The Dynamics and Interactions Between the President's and the Public's Civil Rights Agendas: A Study in Presidential Leadership and Representation |
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| Authors: | Jeffrey E Cohen |
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| Institution: | Jeffrey E. Cohen (Ph.D., Michigan) is an associate professor of political secience at the University of Kansas, speciaiizing in American politics and public policy. He is the autborof twobooks, The Politicsof the U.S. Cabinet: Representation in the ExecutiveBranch. 1789–1984 (Pittsburgh), and ThePoliticsof Telewmrnunications Regulation: The States and the Divestiture of AT&T (M. E. Sharpe). He has also published numerous articles in leading political science journals, including the American Political Science Review and the American Journal of Political Science. |
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| Abstract: | Past research views presidents as reactive and minor actors in the civilrights policy process. However, that research has focused solely on the latter stages of the policy process. This report views the president's role from an agendasetting perspective. A content analysis reveals that presidents lead public opinion on civil rights, but that the public has little impact on the president's civil rights agenda. The distinction between discretionary and required agenda items explains this asymmetry between the president and the public in civil rights policymaking. A fuller notion of policymaking that includes all stages of the process, from agendasetting to implementation and evaluation, is required to understand the role of the president in civil rights policymaking and leads us to revise the perception that presidents play reactive and minor roles in civil rights policy. |
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