This book offers an inside look at the principal decision makers and the major legal and constitutional decisions made in the Department of Justice under Attorney General Edwin Meese. This unique perspective is offered by Douglas Kmiec, former assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). His story is a fascinating chronicle and analysis of the significant issues addressed during and since the Reagan years. These important issues include: the controversy over methods of constitutional interpretation; the legitimacy of independent counsels; efforts by the president to control executive agencies and to keep Congress in check; family issues, including abortion, AIDS, limitations on pornography, and school choice; the protection of property and economic liberty; the declining role of state and local governments; quotas, affirmative action, and civil rights; the continuing saga of Iran-Contra; and contemporary calls for ethics reform.

Important as a historical and legal analysis of the Reagan years, this work will be of interest to scholars and readers concerned with contemporary social and constitutional issues, the ramifications of the Reagan presidency, and how things have changed under George Bush. It is also the first revealing look at constitutional decisionmaking within OLC, an office that counts among its alumni the present Attorney General and two members of the Supreme Court.

This study examines the administrative tools and techniques that U.S. presidents have used to influence environmental policy. A major portion of the book assesses current techniques and recent administrations, particularly Reagan, Carter, and Bush strategies. Experts, students, policymakers, and activists concerned with public policy and environmental issues will find this unique study invaluable for understanding the administrative procedures, the powers, and the limitations of the administrative presidency. Robert Shanley opens with a brief overview of how presidents have affected conservation policy in the first part of the century and then discusses the more complex environmental policymaking in recent administrations. Focusing on the Reagan administration, he shows how it controlled the flow of agency information and the gathering of statistical data to curb agency policy and enforcement, and then traces the reaction of Congress and the Federal Courts to these initiatives. He demonstrates how presidential executive orders may significantly affect environmental policy and then contrasts different perspectives of the Carter and Reagan administrations on risk assessment and on various agency programs. Shanley goes on to discuss Bush's record and his efforts to work out compromises between environmental and economic interests. Finally, Shanley posits that administrative procedures are often counter-productive in the long term. The book concludes with an overview of the resources at the disposal of presidents today and the problems confronting national leaders in initiating and shaping environmental policy.

The French Fifth Republic Presidency has emerged as one of the most powerful executives in western society. This is a study of how that was possible and of the way in which the power of the Presidency was created and maintained. It investigates the political skills of the office holders and the way in which the coalition supporting the Presidency has been brought together and sustained (and how it has been, on occasion, lost). The book's analysis of leadership in the Fifth Republic draws out the skills and manipulation of the successive presidents as well as the resources of the cultural and political contexts. Among the topics considered as part of the presidential system are the Constitutions, the referendum, foreign policy, Europe, May 1968, Giscard d'Estaing's centrist septennate, cohabitation and neogaullism. These issues are treated as crucial elements in presidential power and help to illustrate the foundations of presidential authority. The main contention is that the presidency has been created and sustained by political arts of a high order which have involved the mobilization of certain symbols, culture, and political forces.

This book consists of notes of conversations by one of America's leading Latin Americanists, as well as his correspondence with more than two dozen presidents of the Central American republics, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. In some cases, there are numerous conversations and letters with individual chief executives; in other instances, there are only individual conversations or notes on talks which the author heard. Each entry reflects the thinking of the person involved at the time of the interview or letter and many shed light on the activities of the individual presidents. Before the items dealing with each particular country, Alexander provides introductory notes, giving information on the individuals dealt with in that country as well as the circumstances of the letters and conversations. These materials, together with those contained in earlier volumes dealing with South America, provide students of 20th-century Latin America unique insight into its political leadership and its history from the 1940s onward.

The Supreme Court has final authority in determining what the Constitution means. The Court's findings have not, however, always been final. Lively focuses on several landmark dissenting opinions--resisted initially--later redefining the meaning of the Constitution. Each opinion arises from a rich historical context and involves constitutional issues of pointed significance. Vivid descriptions of some of the colorful personalities behind the opinions add appeal. Lively conveys the evolutionary and dynamic nature of the law demonstrating the relationship between present and past understanding of the Constitution. He describes the competitive nature of constitutional development and identifies the relevance of factors including subjective preference, values, vying theories, and ideologies.

