CARTER, REAGAN, AND THE QUEST FOR LEADERSHIP

Books reviewed in this article.
Laurence E. Lynn, Jr., and David deF. Whitman, The President as Policymaker: Jimmy Carter and Welfare Reform
Anthony King (Ed.), Both Ends of the Avenue: The Presidency, the Executive Branch, and Congress in the 1980s
Fred I. Creenstein (Ed.), The Reagan Presidency: An Early Assessment     

Silencer or Amplifier? The European Union Presidency and the Nordic Countries

How did the three Nordic European Union member states approach their periods as holders of the European Union (EU) Council Presidency? Two radically different predictions about the impact of the Presidency on member state behaviour can be found in the literature. Some maintain that the position functions as an amplifier, strengthening the already existing tendency to propagate national concerns. Others argue that the Presidency functions as a silencer, subordinating national material interests to the benefit of common European concerns. In this article we analyse the ways in which Finland, Sweden and Denmark actually performed the Presidency role. Which of the competing interpretations is most appropriate? Was the Presidency role performed differently by the three countries? Our main finding is that the Presidency generally functioned as an amplifier during the Nordic presidencies. There are, however, interesting differences between the three states, Denmark being the least constrained in using the Presidency to further national interests whereas Finland was most anxious not to violate norms of impartiality and neutrality, even in cases where such behaviour ran contrary to national interests.     

Book Reviews

Book reviews in this article:
Note from the book review editor .
Charles S. Heatherly and Burton Yale Pines (eds.), Mandate for Leadership III .
Marcus Raskin and Chester Hartman (eds.), Winning America: Ideas and Leadership for the 1990s .
Mark Green and Mark Pinsky (eds.), America's Transition: Blueprints for the 1990s .
American Agenda, Report to the Forty-First President of the United States .
James Pfiffner and R. Gordon Hoxie (eds.), The Presidency in Transition .
John H. Trattner, The Center for Excellence in Government, The Prune Book: The 100 Toughest Management and Policy-Making Jobs in Washington
National Academy of Public Administration, The Executive Presidency: Federal Management for the 1990s .
US General Accounting Office, Transition Series, 26 Reports .     

Is Leviathan Manageable?

Books reviewed:
Peri E. Arnold, Making the Managerial Presidency: Comprehensive Reorganization Planning, 1905–1996.     

Inside the Presidential Communications Machine: An Interview with Martha Joynt Kumar

Martha Joynt Kumar is a professor of political science at Towson University. Her book, Managing the President’s Message: The White House Communications Operation (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), examines the media and communications operations of the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. In March 2008, Professor Kumar was interviewed in the White House Press Briefing Room by Kevin R. Kosar on behalf of Public Administration Review. As this interview went to press, the American Political Science Association’s Presidency Research Group announced that it had awarded Managing the President’s Message the Richard E. Neustadt Award for best book on the U.S. presidency published in 2007.     

National interest versus the common good: The Presidency in European Council agenda setting

The European Council is an institution which brings together the Heads of State, or Governments of the European Union (EU) Member States. For the Presidency, preparing the agenda of European Council meetings involves a tension between loyalties. Existing research is divided over the question whether the Presidency pushes its domestic policy agenda on the EU level. Using empirical data on the Conclusions of European Council meetings, and national executive speeches presented annually in five Member States, this article investigates the relationship between the policy agendas of the EU and its constituent countries. It tests whether national issue attention of the Presidency holder dominates the European Council agenda. The findings suggest that having the Presidency does not provide a de facto institutional advantage for agenda setting power for any of the countries in the sample. The analysis points out that normative and political constrains limit the leeway of presiding Member States to push for domestic agenda preferences in the European Council.     

President-Elect Trump: Is the Past Prologue?

There is worldwide interest and concern over the pending US Presidency of Donald Trump. This article recounts the experience of the author and entrepreneur Merv Griffin with Trump in his business career and suggests clues for examining his exercise of the power of the Presidency. His choices for his cabinet and his advisers may well determine his success or failure. The evidence thus far is troubling.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: John P. Frendreis and Raymond Tatalovich, The Modern Presidency and Economic Policy John H. Engstrom and Leon E. Hay, Essentials of Governmental Accounting for Public Administrators     

Book Reviews

Sung Deuk Hahm and L. Christopher Plein After Development: The Transformation of the Korean Presidency and Bureaucracy
Judith E. Michaels The President's Call: Executive Leadership from FDR to George Bush
Peter Barberis The Elite of the Elite: Permanent Secretaries in the British Higher Civil Service
Sofia A. Perez Banking on Privilege: The Politics of Spanish Financial Reform
John Erik Fossum Oil, the State, and Federalism: The Rise and Demise of Petro-Canada as a Statist Impulse     

Book Reviews

Book review in this article:
The Clinton Presidency: First Appraisals . By Colin Campbell and Bert Rockman, eds.
The Myth of Democratic Failure: Why Political Institutions Are Efficient . By Donald Wittman.
Agenda for Excellence 2: Administering the State . B. Guy Peters and Bert A. Rockman, eds.
From Art to Politics: How Artistic Creations Shape Political Conceptions . By Murry Edelman.
Election Campaigning: The New Marketing of Politics . By Dennis Kavanagh.     

