T. Marchant-Shapiro

Professional Pathways to the Presidency - The Evolving American Presidency T. Marchant-Shapiro

Marc Notes: During presidential elections a quadrennial debate emerges which, although it differs in the particulars, reflects the same structure in each reincarnation. Although the issue positions taken by the candidates vary over the years, their claim to qualification for the presidency follows a common pattern. Each candidate discusses his or her prior experience as preparation for one or more of the requirements of the office and then lays claim to the legacy of one of the great presidents who followed the same trajectory to the White House. Missing from this debate is a systematic analysis of how different job experiences prepared the population of all presidents for service. For each of the greats who followed a particular pathway to the presidents there is a failure who shared the pathway. In this book I combine the quantitative evaluation of presidential performance with mixture of qualitative and quantitative analyses of professional qualifications. The recent C-SPAN surveys provide us with a nuanced measure of presidential performance by asking historians to rate the Presidents on ten constituent attributes of: Public Persuasion, Moral Authority, Relations with Congress, Performance within Context of Times, Crisis Leadership, International Relations, Vision/Setting an Agenda, Economic Management, Administrative Skills, and Pursued Equal Justice for All. The sub-score for 'Relations with Congress' measures how well the president performs as 'legislator-in-chief' so that I can see whether former legislators work better with congress. Similarly the measure of 'Administrative Skills' indicates whether experience as a governor leads to better performance as the national chief executive. The evaluation of 'Economic Management' looks at whether those presidents with business experience do a better job in dealing with the economy. C-SPAN's nuanced measure of presidential performance allows a more careful evaluation of how prior experience affects particular aspects of presidential greatness than was previously possible--; Provided by publisher.; Presidential hopefuls frequently claim they are qualified because their job experience is the same as a great president. However they ignore the failed presidents who shared the same pathway. This book evaluates all the presidents systematically to determine how prior professional experience influences presidential performance--; Provided by publisher. Table of Contents: 1. Political Pathways to the Presidency2. Generally Popular: Military Experience3. Heir Apparent: Vice Presidents4. Washington Insiders: Members of Congress5. From the Governor's Mansion to the White House: Governors6. A Little Something Extra: National Appointees7. The Business of the Presidency: Non-Political Experience8. Modeling Greatness: Evaluating the Pathways to the PresidencyBrief Description: "During presidential elections a quadrennial debate emerges which, although it differs in the particulars, reflects the same structure in each reincarnation. Although the issue positions taken by the candidates vary over the years, their claim to qualification for the presidency follows a common pattern. Each candidate discusses his or her prior experience as preparation for one or more of the requirements of the office and then lays claim to the legacy of one of the great presidents who followed the same trajectory to the White House. Missing from this debate is a systematic analysis of how different job experiences prepared the population of all presidents for service. For each of the greats who followed a particular pathway to the presidents there is a failure who shared the pathway. In this book I combine the quantitative evaluation of presidential performance with mixture of qualitative and quantitative analyses of professional qualifications. The recent C-SPAN surveys provide us with a nuanced measure of presidential performance by asking historians to rate the Presidents on ten constituent attributes of: Public Persuasion, Moral Authority, Relations with Congress, Performance within Context of Times, Crisis Leadership, International Relations, Vision/Setting an Agenda, Economic Management, Administrative Skills, and Pursued Equal Justice for All. The sub-score for 'Relations with Congress' measures how well the president performs as 'legislator-in-chief' so that I can see whether former legislators work better with congress. Similarly the measure of 'Administrative Skills' indicates whether experience as a governor leads to better performance as the national chief executive. The evaluation of 'Economic Management' looks at whether those presidents with business experience do a better job in dealing with the economy. C-SPAN's nuanced measure of presidential performance allows a more careful evaluation of how prior experience affects particular aspects of presidential greatness than was previously possible"--Brief Description: "Presidential hopefuls frequently claim they are qualified because their job experience is the same as a great president. However they ignore the failed presidents who shared the same pathway. This book evaluates all the presidents systematically to determine how prior professional experience influences presidential performance"--Biographical Note: Theresa Marchant-Shapiro is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Southern Connecticut State University, USA. She teaches courses in leadership andmass political behavior. She recently published Statistics for Political Analysis. Her current research addresses how the roles of leaders change in the context of overlapping organizations."

Contributor Bio:  Marchant-Shapiro, Theresa Theresa Marchant-Shapiro received her Ph. D. from the University of Chicago, after having received statistical training both there and at the ICPSR summer program. For her entire career she has been just as interested in teaching as she is in research. She started teaching statistics to political science undergraduates over twenty years ago and has since participated in various NSF - and APSA-sponsored programs for teaching statistics and research methods. She currently teaches the methods classes at Southern Connecticut State University where she receives consistently high student evaluations an unusual occurrence in methods classes. She has a chapter in Skott/Ward s book with SAGE, Research Methods Through Active Learning, and her current project addresses how prior professional experiences prepare U. S. presidents for the multifaceted requirements of the office.