Presidential power is significantly augmented by the ability to influence the political agenda. However, we know little about the factors leading presidents to pursue particular issues over others. In this analysis we ex amine the influences on presidential emphasis of foreign policy Using a Poisson regression analysis of speeches over the period 1953-93, we find that a number of different contextual factors including approval, presiden tial influence in Congress, and international events affect presidential em phasis on foreign policy
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bond, Jon, and Richard Fleisher.1990. The President in the Legislative Arena. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2.
Brace, Paul, and Barbara Hinckley.1991. "The Structure of Presidential Approval: Constraints Within and Across Presidencies." Journal of Politics53: 993-1017.
3.
_. 1992. Follow the Leader. New York: Basic Books.
4.
_. 1993. "Presidential Activities from Truman through Reagan." Journal of Politics55: 382-98.
5.
Cohen, Jefrey.1995. "Presidential Rhetoric and the Public Agenda." American Journal of Political Science39: 87-107.
6.
Edwards, George.1989. At the Margins. New Haven: Yale University Press.
7.
Edwards, George, and Alec M. Gallup.1990. Presidential Approval: A Sourcebook . Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
8.
Edwards, George, John Kessel, and Bert Rockman.1993. Researching the Presidency: Vital Questions, New Approaches. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
9.
Fair, Ray1978. "The Effect of Economic Events on the Votes for President ." Review of Economics and Statistics60: 159-73.
10.
Fleisher, Richard, and Jon Bond.1988. "Are There Two Presidencies? Yes, but Only for Republicans." Journal of Politics50: 747-67.
11.
Hugick, Larry, and Alec Gallup.1991. "'Rally Events' and Presidential Approval ." Gallup Poll Monthly June: 15-26.
12.
Jacobson, Gary.1992. The Politics of Congressional Elections, 3rd ed. New York: HarperCollins .
13.
James, Patrick, and John Oneal.1991. "The Influence of Domestic and International Politics on the President's Use of Force." Journal of Conflict Resolution35: 307-32.
14.
Kernell,Samuel.1993. Going Public, 2d ed. Washington, DC : CQ Press.
15.
King, Gary.1988. "Statistical Models for Political Science Event Counts: Bias in Conventional Procedures and Evidence for the Exponential Poisson Regression Model." American Journal of Political Science32: 838-63.
16.
. 1989. Unifying Political Methodology. The Likelihood Theory of Statistical InferenceNew York: Cambridge University Press.
Kingdon, John W1995. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 2d ed. New York: HarperCollins.
19.
Levy, Jack.1989. "The Diversionary Theory of War." In Manus Midlarsky, ed., Handbook of War Studies, Chapter 11Boston: Unwin Hyman.
20.
Light, Paul.1991. The President's Agenda, rev. edBaltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
21.
McCarty, Nolan.1995. "Presidential Pork: The Role of the Executive Veto in the Distribution and Size of Federal Expenditures." Paper delivered at the 1995 Midwest Political Science Association meeting , Chicago.
22.
Milkis, Sydney, and Michael Nelson.1994. The American Presidency: Origins and Development: 1776-1993, 2d ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
23.
Morgan, T. Clifton, and Kenneth Bickers.1992. "Domestic Discontent and the External Use of Force ." Journal of Conflict Resolution36: 25-52.
24.
Neustadt,Richard.1960. Presidential Power. New York : Wiley.
25.
Ostrom, Charles, and Brian Job.1986. "The President and the Political Use of Force." American Political Science Review80: 541-66.
26.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Various Years. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
27.
Ragsdale, Lyn.1984. "The Politics of Presidential Speechmaking, 1949-80 ." American Political Science Review78: 971-84.
28.
Shull, Steven, ed. 1991. The Two Presidencies: A Quarter Century Assessment. Chicago : Nelson, Hall.
29.
Skowronek, Stephen.1993. The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to George Bush. Cambridge: Harvard University Press (Belknap Press).
30.
Wildavsky, Aaron.1975. "The Two Presidencies." In Wildavsky, ed., Perspectives on the Presidency. Boston: Little, Brown.