The general and the president

He has written widely on the presidency and American politics. Among his books are A Thousand Days; The Imperial Presidency;and The Crisis of Confidence. General MacArthur and President Truman: The Struggle for Control of American Foreign Policyis being reissued by Transaction.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Montgomery Van Wart, Changing Public Sector Values ;
Andrew Moravcsik, The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht ;
Jonathan Crush, ed., Beyond Control: Immigration and Human Rights in a Democratic South Africa ;
Mark Robinson, ed., Corruption and Development ;
Frank Anechiarico and James B. Jacobs, The Pursuit of Absolute Integrity: How Corruption Control Makes Government Ineffective ;
Richard J. Ellis, ed., Speaking to the People: The Rhetorical Presidency in Historical Perspective     

Book Reviews

Book reviews in this article:
All Organizations are Public: Bridging Public and Private Organization Theories . By BARRY BOZEMAN
Accountability and the Business State: The Structure of Federal Corporations . By FRANCIS J. LEAZES, Jr.
The American Political Economy: Macroeconomics and Electoral Politics . By DOUGLAS A. HIBBS, Jr.
The Strategic Presidency: Hitting the Ground Running . By JAMES P. PFIFFNER
The Catholic Church in World Politics . By ERIC O. HANSON
Local Government in the German Federal System . By ARTHUR B. GUNLICKS     

Presidents and prime ministers

An American, he has lived in Great Britain for many years and has been studying problems of political leadership in America and Europe for three decades. His books include Presidents and Prime Ministers; Managing Presidential Objectives; Understanding Big Government;and, forthcoming from Chatham House, The Post-Modern Presidency: The World Closes in on the White House.     

Has modernity killed objectivity?

Among his writings are Searching for Safety; Risk and Culture; Speaking Truth to Power;and The Beleaguered Presidency.     

The procedural presidency of George Bush

He is author of Searching for Safety; Risk and Culture; Budgeting; Speaking Truth to Power; The Beleaguered Presidency;and coauthor of Presidential Elections.     

Book Reviews

Book reviews in this article:
Whitehall. By PETER HENNESSY.
Organizing the Presidency. By STEPHEN HESS.
Inside the Think Tank: Advising the Cabinet, 1971–1983 . By TESSA BLACKSTONE and WILLIAM PLOWDEN.
The Postmodern President: The White House Meets the World. By RICHARD ROSE.
Private Power and Centralization in France: The Notaires and the State. By EZRA N. SULEIMAN.
The Changing Politics of Local Government. By JOHN GYFORD, STEVE LEACH and CHRIS GAME.
Constitutional Dialogues: Interpretation as Political Process. By LOUIS FISHER.
Taming the Prince: The Ambivalence of Modern Executive Power. By HARVEY C. MANSFIELD, JR.     

Book Reviews

Book reviews in this article:
At the Margins: Presidential Leadership of Congress , By GEORGE C. EDWARDS III.
The President as Prisoner: A Structural Critique of the Carter and Reagan Years. By WILLIAM F. GROVER.
Regulatory Interventionism in the Utility Industry . By BARBARA R. BARKOVICH.
Private Gain and Public Service: The Association of First Division Civil Servants. By BARRY O'TOOLE.
Ulster: Conflict and Consent. By TOM WILSON.
Guide to the Presidency. Edited by MICHAEL NELSON.
Prime Minister & Premiers: Political Leadership and Public Policy in Canada. Edited by LESLIE A. PAL AND DAVID TARAS.
The Future Of Local Government , Edited by JOHN STEWART and GERRY STOKER.     

Book Reviews

Washington, Westminster and Whitehall. By WALTER WILLIAMS.
Controlling the Sword: The Democratic Governance of National Security. By BRUCE RUSSETT.
Civilian-Based Defense; A Post-Military Weapons System. By GENE SHARP.
Rediscovering Institutions: The Organizational Basis of Politics. By JAMES G. MARCH and JOHAN P. OLSEN.
Presidential Influence and the Administrative State. By RICHARD W. WATERMAN.
Intergovernmental Relations in the Administrative State: The Johnson Presidency. By DAVID M. WELBORN and JESSE BURKHEAD.
The Human Resource Crisis in the Public Sector. By LARRY M. LANE and JAMES F. WOLF.
Creative Marginality: Innovation at the Intersections of the Social Sciences. By MATTEI DOGAN and ROBERT PAHRE.     

Term-limitation express

He is co-author of The American Presidency,and editor of The Politics of Interests.He has written extensively on term limits and rotation in office and related topics and commentaries.