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Commentary: Ethics and Character in the U.S. Presidency
Author(s) -
GALSTON WILLIAM
Publication year - 2010
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.1741-5705.2009.03735.x
Subject(s) - presidential system , presidency , political science , ethos , democratic legitimacy , legitimacy , character (mathematics) , democracy , variety (cybernetics) , law , public administration , politics , geometry , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science
The essays in this special issue present and develop several important themes in the examination of ethical presidential leadership. These include the distinction(s) between public and private virtues; the ways in which America's history and democratic ethos shape the “constitutional character” required of its chief executive; the complications in the assessment of presidential leadership posed by the multidimensional character of the presidential office and by the variety of challenges that the president confronts; and the different and often divergent sources of democratic legitimacy, including responsiveness to the electorate, guidance by one's own judgment of its interests, and fidelity to one's core convictions.