Presidential Success with Legislation Kelsie Brook Presidential Leadership

Presentation Trend in “going public” Traditional Means of Legislative Success What is legislative success? Does going public lead to legislative success? When do presidents go public for legislation? There needs to be more inclusive studies

Trend in Going Public Kernell’s “going public” Neustadt and extensions onto study of presidential skill Edwards and doubt of presidential influence over opinion

Traditional Means of Success The Veto’s influence over Congress Veto as a position taking tool, rather than a deterrent Beyond bargaining, what power do presidents have?

What is legislative success? Varying definitions amongst scholars Common thread is the focus on the end result

Does going public lead to legislative success? Scope of the review Andrew Barrett: Presidents appeal excessively on only 40% of the initiatives they support The more often presidents go public, the more likely they are to pass legislation Powell and Schloyer: Find minimal support for Kernell’s model of going public Study found no evidence to suggest that the number of appeals affected the presidents success.

Continued… Both studies are unreliable and thus problematic Neither can definitively claim that their results do not show evidence of successful bargaining or compromise How can we measure going public if we are unable to separate the results from bargaining?

Continued… Barrett’s article asked, “did legislation pass?” while Powell and Schloyer asked, “did he persuade legislators?” Barrett and Eshbaugh-Soha: Substance of legislation Found that presidents usually compromise when passing legislation Perhaps presidents go public to unite their own party?

When do presidents go public for legislation? Barrett: Presidents go public more frequently for bills they initiated Canes-Wrone: Presidents go public on issues that are already popular, ensuring the support of his own party

Continued… Fett suggests that going public increases the awareness of an issue and provides room for discovery of alternative solutions Appeals may strengthen the opposition in addition to the presidents own party

Conclusions More studies need to be performed: Clear definition Answer concerns over substance, persuasion, and results Examine broader going public literature as well as models of legislative voting