American Government
The Presidency
“Informal” Presidential Powers
• Bargaining
• Going Public
Bargaining
– “When one man shares authority with another, but
does not gain or lose his job upon the other’s whim,
his willingness to act upon the urging of the other
turns on whether he conceives the action right for
him.” –Richard Neustadt
• Neustadt’s major points
– Demands exceed resources
– Presidents succeed by appeal to self-interest
of other actors
– Shadow of the future
Going Public
– “A strategy whereby a president promotes himself and
his policies in Washington by appealing to the
American public for support.” –Samuel Kernell
• Kernell’s major points
– Going public incompatible with bargaining
• Rarely includes exchanges
• Entails public posturing—makes subsequent
compromise more difficult
– Most successful when it exploits Americans’
distrust of politicians