Commentary: Grappling with the True Nature of the Administrative Presidency

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12390. Presidential oversight is necessary for effective coordination of rulemaking. In his article “The Administrative Presidency as Reactive Oversight: Implications for Positive and Normative Theory,” William F. West stresses that it is “the most important mechanism for direct influence by the Executive Office of the President (EOP) over policy making by the domestic bureaucracy.” He argues, however, that oversight is primarily reactive and thus can create delay and result in inconsistent policy decisions. His concern that “scholars have given insufficient attention to its implications for our understanding of the administrative presidency” warrants special attention because coordination among agencies is a valuable tool for decreasing the cost of rules and because President Barack Obama has taken steps to increase international regulatory coordination. Ineffective and inconsistent coordination wastes resources, a special problem at a time of decreasing appropriations. A better understanding of how the president does or can use his oversight authority may help devise methods for increasing effectiveness and efficiency.