The role of the Court, is addressed as are the federal government's relationship to the states and their citizens; slavery; property rights; substantive due process; freedom of speech; and the right to be left alone. This is a clearly presented and highly instructive consideration of how the Constitution's interpretation has been fashioned over time with important insights relevant to today's Court and contemporary cases.

Government experts provide the first reference history of the Executive Office of the President from its establishment in 1939 through the Bush Administration. Eleven chapters analyze the concept behind the office, its organization and reorganization, and how it developed over the last 55 years in terms of the broad functions that it serves. Chapters offer a careful, dispassionate survey of the office in terms of budget, management, and personnel; economics; national security; science and technology; exigency and emergency; resources development; domestic policy planning; the office of the Vice-President; and reorganizations, presidential style, and staffing matters. This reference is enriched also by biographical profiles of important staff members in the office during the last half-century, descriptions of different agencies, a chronology, and a bibliography. Designed for political scientists, public administrators, and historians, this study is invaluable for students and scholars, policymakers and public administrators, governmental and non-governmental professionals. Government experts provide a thorough and detailed overview of the development of the Executive Office and its components, with related research references. Part I consists of nine authored chapters which explore the creation of the Executive Office, its organization and reorganization, and, within broad functional areas-including budgeting, management and personnel, economics, national security, science and technology, exigency and emergency, resources development, and domestic policy and planning-its primary agencies. Two additional chapters are devoted respectively to the White House Office and the Office of the Vice-President. Throughout these accounts, ample references provide guidance to relevant source materials and authorities. Part II includes profiles of the principal units of the Executive Office and biographical sketches of a large representative sample of the leaders of those units as well as the senior staff of the White House Office. A chronology of Executive Office organizational developments and statistical data, together with a comprehensive bibliography, further enrich this sourcebook, designed to assist the conduct of studies and research by interested readers in the fields of government and history.

The debut of a brand-new civics series for high school seniors and college freshmen that clearly, concisely, and cleverly explains how the United States elects its president.

John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers of our nation and its second president, spent nearly the last third of his life in retirement grappling with contradictory views of his place in history and fearing his reputation would not fare well in the generations after his death. In an incomplete autobiography, and in numerous publications and voluminous correspondence with Thomas Jefferson and many others, he argued and railed against those who disagreed with him or made little of his contribution to our country's political foundations. And indeed, future generations did slight him, elevating Jefferson and Madison to lofty heights with Washington while Adams remained way back in the second tier. Now, in a witty, clear, and thoughtful narrative of Adams's later life at his home in Quincy, Joseph Ellis explores the mind and personality of the man as well as the earlier events that shaped his thinking. Readers will discover Adams to be both contentious and lovable, generous and petty, and the most intellectually profound of the revolutionary generation, a man who may have contributed to the earlier underestimates of his role in history, and whose perspective on America's prospects has relevance for us today.

This comprehensive volume examines the historic and contemporary role of the state legislatures and assemblies of all 50 states, offering insight into important details of how each of these legislative bodies functions. The Legislative Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics is one of three titles in ABC-CLIO's About State Government set, offering comprehensive coverage of contemporary American politics at the state level. Each of the three volumes focuses on a specific governmental branch, providing both general information and comparative details on how that branch operates in each state. Ranging from colonial times to the present, this volume takes a broad look at how the nation's state legislative institutions have evolved and operate. Combined with the other two volumes in the set, a clear overview of state government emerges. The Legislative Branch of State Government covers the historical, constitutional, and political environment in which state legislatures exist, then focuses on their functions and processes, the people who serve in them, and their interaction with other key political institutions. A concluding chapter looks at characteristics that make each of the 50 state legislative bodies fascinating and unique. A narrative chronology of the development of state legislatures in America from the colonial era to the present, including remarkable stories and traditions of the nation's legislative bodies Easy-to-follow graphics depicting, for example, how a bill becomes a law and how the separation of powers and the principle of checks and balances define the relationship among the branches of government

This expertly prepared policy issues handbook surveys the changing workplace and the failures of America's public health and education systems to prepare the future work force to compete at home and abroad. Carl Stenberg and William Colman analyze the key issues; review a mass of information, ideas, and insights about policy options that are available; and assess their pros and cons. Students, teachers, administrators, policymakers, and concerned citizens will find a wealth of clearly presented data along with careful analyses of the major proposals for reform. Figures, tables, short summaries, appendices, bibliographical aids, and a full index make this one-volume landmark reference accessible to researchers and readers at different levels and for varied use.

