Assessing Presidential Communications in Civil Rights Policymaking |
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| Authors: | Steven A Shull Albert C Ringelstein |
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| Institution: | Steven A. Shull (Ph.D., Ohio State) is a research professor of political science at the University of New Orleans. He is the author or editor of eleven books and dozens of articles in scholarly joumats. His most recently published books are: A Kinder, Gentler Racism? (ME. Sharpe, 1993) and Congress and the President (Wadsworth, 1993). He was a Fulbright senior scholar in Hong Kong, and received his university' career achievement award for excellence in research.;Albert C. Ringelstein (Ph.D., New Orleans) is an assistant professor of government at Nicholls State University in Louisiana. He is the author of several articles, appearing in such journals as Western Political Quarterly, Social Science Journal, and Congress and the Presidency. His teaching interests are in American political institutions and behavior. |
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| Abstract: | This chapter compares the public communications of modern presidents across target groups and issue areas of civil rights. We find that attention, support, and symbolism on civil rights vary considerably across individual presidents and political party. Not surprisingly, in their public messages Democratic presidents are more attentive and supportive of civil rights than are Republican presidents. Some results were expected, while others were surprising. Lyndon B. Johnson was attentive and supportive; but, unexpectedly, George H. W. Bush was highly attentive to and quite nonsupportive of civil rights. Also surprisingly, on most indicators, Bush's policy statements were less symbolic and less equivocal than were Ronald W. Reagan's. Most attention is given to blacks as a target group (although this is declining) and to the employment issue area. Overall, the findings reveal the considerable flexibility and discretion in presidents' public communications in the civil rights realm. |
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