POLI 101 Lecture Notes - Opinion Leadership, Scantron Corporation, Divided Government
Document Summary
Lecture 07: dynamics of influence in the us. Dynamics of influence in the us: nature of us institutions. - presidential success on legislation is mostly a matter of the: the influence of the president is limited and variable. composition of congress: whether members agree with his policies. Not much ability for presidents to change of minds in congress. Statistical evidence: presidential success rates on bills are explained by party and ideological strength in congress. No evidence of differences in frequency of success related to presidential skill or effort. - public opinion leadership may be of some importance mixed evidence. Usually overrated: presidents don"t move the public very much. - presidents may not control administrative agencies completely. Congress and interest groups are rivals of the president. - but: the president has nearly unilateral power in some areas (e. g. initial commitment of troops abroad), not others.