Are appointment politics and court decisions linked? Do presidents use judicial appointments to shape their policy agendas? C. K. Rowland and Robert Carp provide definitive answers to these questions and, in the process, provide a new paradigm for the study of federal jurisprudence.

As the authors remind us, since the Judiciary Act of 1789, federal trial judges have been politically appointed, a process frequently the object of partisan scorn. Marshall's famous "Marbury v. Madison" case was triggered by the highly politicized appointment of William Marbury. FDR tried to protect his New Deal programs by choosing judges sympathetic to his political philosophy. Nixon and Carter were accused of nominating judges on the basis of ideological "litmus tests." And Reagan attracted relentless criticism to his own district-court appointments.

From Woodrow Wilson to George Bush, Rowland and Carp examine the voting patterns of these presidentially appointed trial judges. Working from attorney interviews and more than 45,000 court rulings from 1933 to 1988-the largest and most current database available-they document the undeniable link between politics and jurisprudence in the federal lower courts.

Rejecting the outmoded and reductionist attitudinal (or behavioral) model for a new one based on cognitive psychology, the authors argue that federal trial judges' decisions do not automatically reflect the policies and ideologies of that judge's presidential appointer. They show, instead, that ideology influences but does not predetermine or control judicial decision-making. They demonstrate further that, while the attitudinal model can help us understand judicial behavior at the appellate and Supreme Court level, it's simply incompatible with fact-finding, the primary duty of trial judges.

In an era of expanding power and influence for federal trial judges, declining faith in our legal system, and increasingly divisive partisan politics the federal judiciary and its appointed judges will remain the focus of intense public scrutiny. This book shows us just how such analysis should be conducted.

This unique study focuses upon a specific component of American presidential rhetoric--how presidents depict the office--and relates that rhetorical tactic to broader questions of politics, public opinion, political symbolism, and presidential power. The work analyzes this specific rhetorical component longitudinally, examining a president's depiction of the office during the presidential campaign, throughout his term in office, and after leaving office. By presenting and analyzing generous examples of presidential rhetoric--from Lyndon Johnson through Bill Clinton--Zernicke offers a revealing look at the symbolic power of the presidency and the use of that power in political terms.

This new work offers a substantive political theory approach to organizational theory. It differs significantly from most organizational perspectives in that it applies political theory to four prevalent organizational models found in administration today. Most such models fall within the province of government or corporate management and fail to deal with the democratic and public dimensions of organization. In this study, Davis examines various organizational theories' prospects to generate authentic public organization. He also suggests alternative considerations by which to facilitate more genuine public organization. An important contribution to the literature in organizational theory and public administration, this work will be of interest to scholars and students in these and related fields.

This volume brings together a distinguished group of scholars, journalists, and former Nixon Administration officials to examine the Watergate controversy and its legacy. Particular attention is paid to Nixon's misuse of government power for political ends, his administration's obsession with secrecy and the control of information, and the impeachment proceedings in Congress. This is the second in a trilogy of titles based on the Hofstra Presidential Conference on Richard M. Nixon (the first, Richard M. Nixon: Politician, President, Administrator [Greenwood, 1991], was also edited by Friedman and Levantrosser). Watergate and Afterward includes a final assessment of the Nixon Presidency by a group of biographers who have written extensively about the man and his politics, as well as appraisals of Nixon's accomplishments and failures by both administration figures and outside historians. Special effort was made throughout to incorporate opposing points of view on the various issues under discussion, making this one of the most comprehensive and balanced assessments of the Watergate scandal and its aftermath available in print. The book begins with essays that describe the political reactions to Watergate and Nixon's attempt to remove the first special prosecutor on the case. In the discussion section that follows, new insight into what the break-in was supposed to accomplish is provided by Reverend Jeb Stuart Magruder, speaking for the first time in a public forum. Subsequent papers discuss the different efforts by the Nixon Administration to uncover information about political opponents, the politicization of the Justice Department, the constitutional confrontation in the Supreme Courtover the Nixon tapes, and the Pentagon Papers case. Discussants include Charles Colson, who was in the White House at the time, Tom Brokaw of NBC, and Ron Ziegler and Gerald Warren of the White House press office. Finally, the impeachment proceedings are reexamined in chapters that explore the specific charges against the president and the political coalitions that formed in Congress around them. Ideal as supplemental reading for courses on the presidency and modern American politics, Watergate and Afterward is an important contribution to our understanding of this critical period in postwar history.

