Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Micro And Macro Level Explanations Of The Presidential Expectations Gap, Hank C. Jenkins-Smith, Carol L. Silva, Richard Waterman

Hank C Jenkins-Smith

The idea that the public expects more from its presidents than they are able to deliver long has been a mainstay of the presidential literature. When presidential scholars ask whether the expectations gap exists, they generally provide microlevel explanations that focus on the relationships among various presidential characteristics and how these characteristics are perceived by the public. This approach makes sense if expectations are chiefly responsive to perceptions of the Presidency itself. Yet, recent research empirically identifies an expectations gap in public perceptions of Congress and the president. These studies provide a theoretical reason to believe that macrolevel political phenomena, …