Who Governs?
Presidents, Public Opinion, and Manipulation
James N. Druckman ; Lawrence R. Jacobs
- America’s
- model
- of
- representational
- government
- rests
- on
- the
- premise
- that
- elected
- officials
- respond
- to
- the
- opinions
- of
- citizens.
- This
- is
- a
- myth,
- however,
- not
- a
- reality,
- according
- to
- James
- N.
- Druckman
- and
- Lawrence
- R.
- Jacobs.
- In
- Who
- Governs?,
- Druckman
- and
- Jacobs
- combine
- existing
- research
- with
- novel
- data
- from
- US
- presidential
- archives
- to
- show
- that
- presidents
- make
- policy
- by
- largely
- ignoring
- the
- views
- of
- most
- citizens
- in
- favor
- of
- affluent
- and
- well-connected
- political
- insiders.
- Presidents
- treat
- the
- public
- as
- pliable,
- priming
- it
- to
- focus
- on
- personality
- traits
- and
- often
- ignoring
- it
- on
- policies
- that
- fail
- to
- become
- salient.Melding
- big
- debates
- about
- democratic
- theory
- with
- existing
- research
- on
- American
- politics
- and
- innovative
- use
- of
- the
- archives
- of
- three
- modern
- presidents—Johnson,
- Nixon,
- and
- Reagan—Druckman
- and
- Jacobs
- deploy
- lively
- and
- insightful
- analysis
- to
- show
- that
- the
- conventional
- model
- of
- representative
- democracy
- bears
- little
- resemblance
- to
- the
- actual
- practice
- of
- American
- politics.
- The
- authors
- conclude
- by
- arguing
- that
- polyarchy
- and
- the
- promotion
- of
- accelerated
- citizen
- mobilization
- and
- elite
- competition
- can
- improve
- democratic
- responsiveness.
- An
- incisive
- study
- of
- American
- politics
- and
- the
- flaws
- of
- representative
- government,
- this
- book
- will
- be
- warmly
- welcomed
- by
- readers
- interested
- in
- US
- politics,
- public
- opinion,
- democratic
- theory,
- and
- the
- fecklessness
- of
- American
- leadership
- and decision-making.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
