Inside Texas Politics provides students with an exciting insider's perspective on the world of Texas government. Its focus on how power struggles have shaped Texas institutions and political processes
"Recent research has described how broadly difficult it is for presidents to lead public opinion and thereby push through government policy changes they seek. Marshalling a comprehensive set of data a
The cornerstone of the public presidency is the ability of the White House to influence, shape, and even manipulate public opinion. Ultimately, although much has been written about presidential leader
Watergate, Iran-Contra, Lewinsky, Enron, Bridgegate: according to the popular media, executive scandals are ubiquitous. Although individual scandals persist in the public memory and as the subject of academic study, how do we understand the impacts of executive indiscretion or malfeasance as a whole? What effect, if any, do scandals have on political polarization, governance, and, most importantly, democratic accountability? Recognizing the important and enduring role of scandals in American government, this book proposes a common intellectual framework for understanding their nature and political effects. Brandon Rottinghaus takes a systematic look the dynamics of the duration of scandals, the way they affect presidents and governors' capacity to govern, and the strategic choices executives make in confronting scandal at both the state and national levels. His findings reveal much about not only scandal, but the operation of American politics.
Popular perception holds that presidents act "first and alone," resorting to unilateral orders to promote their agenda and head off unfavorable legislation. Little research, however, has considered th