The International Directory of Government is the definitive guide to people in power in every part of the world. All the top decision-makers are included in this one-volume publication, which brings together government institutions, agencies and personnel from the largest nations (China, India, Russia, etc.) to the smallest overseas dependencies (Guadeloupe, Guernsey and Christmas Island, etc). Institutional entries contain the names and titles of principal officials, postal, e-mail and internet addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and other relevant details. Key features: - comprehensive lists of government ministers and ministries - coverage of state-related agencies and other institutions arranged by subject heading - details of important state, provincial and regional administrations, including information on US states, Russian republics, and the states and territories of India.

"Statesmen Who Changed the World" provides extensive essays on more than 70 statesmen of the Western world, covering the time period from the 15th century to the present. Some of the statesmen included were heads of state; others held ministerial positions in foreign affairs; a few were neither heads of state nor foreign ministers. All influenced or changed the world in which they lived.

Each essay includes a thorough and insightful biographical sketch covering the subject's life and career with particular emphasis on the subject's involvement in international affairs. In addition, each essay provides a bibliographical essay describing the available archival materials, works written by and about the subject, and the most recent scholarship. It concludes with a bibliographical checklist. Appendixes include glossaries of terms and a listing of heads of state. The book is fully indexed.

There have been many serious abuses of presidential power in recent decades, including Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal, and the Lewinsky affair, subsequently Americans have demonstrated renewed interest in discussing the relationship between character and political leadership. Through an investigation of the life and career of George Washington, often considered the exemplary moral president, the chapters offer a balanced scholarly contribution to this analysis.

Fishman, Pederson, Rozell, and their contributors examine the legacy of Washingtons presidency. Leading political scientists and historians describe and evaluate the impact of Washington's leadership on the institution of the presidency and on those who have since occupied the Oval Office. In the contemporary era of almost endless speculation about the role of character in presidential leadership, an analysis of Washington's character and the model he established is especially germane.

The chapters provide diverse interpretations of the value of understanding Washington's leadership and the character of the modern presidency. Some of the scholars conclude that Washington indeed laid the foundation for good character and strong leadership in the presidency. Others take a more critical approach and see Washington, like many of his successors, as a fallible human being who possessed both character strengths and weaknesses. The lasting value of this analysis for political scientists, historians, and other students of the American presidency is that it demonstrates the continued vibrant debate over Washington's authentic legacy to the office.

Is there a real connection between cleverness, good governance and good luck? The answer may not be so simple and direct. That is why the author of this book - an experienced editor - has painstakingly ploughed through anecdotes, news, history, and reasoning to blend a masterful piece that manages to be funny, witty, pragmatic and eye-opening all at once. The primary foci of the book are issues relating to the 2011 presidential elections in Nigeria but the book goes on to open up a typical Nigerian soul in an uncommonly down-to-earth manner. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, often touted as the "Giant of Africa" and "Heart of Africa." The incumbent president goes by the first name Goodluck - a name which has seemingly always put him in the right places at the right times over the years. Would the Nigerian nation be electing a harbinger of good fortunes if they elect him as president in 2011? This "crazy" book broaches on that sensitive question whilst dwelling more on extant issues that perennially afflict the Heart of Africa and relentlessly taunt the Giant of Africa.

The process of nominating two persons who will ultimately compete for the presidency is long, complicated, exhausting, and expensive. The 1988 presidential primary campaigns were no exception, as Democratic and Republican candidates spent countless hours and millions of dollars to win votes and delegates in caucuses and primaries across the country. Speeches, debates, and media advertisements helped spread the candidates' messages and policies to the voters. A different, fresh, and informative forum for each of the candidates was introduced by the Kennedy School of Government in "Candidates '88," a series of live, hour-long interviews with Marvin Kalb followed by questions from the audience of Harvard faculty and students. Broadcast nationally by PBS, this highly praised series made an important contribution to the presidential selection process and had a significant impact on the voters' understanding of the 1988 campaign, the candidates, and the issues.

