The Paradoxes of the American Presidency - Softcover

Cronin, Thomas E.; Genovese, Michael A.

3.52

50 ratings by Goodreads

9780195167092: The Paradoxes of the American Presidency

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195167090 ISBN 13: 9780195167092

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003

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What exactly do Americans want from their president? A strong and innovative leader or someone who primarily listens to the will of the people? A programmatic party leader or a pragmatic bipartisan coalition-builder? A president who exercises power forcefully or someone who establishes consensus before doing anything? The Paradoxes of the American Presidency, 2/e, suggests that Americans want the president to be both a leader and a follower, partisan and bipartisan, and innovative and conservative.
In the second edition of this acclaimed book, Cronin and Genovese explore the complex institution of the American presidency by presenting a series of paradoxes that shape and define the office. They examine the clashing expectations and demands placed upon presidents, offering students the opportunity to understand the dilemma faced by all incumbents--how to bring leadership into a system where expectations exceed the resources and power available to them. The authors focus on the various relationships all presidents must develop if they are to lead successfully--relations between the president and: Congress, the public, the courts, the cabinet, and the Vice President. This book also treats the managerial side of the executive branch, the vagaries of the selection process, and the inherent contradictions of leadership in a democratic system. Thoroughly revised and updated, The Paradoxes of the American Presidency, 2/e, covers the Clinton impeachment, the 2000 election, the first three years of the Bush presidency, the events and aftermath of September 11, and the war with Iraq. Written in a lively, engaging style, this comprehensive, interpretive work represents the collaboration of two prize-winning presidential scholars.

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About the Author:

Thomas E. Cronin is at Whitman College. Michael A. Genovese is at Loyola Marymount University.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Americans' paradoxical views of the presidency are explored by two political scientists. Cronin (The State of the Presidency, not reviewed, etc.) and Genovese (The Presidential Dilemma, not reviewed, etc.) focus on the contradictory yearning of Americans to have a leader who is both ``one of the people'' and someone far removed from identification with the masses. This paradox is less daunting when the president possesses the political genius and natural affability of a Lincoln or an FDR, but it does pose a problem when, say, someone lacking the common touch, like Richard Nixon, is in office. Less paradoxical perhaps is the issue of the Electoral College, which the authors address and for which they offer a solution: the National Bonus Plan, in which the ``winner takes all'' system would be supplanted by a bonus for the popular vote-winner to ensure that the electoral and popular majorities are never different, as has been the case four times in the nation's history. But while the National Bonus Plan is presented at some length, other approaches to streamlining the presidency are given little consideration, e.g., the six-year, nonrenewable term (labeled ``nonsense'' by the authors) and a move to a more parliamentary style of government in which the president would be subject to no-confidence votes and would therefore be more easily removed in the case of a scandal. Cronin and Genovese, while they present a mass of detail about the presidency and our ideas and expectations concerning it, occasionally weaken their arguments by dismissing too many alternatives without making a solid case against them. Still, their scholarship is thorough, and their book makes good introductory reading on our conflicted feelings about the nation's highest office. -- Copyright �1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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