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Public Perception of the Presidential Toolkit
Author(s) -
Lowande Kenneth,
Gray Thomas
Publication year - 2017
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/psq.12390
Subject(s) - presidential system , status quo , political science , incentive , action (physics) , salient , public opinion , perception , politics , isolation (microbiology) , public relations , public administration , law and economics , psychology , economics , law , physics , microbiology and biotechnology , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , biology , microeconomics
Studies of unilateral power typically analyze a single tool of presidential action (e.g., executive orders, memoranda, proclamations, and signing statements) in relative isolation. But scholars have long recognized that presidents boast a diverse toolkit with particular actions possessing variable suitability for a given political circumstance. We investigate one mechanism by which presidents may choose one tool over another: political cost. Specifically, we ask: does public perception of policy movement vary with the means used to alter the status quo? Leveraging a survey experiment conducted after the 2014 midterm elections, we find support for the idea that presidents have strong incentives to take action—any action—but that more salient means like executive orders have the potential to damage respondents’ evaluations of policy change. We report initial evidence that the means of unilateral action are endogenous to political circumstances and that studies that analyze them in isolation may be vulnerable to bias.