Neustadt – Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents

Neustadt discusses the the challenges presidents face in office and explains how they must use informal resources to maximize their power and accomplish their goals; persuade and bargain; don't commandKey Point: "Presidential power is the power to persuade." (11) Presidents are expected to do much more than their authority allows them to do.

Persuasion and bargaining are the means that presidents use to influence policy. Not only do presidents need to bargain to influence other branches of government (particularly Congress), but presidents also must bargain to influence the executive branch itself; cabinet secretaries, agency heads, and individual bureaucrats all have leverage that they can use against the president, requiring presidents to persuade even the executive branch, not merely command it.

Means Presidential Influence

strategically the question is not how he masters congress in a peculair instance, but what he does to boost his chance for mastery in any instance, looking toward tomorrow from today

Einsenhower and Truman - President Truman once said of President Eisenhower upon his election, "He'll sit there all day saying do this, do that, and nothing will happen. Poor Ike, it wont be a bit like the military. He'll find it very frustrating.

" Neustadt refers to the president in this respect, as a "clerk", in which the president must balance differing interests. Just because the president wants something done does not mean that the others who also possess the power and authority will carry out his wishes. " The presidents advantages are checked by the advantages of others. Relationships will pull in both directions. These are relationships of mutual dependence.

The president depends upon the persons that he would persuade; he has to reckon with their need or fear of them (Neustadt 31)." The president must interpret to his colleagues how his policy will benefit them as well.

The president's primary power is to persuade and bargain, not to command. When a president has to resort to commanding people, he is showing weakness. Commands only work in very special circumstances.

"The essence of a President's persuasive task is to convince such men that what the White House wants of them is what they ought to do for their sake and on their authority

The American system is one of shared, not separated, powers (see Madison 1787, #51). The president is only one of several masters of the bureaucracy, and even the White House staff have independent sources of power (34-6). People in all positions cannot do much without persuading others to help them, and this applies even to the president. However, more people need favors from the president than from any other person.

This gives the president bargaining power.

Professional reputationPublic Prestige Bargaining

The president's professional reputation involves how others expect him to react. Isolated failures are not a problem, but if the failures form a pattern, this will weaken him. In addition to anticipating what the president wants, others also have to assess how hard he will try to get it.

Tenacity is important. If a president cannot convince others that he will inevitably win, at least he needs to convince them that it will be costly to cross him. You can't punish everyone, but you need to selectively punish your enemies and reward your allies.

Deals with the president's popular support outside Washington. How the public views the president(With reputation, people anticipate the reactions of the president; with prestige, they anticipate the reactions of the voters.) Most politicians and bureaucrats do not watch poll numbers directly; they watch Congress.

Prestige conveys leeway because low prestige encourages resistance.

Presidential bargaining is easier to do in congress than in executive office; congress needs him to do many things like sign bills