The Presidency and the Political System

by Michael Nelson (Editor)

Since the first edition published in 1984, The Presidency and the Political System has become the most widely assigned book in courses on the presidency.With its incisive and insightful original essays showcasing top-notch scholarship, it’s no surprise that this volume has proven to be both enduring and indispensable. Joining revised, yet time-tested, essays that continue to explore the themes of presidential power and effectiveness, contributions by new authors Lyn Ragsdale, George C. Edwards III, Marc Landy, Joseph Pika, and Andrew Rudalevige complete the updating to reflect GeorgeW. Bush’s second term, the 2008 elections, and Barack Obama’s transition and early months as president.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Political Science, History, College

568 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Michael Nelson is the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College. He has published multiple books, the most recent of which is Resilient America: Electing Nixon, Channeling Dissent, and Dividing Government (2014). Other recent books are The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776–2014, with Sidney Milkis (2015); The Presidency and the Political System, 10th ed. (2014); and The Elections of 2012 (2013). He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals such as the Journal of Politics and Political Science Quarterly and in periodicals such as Virginia Quarterly Review, the Claremont Review of Books, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Although most of his articles have been about American politics and government, he also has written about C. S. Lewis, Frank Sinatra, Charles Dickens, Garrison Keillor, football, and baseball. More than 50 of these articles have been reprinted in anthologies of political science, history, and English composition. He is editor of the American Presidential Elections book series for the University Press of Kansas and is currently writing a book about the 1992 election.

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Poorya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of the textbooks in a course I took at Harvard on American Presidency. Chapters are written by the people who are the foremost scholars on the topic. Like books of similar nature, the quality may vary from chapter to chapter since it is written by different people. Overall, however, I greatly enjoyed reading this book as it presents prominent schools of thoughts on the office of presidency and how it has evolved over time. Great great read for people interested in the topic.

[Indira Wolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

btw, i usually rate all school related books 3-2 stars, average rating because I dont really have grounds to fully review it if I actually didnt read the whole thing, but certain parts that were assigned.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of twenty original essays on the United States presidency by leading presidential scholars published in 1995. It was a required text for a political science course I took in college on the American Presidency. It's divided into six parts: Approaches to the Presidency; Elements of Presidential Power, Presidential Selection, Presidents and Politics; Presidents and Government; and Presidents and Policy Making. Lots of lines and passages I highlighted. Here's one from Nelson's article "Evaluating the Presidency:"

Clearly, scholars' normative preference for presidential strength in the 1950s and 1960s had more to it then their value judgements about the proper distribution of power among the branches of government. It was rooted in the liberal policy preferences as well. Democratic historians outnumbered Republicans by two to one in the Schlesinger samples, for example. One of the reasons they found the strength of the presidents they labeled "great" so appealing was that, as Schlesinger put it, each of these presidents "took the side of liberalism and the general welfare against the status quo." William Andrews observed a similar partisan and ideological bias among his fellow political scientists, many of whom had worked in liberal Democratic administrations. When it comes to presidents, he concluded, "The constitutional theory follows the party flag."

I liked that the article--by the editor no less--owned up to biases affecting the analysis. I found this anthology to be pretty balanced and fair--and insightful.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

THis showed me how the relationship of the three branches in a way I did not understand before, it also was not too long. I especially liked how he highlighted how each branch had different purposes. For example, the legislative is plural and preserves first the popular will and then popular rights and self preservation. The executive is unified and first preserves self preservation then popular rights and then popular will. The judicial only focuses on the preservation of popular rights, and is small but still plural. It is a beautiful system, I just wish it wasn't so corrupt!

[R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a graduate level textbook that I had to read for school. It was not one of the better one's that I have read in this program and it was even the worst of the two that were assigned for this particular class. I would not recommend this as light reading or fun reading for anyone, ever, for any reason. If you were not assigned to read this book then count your blessings and move on to greener pastures. You're welcome.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Political science text on how presidents are chosen and what they are empowered to do. A good primer on the American presidency.

[Douglas Sandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

useful for school class but would not read this outside school