Between the Branches: The White House Office of Legislative Affairs
- ISBN-10
- 0822939789
- ISBN-13
- 9780822939788
- Category
- Political science (General)
- Pages
- 330
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1997
- Publisher
- University of Pittsburgh Press
- Author
- Kenneth E. Collier
Description
Because of the power-fearing drafters of the U.S. Constitution, the president's tools for influencing Congress are quite limited. Presidents have had to look beyond the formal powers of the office to push a legislative agenda. In Between the Branches, a book of unprecedented depth, Kenneth Collier traces the evolution of White House influence in Congress over nine administrations -- from Eisenhower to Clinton.
The gulf between the president and Congress is crossed by "unsung warriors", the presidential aides of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Collier argues that the experience of these aides -- their roles, problems, and strategies -- provides the best insight on this important relationship. Collier conducted interviews with many of these White House emissaries, as well as with members of Congress, to find the sources of presidential influence not found in broad quantitative studies. Using original documents from presidential libraries, he also provides a detailed comparative analysis of influence in every administration since the first White House office dedicated to working with Congress was established in 1953.
Collier concludes that, more than anything else, it is the president's ability to affect lawmakers' chances of reelection that gets results on Capitol Hill. Collier also shows how presidents have continually had to seek out new ways to win legislative victories-including a range of public strategies like election mandates -- because of an evolving paradox: Presidents are elected to lead, but representatives get votes by showing independence from the president.
Between the Branches will enlighten students of the presidency, Congress, and all thoseinterested in American politics.
"To this multi-administration study collier brings a firm grasp of the existing literature, first-hand examination of the documents in presidential libraries, and elite interviews collected from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. The product is a thoroughly documented account of how presidents seek to influence Congress as well as how Congress register reciprocal effects on the president". Joseph A. Pika, University of Delaware
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 1997
- 330 pages
- Paperback
- University of Pittsburgh Press
Similar books
-
Single Parents: A Reference Handbook
By Karen L. KinnearCasey Foundation . 1995. Kids Count Data Book . Baltimore , MD : Annie E. Casey Foundation . Chambers , Diane . 1997. Solo Parenting : Raising Strong and Happy Families . Minneapolis : Fairview Press . Cherlin , Andrew J. , ed . 1988.
-
Women, Politics, Media: Uneasy Relations in Comparative Perspective
By Karen Ross... American studies report that salient differences in approach and priorities do exist which fracture along gendered lines . ( See , for example , Thomas , 1991 ; Boles , 1991 ; Blankenship & Robson , 1995 ; Schumaker & Burns , 1998. ) ...
-
Climbing the Hill: Gender Conflict in Congress
By Karen Foerstel, Herbert N. FoerstelWhen the voters went to the polls in November 1992 , they gave Harman a decisive victory over Flores , but two years later Harman would have a more difficult battle against still another Republican woman , Councilwoman Susan Brooks .
-
西柏坡研究.四
By 西柏坡纪念馆本书是2015年度国家社会科学重大项目“西柏坡时期中国共产党历史文献整理与研究”（15ZDB043）的文字成果。汇编了近年来社会各界研究西柏坡精神、西柏坡历史、两个务必、“赶考 ...
-
西柏坡研究(三)
By 西柏坡纪念馆20世纪90年代初以来，西柏坡精神研究经历了从初步到逐步深入、从河北省到走向全国、从理论研究到成为现代化建设特别是全面建设小康社会的实践指导这样一个不断发展的过程。
-
Feminism and the Legacy of Revolution: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas
By Karen KampwirthBooth, John. 1985. The End and the Beginning: The Nicaraguan Revolution. Boulder: Westview. Booth, John, and Thomas W. Walker. 1989. Understanding Central America. Boulder: Westview Borge, Tomás. 1984. Carlos, the Dawn Ls No Longer ...
-
American Legislative Leaders in the West, 1911-1994
By Nancy Weatherly Sharp, James Roger Sharp... ROBERT MCMASTER 1967 ELDRIDGE DONALD DELOS 1970 COPELAND THOMAS L 1971 SWAYZE THOMAS ALLEN JR 1973 SAWYER LEONARD ALSON ... K 1919 SULLIVAN EUGENE J 1921 EWART LEWIS R STATE NAME 1 ST SPKR ARIZONA 1912 BRADNER SAMUEL B 292 APPENDIX 1.
-
The State of Social Welfare: The Twentieth Century in Cross-national Review
By John C. Dixon, Robert P. ScheurellThis collection of documents analyzes the global rise and fall of the welfare state in the 20th century. It concentrates on Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Zimbabwe.
-
Human Rights and International Political Economy in Third World Nations: Multinational Corporations, Foreign Aid, and Repression
By William MeyerFinally , shortly after the disaster , UC claimed that they believed the leak may have been caused by the deliberate sabotage of a disgruntled employee ( Bogard , 1989 : 3—4 ) . Bogard's investigation of the Bhopal disaster considers ...
-
Experiencing Citizenship: Concepts and Models for Service-learning in Political Science
By William E. Hudson, Richard M. BattistoniThis volume is part of a series of 18 monographs service learning and the academic disciplines. This collection of essays focuses on the use of service learning as an approach to teaching and learning in political science.