Now the complete interviews have been collected in "Candidates '88," a volume that captures the substantive, revealing, and lively conversations between Marvin Kalb and the candidates. The book includes an insightful introduction by Marvin Kalb in which he examines the special political climate of 1988; explores why George Bush was the only candidate who decided not to participate in "Candidates '88"; discusses the power of the camera, the most coddled and cherished piece of technology in the history of presidential politics; and reflects on the problems of the nominating process and the need for reform. The volume also includes brief political biographies of all of the candidates written by Hendrik Hertzberg.

On March 4, 1789, New York City's church bells pealed, cannons fired, and flags snapped in the wind to celebrate the date set for the opening of the First Federal Congress. In many ways the establishment of Congress marked the culmination of the American Revolution as the ship of state was launched from the foundation of the legislative system outlined in Article I of the Constitution.
"Inventing Congress" presents the latest scholarship on the interrelated intellectual, institutional, cultural, and political antecedents of the formation of the First Federal Congress. The first section covers the origins of the body, ranging in discussion from the question of how the founders' understanding of classical Greek and Roman republican precedent shaped their thinking, to the political lessons learned during the Continental and Confederation Congresses.
The second section concerns itself with the establishment of the First Federal Congress, examining several heretofore little-treated aspects of the most important Congress in history, including its relationship to the press, morality, the arts and sciences, and economic philosophy.
"Inventing Congress" represents the papers from the first two conferences sponsored by the United States Capitol Historical Society in its series, "Perspectives on the History of Congress, 1789-1801."

The Executive in the Constitution: Structure, Autonomy, and Internal Control is the first constitutional and legal analysis of the inner workings of the executive for many years. It aims to provoke a reappraisal, by constitutional lawyers, of the place of the executive within the constitution, by exploring an area hitherto largely neglected in constitutional law: the legal foundations of the powers and structure of the executive, and the mechanisms through which the centre of the executive seeks to control the actions of departments. The authors, both pre-eminent in the field off constitutional law, show that the machinery of executive co-ordination and control is no less crucial a dimension of the constitutional order than the external machinery of democratic and legal control. These external parliamentary and judicial controls depend for their effectiveness on the executive's ability to control itself. The plural structure of the executive, however, makes the co-ordination and control of its component parts a highly problematical pursuit. Against the background of an analysis of the executive's legal structure, the book examines in detail the controls governing departmental access to staffing, financial, and legal resources, analysing the relationship between these internal controls and the external machinery of democratic and legal control, and showing how the machinery of internal control has been shaped by the structure of the executive branch. The organization of the executive and the way it controls the actions of its departments has changed significantly in recent year. This book explores the impact of the machinery if executive co-ordination and control of the ambitious public service reform project which has been pursued by successive governments over the last twenty years, as well as of changes in the wider constitutional framework, including those stemming from the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union and the growth of judicial review. It shows how public service reforms, judicial review, and European law are changing not just the inner life of the executive government but its place in the constitution as well.

Historians commonly point to the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act as the inception of a new chapter in the story of American immigration. This wide-ranging interdisciplinary volume brings together scholars from varied disciplines to consider what is genuinely new about this period.

At a crucial time in American history, John Tyler--elected vice president on the Whig ticket--became president upon the death of William Henry Harrison. The nation, after expanding across the continent, was suffering from sectional tensions, Indian conflicts, issues over slavery, and economic problems. Tyler's becoming president created a crisis for Whigs, who questioned his intentions, his past record, and his irregular political alliances. Soon, the course he set was unacceptable to both Whigs and Jacksonian Democrats. His presidency has not received the extensive scholarly study accorded many presidents. This bibliography provides an excellent beginning for those wishing to research Tyler and this critical period in American history.

The definitive study of Tyler is yet to be written. Much of what has been written about him has been highly opinionated. Yet, as this bibliography reveals, primary material on Tyler is abundant. The volume presents in usable format most of the materials by and dealing with Tyler, including both secondary and primary materials. It also includes relevant information on his contemporaries and covers major works dealing with the period. It provides a good introduction to the literature of the times of Tyler.