False Front - (Chicago Studies in American Politics) by Kenneth Lowande (Paperback)

About the Book

"Border walls, bathrooms in schools, student loans, gun control, diversity, abortion, climate change-today, nothing seems out of reach for the president's pen. But after all the press releases, ceremonies, and speeches, shockingly little gets done. The American presidency promises to solve America's problems, but presidents' unilateral solutions are often weak or empty. In this provocative new book, Kenneth Lowande argues this is no accident. The US political system is not set up to allow presidents to solve major policy problems. Yet, it lays these problems at their doorstep, and there is no other elected official better positioned to attract attention by appearing to govern. Like any politician, presidents are strategic actors who seek symbolic wins. They pursue executive actions, even when they know that these will fail, because doing so allows them to put on a compelling show for key constituencies. But these empty presidential actions are not costless: they divert energy from effective government-and, over time, undermine public trust. Drawing on thousands of executive actions, news coverage, interviews, and presidential archives, Lowande shows the root of presidents' real power is what presidents can get away with not doing"--

Book Synopsis

A provocative new perspective on presidential power.

Border walls, school bathrooms, student loans, gun control, diversity, abortion, climate change--today, nothing seems out of reach for the president's pen. But after all the press releases, ceremonies, and speeches, shockingly little gets done. The American presidency promises to solve America's problems, but presidents' unilateral solutions are often weak, even empty.

Kenneth Lowande argues this is no accident. The US political system is not set up to allow presidents to solve major policy problems, yet it lays these problems at their doorstep, and there is no other elected official better positioned to attract attention by appearing to govern. Like any politician, presidents are strategic actors who seek symbolic wins. They pursue executive actions, even when they know that these will fail, because doing so allows them to put on a compelling show for key constituencies. But these empty presidential actions are not without their costs: they divert energy from effective government--and, over time, undermine public trust. Drawing on thousands of executive actions, news coverage, interviews, and presidential archives, False Front shows that the real root of presidential power is in what presidents can get away with not doing.

Review Quotes

"False Front provides a new perspective on the incentives for presidential leadership and connects these incentives to presidents' efforts to address the major policy issues of the day. Through a rich tapestry of empirical analyses, Lowande seeks to recast how we understand the presidency as an institution and the president as a political actor. Lowande's provocative argument succeeds in challenging dominant ways of thinking about the presidency and raising urgent questions about the link between presidential behavior and American democracy"--Jon Rogowski University of Chicago

"In this stimulating book, Lowande challenges the conventional wisdom about presidential power. Case-by-case and data point-by-data point he argues that presidential unilateral actions have not delivered what presidents promised. Lowande argues that executive orders and memoranda are less about changing policy than credit-claiming and public relations. It is an important argument about the fundamental power and behavior of modern presidents."--David E. Lewis Vanderbilt University

"False Front is a tour de force that will reorient scholarship on the American presidency. Lowande demonstrates how presidents' incentives to cultivate their public image pervasively drive presidential behavior, often in ways that neglect or compromise good public policy. False Front is a must-read not just for those interested in the American presidency but for those concerned with democratic accountability, public opinion, news media, and the overall performance of U.S. national government."--Frances Lee author of "Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign"

About the Author

Kenneth Lowande is associate professor of political science and public policy at the University of Michigan, where he is also a faculty associate in the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research.