| Presidential Mandates: How Elections Shape the National Agenda Contributor(s): Conley, Patricia Heidotting (Author) |
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ISBN: 0226114848 ISBN-13: 9780226114842 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $36.63 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2001 Annotation: For more than 150 years, newly elected presidents have been claiming popular mandates, even though surveys show that voters are often uninformed about the issues. In this groundbreaking book, Patricia Conley argues that mandates should not be taken simply as statements of facts about voters' preferences. As political elites have always known, any inferences they make about election outcomes need to be understood in the context of political psychology and agenda-setting strategy. Presidents claim mandates, Conley shows, only when they believe they can mobilize voters and members of Congress to make a major policy change: the margin of victory, the voting behavior of specific groups, and the composition of Congress all affect their decisions. Drawing on election data since 1828 and presenting case studies from Truman to Clinton, she demonstrates that it is possible to accurately predict which presidents will ask for major policy changes at the start of their term and which will not. Ultimately, by illuminating the critical relationship between elections and policy-making, comely transforms out understanding of presidential mandates. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Political Process - Campaigns & Elections - Political Science | American Government - General |
| Dewey: 973.099 |
| LCCN: 00012822 |
| Series: American Politics and Political Economy |
| Physical Information: 0.72" H x 5.56" W x 8.52" (0.69 lbs) 184 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Presidents have claimed popular mandates for more than 150 years. How can they make such claims when surveys show that voters are uninformed about the issues? In this groundbreaking book, Patricia Conley argues that mandates are not mere statements of fact about the preferences of voters. By examining election outcomes from the politicians' viewpoint, Conley uncovers the inferences and strategies--the politics--that translate those outcomes into the national policy agenda. Presidents claim mandates, Conley shows, only when they can mobilize voters and members of Congress to make a major policy change: the margin of victory, the voting behavior of specific groups, and the composition of Congress all affect their decisions. Using data on elections since 1828 and case studies from Truman to Clinton, she demonstrates that it is possible to accurately predict which presidents will ask for major policy changes at the start of their term. Ultimately, she provides a new understanding of the concept of mandates by changing how we think about the relationship between elections and policy-making. |