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“Therefore, Get Wisdom”: What Should the President Know, and How Can He Know It?
Author(s) -
RUDALEVIGE ANDREW
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0491.2009.01430.x
Subject(s) - presidency , presidential system , distrust , function (biology) , political science , public relations , process (computing) , action (physics) , circumstantial evidence , law and economics , administration (probate law) , sociology , public administration , law , computer science , politics , physics , quantum mechanics , evolutionary biology , biology , operating system
The literature on the U.S. presidency offers analysis of how the presidential advice and information support function has been performed. Some studies go further to suggest certain principles for designing the advice‐ and information‐giving process involved in presidential decision making, along with organizational features to implement such principles. A well‐established principle, based on comparative case studies, is that presidents should institutionalize distrust. Implementation of this principle usually involves channeling competing options, along with supporting information, to the Oval Office before a president becomes committed to a course of action or policy choice. In designing how the presidential support function is to operate, the advantages and disadvantages of the institutionalized distrust principle should be carefully examined, taking into account circumstantial conditions. This article examines this practical issue from the perspective of a historically oriented presidency scholar, writing during the transition to the Barack Obama administration.