"The Presidency and the Political System"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the book, "The Presidency and the Political System" by Michael Nelson which consists of a series of theoretical overviews, with several essays and excerpts beneath each rubric, detailing the nature of the modern American presidency. It discusses how at first, this may seem to give the book the quality of a simply summary or an overview of American history, however, the book emerges overall as a penetrating analysis of the nature of the American Presidency in the current era of politics. It looks at how it challenges the reader with the potent question of why should the American system continue in the form that it has over the course of the past century and into the 21st century.

From the Paper:

"Nelson frames the book with an editorial preface entitled "Evaluating the Presidency." Nelson suggests that this institution of leadership is both strong, but is in need of further adjustments to become fully responsive to the changing needs of the postmodern era. The first part of the book, entitled, "Presidency in Comparative Perspective" is particularly illustrative in light of current critiques of the United States' relationship with the European powers. "Comparing the Core Executive in Britain, France, and the United States," Nigel Bowles stresses how the British Prime Minister is less invested with the awesome symbolic weight of the American Presidency, because of the existence of the monarchy. Yet the Prime Minister is in a way more powerful as a chief executive, than is the American President, because under the British system, the Prime Minister always has a majority in the legislative branch."

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