Governing by Campaigning: The Politics of the Bush Presidency

by George C. Edwards III

This brief text, by one of the foremost experts on the presidency, explores how the Bush administration has attempted sweeping changes in public policy — without broad support for doing so — by taking its case to the American public more than any other president in history.

303 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2006

Reviews

[Katie]

This was a total slog, which is a shame - I felt like there was a really good story there, that was really relevant to today's politics, but it was buried under a mountain of polling data and dates of specific campaign stops and other minutiae that didn't really help Edwards' argument. I think his final observation, that extending campaign strategies contributes to polarization, is still true, and I'd be interested to see this analysis applied to the Obama administration - just with less numbers and more narrative, please!!

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as part of a political science course I took at FSU. A very interesting look at the way governing while trying to run a perpetual campaign truly shortchanges the public.