thickening of government, the problems of the budget, the Reagan effect, and the changing nature of party politics.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801860652
• ISBN13: 9780801860652
• Release Date: December 1998
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 6.5"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Excellent!

Understanding how presidents make policy decisions in the modern political environment can help us understand the constraints operating serious change. Presidents often feel they have a certain agenda to push through the system: that is why they were elected. However, it is far easier said than done. Instead of coming up with unique ideas to address the problems of the country, a president's staff must choose from among policy ideas that have already been floating around. Presidents are often forced to choose between legislative success and good policy - they usually choose the former at the expense of the latter. Hence the country is stuck with a no-win presidency. This book is well researched through extensive staff intereviews and first hand accounts of the inner workings of many past presidencies. If you have ANY interest in the presidency, this is a definite book to have on your shelf.