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Full-Text Articles in Public Policy

Manager-In-Chief: Applying Public Management Theory To Examine White House Chief Of Staff Performance, David B. Cohen, Justin S. Vaughn, José D. Villalobos Nov 2012

Manager-In-Chief: Applying Public Management Theory To Examine White House Chief Of Staff Performance, David B. Cohen, Justin S. Vaughn, José D. Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

In an effort to examine the causal determinants of performance dynamics for the administrative presidency, we apply empirical public management theory to White House administration to explain managerial performance. Utilizing original survey data that measures the perceptions of former officials from the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton administrations, we conduct quantitative analyses to determine the extent to which a chief of staff’s background, relationship with the president, and internal as well as external management approaches shape overall perceptions of White House administrative efforts. We find that managerial dimensions matter considerably when explaining the dynamics of White House organizational performance.


Sitting With Oprah, Dancing With Ellen: Presidents, Daytime Television, And Soft News, José D. Villalobos Oct 2012

Sitting With Oprah, Dancing With Ellen: Presidents, Daytime Television, And Soft News, José D. Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

On July 29, 2010, President Barack Obama took to the air on "The View" to talk politics, policy, and family. Pundits billed the visit as the first time a sitting U.S. president appeared in a daytime television program. The telecast drew about 6.7 million viewers, the highest rating ever for the show, and garnered the largest number of women viewers in 17 months. However, whether and to what extent Obama succeeded in getting his message out and endearing himself to female voters remains an open question that merits further scholarly inquiry. In this chapter, I put Obama’s visit to "The …


Politics Or Policy? How Rhetoric Matters To Presidential Leadership Of Congress, José Villalobos, Justin Vaughn, Julia Azari Aug 2012

Politics Or Policy? How Rhetoric Matters To Presidential Leadership Of Congress, José Villalobos, Justin Vaughn, Julia Azari

José D. Villalobos

In this study, we examine the linkage between presidential policy proposal messages and legislative success. Employing a dataset on presidential legislative proposals that covers the years 1949-2010, we find that politics matters less than policy. Purely political messages that reference the electoral logic of mandates or appeal to a sense of bipartisanship appear to have no impact on presidential legislative success, nor does policy signaling, though highlighting the role of agency-based policy experts in crafting legislation does. From these results, we conclude that although the way presidents communicate their messages to Congress represents an important component of presidential-legislative relations, it …


The Policy Czar Debate, Justin S. Vaughn, José D. Villalobos Aug 2012

The Policy Czar Debate, Justin S. Vaughn, José D. Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

Presidential policy czars have been an important and powerful component of President Barack Obama’s approach to management and leadership in the first part of his time in office. By using czars, the President has been able to demonstrate the importance of policy issues, both to his own agenda and to the broader political system. In this chapter, we find that performance outcomes for these czars have been a mixed bag, with as many stories of success to report as tales of frustration and failure. As such, we posit that the cost of czars, in political and organizational terms, has outweighed …


Legislative Term Limits And Fiscal Policy Performance, Daniel Lewis Jul 2012

Legislative Term Limits And Fiscal Policy Performance, Daniel Lewis

Daniel Lewis

Do term limits impede the ability of legislators to effectively set fiscal policy? To address this question, I examine state bond ratings from 1996 to 2009. Bond ratings serve as a valuable indicator of a state’s fiscal performance, gauging the risk and uncertainty that investors face when buying these bonds. In addition, bond ratings are important policy ends in themselves. High bond ratings make it easier for states to borrow and raise revenue, while lowering interest rates. Results from analyses of “Term-Limitedness” and legislator experience suggest that term limits negatively impact a state’s fiscal performance, leading to lower bond ratings.


Beyond The Barrio: Latinos In The 2004 Elections (2010), By Rodolfo O. De La Garza, Louis Desipio, And David L. Leal, Eds., José Villalobos Jun 2012

Beyond The Barrio: Latinos In The 2004 Elections (2010), By Rodolfo O. De La Garza, Louis Desipio, And David L. Leal, Eds., José Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

No abstract provided.


Sheldon Kamienieck Cv, Sheldon Kamieniecki May 2012

Sheldon Kamienieck Cv, Sheldon Kamieniecki

Sheldon Kamieniecki

No abstract provided.


James A. Garfield: 20th President Of The United States, José D. Villalobos Feb 2012

James A. Garfield: 20th President Of The United States, José D. Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

President James A. Garfield served for only 200 days before an assassin’s bullets ended his unlikely rise to power. Garfield was the last “log cabin” president and a life-long Republican, both in the tradition of his predecessor, Ulysses Grant. In his lifetime, he served honorably as educator, general, and politician. His surprising nomination for president in 1880 earned him the nickname of the “Dark Horse” candidate, and his victory in the general election sealed his place in history as a U.S. president. His rise to power and tragic death highlight an important episode of the Gilded Age. Although Garfield’s time …


Content And Complexity In Policy Reinvention And Diffusion: Gay And Transgender-Inclusive Laws Against Discrimination, Jami K. Taylor, Daniel C. Lewis, Matthew L. Jacobsmeier, Brian Disarro Feb 2012

Content And Complexity In Policy Reinvention And Diffusion: Gay And Transgender-Inclusive Laws Against Discrimination, Jami K. Taylor, Daniel C. Lewis, Matthew L. Jacobsmeier, Brian Disarro

Daniel Lewis

This article sheds new light on policy diffusion by exploring policy complexity in state-level lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) antidiscrimination policies. The multiple component event history approach taken in this research allows for the concurrent study of both policy content and the factors that affect policy adoption. Results reveal that the factors influencing policy adoption vary depending on both the content and scope of the policy in question. In addition to addressing laws that protect gay people from discrimination, this article is one of the first studies in the political science and policy literature to empirically investigate the spread …


Agenda Setting From The Oval Office: An Experimental Examination Of Presidential Influence Over The Public Agenda, José D. Villalobos, Cigdem V. Sirin Jan 2012

Agenda Setting From The Oval Office: An Experimental Examination Of Presidential Influence Over The Public Agenda, José D. Villalobos, Cigdem V. Sirin

José D. Villalobos

This study employs an experimental approach to isolate and directly test the extent to which presidents can affect public perceptions of issue importance and support for policy action, taking into consideration key factors that condition such effects. Our findings provide new empirical evidence that presidents can, in fact, positively influence public opinion through agenda setting, particularly by increasing the perceptual importance of low salience foreign policy issues. However, the results also indicate that such positive effects do not translate into public support for policy action; instead, presidential appeals actually decrease support. Last, our study offers new evidence that employing bipartisan …


Ford Foundation, José Villalobos Dec 2011

Ford Foundation, José Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

No abstract provided.