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“Micromanagement” of the U.S. Aid Budget and the Presidential Allocation of Attention
Author(s) -
McKEOWN TIMOTHY J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2005.00251.x
Subject(s) - presidential system , political science , speculation , position (finance) , subject (documents) , sketch , public administration , political economy , economics , law , politics , macroeconomics , finance , algorithm , library science , computer science
How presidents allocate their attention is the subject of much popular commentary and speculation, but little systematic scholarly research. I focus on an apparent case of presidential “micromanagement”—the practice within the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon White Houses of requiring presidential approval for small (often $ 5 to $ 10 million) foreign aid expenditures. I sketch the outlines of a theory of presidential attention, and show that the degree of presidential attention to such expenditures is a function of the changing balance of payments position of the United States, and officials’ assessment of the severity of the Soviet threat in the less developed world.