GOVT-310 Midterm

Activity

Activity

how much effort a president puts into performing his job; can be passive or active; interacts with affect

Affect

how a president feels about one’s work; can be positive or negative; interacts with activity

Agenda-Setting

one of Edward’s five tools for presidential success in passing policy; ex. State of the Union

Article II

outlines the constitutional powers of the President in four sections; includes Vesting Clause, Electoral College description, Commander-in-Chief Clause, Treaty and Appointments Power, State of the Union, and Impeachment

Articulation

one of Skowronek’s four presidential typologies; characterized by resilient regime commitments and an affiliated incumbent’s political identity; mixed lengths of terms; examples include Bush, H.W. Bush, LBJ, Truman, Madison, Polk, Roosevelt, Van Buren, JFK, and McKinley

Backlash

defined by Pious; occurs when a President decides in the gray area and it doesn’t work, but they can live with it; ex. Vietnam War

Bargaining

defined by Neudstadt; a tool used by presidents to persuade others to do what they want, the preferred mechanism of political change

Character

the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual president; used by Barber to define a president’s style

Constitutional-Legal Approach

one of the four approaches to studying the presidency that states presidential power comes from Article II of the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and precedents set by their predecessors

Constitutional Oath

outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 of the Constitution; the oath states “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”; doesn’t say “support” and presidents have used this to justify unilateral action

Unilateral Action

term defined by Mayer; refers to the different types of administrative and policy changes that the president can initiate on his own without the cooperation, and sometimes over the objections, of Congress or the judiciary

Demagoguery

one of Tulis’s four presidency measures; defined as a popular leader who poses a threat to a system; can be either soft or hard

Director

outlined by Edwards and differs from a facilitator; the idea that the president uses persuasion to gain support from the public, organized interests, Congress, and others for their policies

Disjunction

one of Skowronek’s four presidential typologies; characterized by vulnerable regime commitments and an affiliated incumbent’s political identity; one-term; examples include Carter, Adams, Quincy Adams, Hoover, Pierce, Buchanan, and Trump

Executive Orders

discussed by Mayer as a tool fir unilateral action; not explicitly granted in the Constitution, but used to obtain first-mover advantage

Energy in the Executive

a concept introduced in the Federalist Papers; believed to be the most important aspect of the presidency

Facilitator

outlined by Edwards and differs from a director; the idea that the president recognizes the political context and works within it to gain support for policies; all presidents are facilitators

First-mover Advantage

the idea that the president has an advantage when he creates policy first since other branches must respond to his actions; obtained through Executive Orders

Framing

one of Edward’s 5 tools for success; central organizing idea for making sense of an issue or conflict and suggests what the controversy is about and what is at stake; achieved through public statements and press conferences

Frontlash

defined by Pious; occurs when a president decides in the gray area and it works, causing the precedent to become more black and white

Historical Approach

one of the four approaches to studying the presidency that states presidential authority, not power, comes from the warrants of the political time (party-building, institutional fights, and policy)

Imperial Presidency

an idea introduced by Skowronek, also known as the Second Look; occurred in the 1970s and believes the president has too much power

Independence of the Executive

one of Tulis’s four presidency measures; a term established by Hamilton in the Federalist Papers to discuss the importance of Presidential term-length; Hamilton believed term limits were a bad idea

Soft Prerogative

defined by Pious to describe when the President acts unilaterally to resolve an issue but later claim they acted under statute

Hard Prerogative

defined by Pious to describe when the President acts without prescription of the law or against for the greater good

Legitimation Problem

defined by Skowronek; states that the efficacy of political action in the presidential office is difficult to achieve but can be done by manipulating warrants and creating a new order

Neutrality Proclamation

discussed by Schmitt as a tool to demonstrate the precedential development of presidential office and powers in foreign policy; a proclamation issued by Washington to declare neutrality in the war between France and Britian

Style

defined by Barber as a collection of habitual action patterns in meeting role demands and the observed quality and character of one’s performance; can be characterized using activity-passivity performance and positive-negative affect

Overshoot and Collapse

defined by Pious; occurs when a president oversteps their legal and constitutional bounds causing a legitimacy crisis (Ex. Watergate)

Persuasion

defined under the Power Approach; refers to causing others to do something by reasoning, urging, or inducement; Neustadts conception of presidential leadership and power

Political Time

defined by Skowronek; refers to the medium through which presidents encounter received commitments of ideology and interest and claim authority to intervene in their development

Power Approach

one of the four approaches to studying the presidency which emphasizes presidential policy success; includes strategic approach, persuasive approach, and unilateral approach

Preemption

one of Skowronek’s four presidential typologies; characterized by resilient regime commitments and an opposed incumbent’s political identity; two-term; examples include Clinton, Cleveland, Wilson, Nixon, Eisenhower, Obama

Presidential Leadership

defined by Neustadt as the power to persuade

Psychological Approach

one of the four approaches to studying the presidency which states that presidential power comes from the individual’s political style and conception of what a President is supposed to do

Reconstruction

one of Skowronek’s four presidential typologies; characterized by vulnerable regime commitments and an opposed incumbent’s political identity; examples include FDR, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Jackson

Incumbent’s Political Identity

defined by Skowronek as whether the president comes to power politically affiliated with or opposed to the dominant ideological and programmatic commitments of the era; used to categorize presidents into four typologies

Regime Commitments

defined by Skonronek as whether the dominant ideological and pragmatic commitments of the era are resilient or vulnerable; used to categorize presidents into four typologies

Secular Time

defined by Skowronek as the linear progression of time; examples include changing presidential nomination process

Representation

one of Tulis’s four presidency measures; defined as the president’s role in allowing the public’s wants/needs to be heard

Founder’s Presidency

discussed in Tulis; a fear of demagoguery, representation of the people but not responsive to popular will, independent from Congress, and three separate but equally powerful branches of government

Separation of Powers

one of Tulis’s four presidency measures; the idea that all three branches have the same objectives in different priority order, special qualities and functions, and different structures and means

Stewardship

Theodore Roosevelt’s interpretation of what the president can do; they can do anything that doesn’t contradict legal statue; more expansive than Taft’s “clerkship”

Strategic Model

a subunit within the Power Approach that focuses on how the president gets what they want within the political context and institutional structure

Strict Constructionist

the interpretation of executive power that states the president is given only the specific delegations within Article II; Anti-federalists, Republicans between 1865-1932, and Libertarians believe this

“Take Care” Clause

a constitutional clause that states the President must take care that the Laws be faithfully executed

Vesting Clause

a constitutional clause that states the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States; defines a unitary executive but does not define executive power

Veto

the power to check Congress by blocking legislation; not a power according to Neustadt

White House Pets

the strategic use of presidential pets to appeal to the public; pets are perceived better in times of war or scandal but worse in times of economic hardship

Wilson’s Presidency

discussed in Tulis; believed the president should not be afraid of popular appeal, they should change with the times, and the branches should merge/cooperate like Parliament