The most comprehensive statistical description available of the American presidency. Ten essays and more than 150 tables and figures identify key statistical patterns about the presidency as an institution and the individuals who have filled that office. This book is the perfect first stop for quick information on all these topics and more: presidential selection, public opinion, public appearances, policy decisions, bureaucracy, and the presidential relationship with Congress and the courts.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
In this updated version of The Elusive Executive (Congressional Quarterly Pr., 1988), which Ragsdale (political science, Univ. of Arizona) coauthored with Gary King, Ragsdale has added two administrations and has expanded the earlier categories to explore more fully statistical patterns of the presidency. Not surprisingly, over 160 figures and tables comprise the heart of this book; they are supplemented by nine interpretive essays on broad themes, such as presidential selection, elections, public opinion, policy making, and relations with Congress. Some of the tables offer comparative data back to the early 1800s, while others focus on recent presidencies. The public opinion tables are derived from the Gallup Poll Index, though most of the tables are taken from official government publications or other Congressional Quarterly books on the presidency. This very useful reference work will complement the standard sources on American government in both public and academic libraries.?Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, Pa.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
This is a revised and updated version of The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency (Congressional Quarterly, 1988). It has been retitled to parallel two other CQ titles, Vital Statistics on American Politics and Vital Statistics on Congress [RBB F 15 94]. It is a mixture of text with charts and tables. There are statistics on elections, public-opinion polls on the presidency, public appearances, the staff of the executive branch, policy making (treaties, etc.), congressional relations, and the judiciary. While coverage begins with Washington, for topics such as public-opinion polls, it extends only back to Truman, for obvious reasons, and some tables begin with Kennedy. The purpose of this book is to illuminate the presidency as an institution, rather than the uniqueness of individual presidents. It should be considered by academic and public libraries that use the other two titles in this series. Sandy Whiteley
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for preparing lectures,
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This review is from: Vital Statistics on the Presidency: Washington to Clinton (Paperback)
Like its better known companion _Vital Statistics on Congress_ (from AEI Press) this book is simply a collection of data about presidents and their staff, campaigns, legislative priorities, vetoes, and other countable actions. There are brief introductory essays for each of the sections, but these are largely throw-aways. This book provides the substance for a lot of the trends people talk about in the presidency but frequently can't back up with numbers.
Who is going to find this book useful? Professors preparing lectures on different aspects of the American presidency (the data are great for creating charts and graphs), students looking for data to use in statistical models, and people interested in the development of the offce of the president over the 200+ years covered by Ragsdale. What is the major limitation? The data do not cover the entire political history of the presidency. Not only has the book not been updated since 1998 (so there is nothing on Bill Clinton's impeachment period or George W. Bush), but there are frequently inconsistent time gaps in the data. CQ's _Vital Statistics on American Politics_ fills in some of the holes, especially with respect to Clinton and Bush, but if you are looking for a complete data set you will have to supplement the data with your own work. (To be fair, there are lots of gaps in any collection like this one.) Major sections: * Personal background of presidents (e.g., former jobs) * Campaign finance and political power * Electoral data * Speeches, appearances, and party activities * Public opinion/approval * Staffing and decision-making policies and practices * Relations with other branches of government
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