Monday, November 01, 2004
- MAJOR ISSUES IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Lecturer: E.F van de Bilt
Stephen Skowronek: The Politics Presidents Make. Leadership From John Adams to Bill Clinton (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press, 1997).
Reviewed by Carlein, Diederik & Marc
Sadly, I missed most of the presentation -- I had an appointment at the Foreign Police to pick up my new verblijfsdocument! Here are some comments by Prof. van de Bilt:
. Schlesinger v. Skowronek. What differences can one find between these two analysts of the presidency? How do their chronologies differ? (Clue: Schlesinger's is simpler, as it focuses solely on the issue of the imperial presidency. Skowronek starts with a similar chronology, but he then tries to introduce a degree of sophistication.)
. The increasing power of US presidents. Skowronek is not as concerned as Schlesinger is. Presidents, even if they seem to have ever more and more power, may be constrained by the fact that they lack a clear mandate from the electorate (see the issue of power v. authority).
. The problem of originality. Every president wants to become a disruptive president; he wants to build his legacy. To experiment radically. To attack predecessors. That in itself is a very interesting idea. It tends to create "victims", like Andrew Johnson after Lincoln, or Harry Truman after FDR. This is what litterary critic Harold Bloom called the "Anxiety of Influence": you cannot allow yourself to be seen as a mere apostle, as a follower.
Lecturer: E.F van de Bilt
Stephen Skowronek: The Politics Presidents Make. Leadership From John Adams to Bill Clinton (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press, 1997).
Reviewed by Carlein, Diederik & Marc
Sadly, I missed most of the presentation -- I had an appointment at the Foreign Police to pick up my new verblijfsdocument! Here are some comments by Prof. van de Bilt:
. Schlesinger v. Skowronek. What differences can one find between these two analysts of the presidency? How do their chronologies differ? (Clue: Schlesinger's is simpler, as it focuses solely on the issue of the imperial presidency. Skowronek starts with a similar chronology, but he then tries to introduce a degree of sophistication.)
. The increasing power of US presidents. Skowronek is not as concerned as Schlesinger is. Presidents, even if they seem to have ever more and more power, may be constrained by the fact that they lack a clear mandate from the electorate (see the issue of power v. authority).
. The problem of originality. Every president wants to become a disruptive president; he wants to build his legacy. To experiment radically. To attack predecessors. That in itself is a very interesting idea. It tends to create "victims", like Andrew Johnson after Lincoln, or Harry Truman after FDR. This is what litterary critic Harold Bloom called the "Anxiety of Influence": you cannot allow yourself to be seen as a mere apostle, as a follower.
# posted by Agustin @ 9:15 PM 
