This work explains the role of the US president in a separated system of government. It shows how such a system works under the circumstances allowable by the Constitution and a two-party structure. It looks at presidents - who they are and how they differ, and the organization of the White House and cabinet, and how both change during an administration. It also covers public support - how it varies and what it means; the continuing agenda and how presidents manage it; lawmaking and how it works; where the president fits into the lawmaking process and how that varies from issue to issue; and reform, particularly how it applies to a separated system.
Charles O. Jones is a nonresident senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, the Hawkins Professor of Political Science (emeritus) at the University of Wisconsin, and a former president of the American Political Science Association. His books include Clinton and Congress, 1993-96 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1999) and Passages to the Presidency (Brookings, 1998).
"Jones has effectively and authoritatively replaces a popular view of the American presidency with a more accurate one. His arguments and his evidence will enlarge and enrich our thinking about the office." --Richard F Fenno., Jr., University of Rochester "One of the most important books on American government to have appeared for a generation. traditionally, the relations between the presidency and Congress have been portrayed as confrontational, with the presidency assumed to be responsible for taking most important policy initiatives. Jones shows that this view is mistaken --that Congress typically has its own agenda, its own capacity for taking initiatives, and its own policy momentum. In years to come, students of American politics will refer to 'Jones' as they now refer to 'Neustadt.'" --Anthony King, University of Essex "Jones powerfully elaborates the point that ours is not a 'presidential system,' but instead a system of separated institutions deliberately mixed up in one another's dings. For action and reform alike, that is the beginning of wisdom, and there Jones begins. I hope it is widely read, especially by all who now purport to use the system, or to change it. The country would gain in they all understood it. Jones does." --Richard E. Neustadt, Harvard University
"All students of American politics, not just presidential scholars, will want to read what Jones has written." - American Political Science Review |"Jones has effectively and authoritatively replaces a popular view of the American presidency with a more accurate one. His arguments and his evidence will enlarge and enrich our thinking about the office." -Richard F Fenno., Jr., University of Rochester |"One of the most important books on American government to have appeared for a generation. traditionally, the relations between the presidency and Congress have been portrayed as confrontational, with the presidency assumed to be responsible for taking most important policy initiatives. Jones shows that this view is mistaken -that Congress typically has its own agenda, its own capacity for taking initiatives, and its own policy momentum. In years to come, students of American politics will refer to 'Jones' as they now refer to 'Neustadt.'" -Anthony King, University of Essex |"Jones powerfully elaborates the point that ours is not a 'presidential system,' but instead a system of separated institutions deliberately mixed up in one another's dings. For action and reform alike, that is the beginning of wisdom, and there Jones begins. I hope it is widely read, especially by all who now purport to use the system, or to change it. The country would gain in they all understood it. Jones does." -Richard E. Neustadt, Harvard University
