Barack Obama and the Politics of Redemption

ISBN-13: 9780415873949 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 404 str.

Professor Stanley A. Renshon

Opis

Every new president raises many questions. Because Barack Obama is a relative newcomer to the national political scene, he possibly raises more than most. Will he be a pragmatic centrist or will his politics of hope ultimately flounder on the rocky shoals of America's deep political divisions? What of his leadership style? How will the uncommonly calm character demonstrated on the campaign trail take shape in Obama's political style as commander-in-chief? Obama takes office with extraordinarily high expectations and a palpable hunger in the American psyche for a new national direction. Inflated expectations, however, are often a recipe for disappointment. Based on extensive biographical, psychological, and political research and analysis, noted political psychologist Stanley Renshon follows Obama's presidency through the first year. He digs into the question of who is the real Obama and assesses the advantages and limitations that he brings to the presidency. These questions cannot be answered without recourse to psychological analysis. And they cannot be answered without psychological knowledge of presidential leadership and the presidency itself. Renshon explains that Obama's ambition has an undercurrent in its developmental history of the fear of failure that has enormous consequences for his choices as president of an America that remains politically divided.

Spis treści

Part 1: Foundations  1. The Early Obama Presidency: From Campaigning to Governing  2. The Puzzle of Obama’s Political Identity  3. The Arc of Ambition and the Development of a Style  Part 2: Understanding the Obama Presidency  4. Obama’s Presidential Leadership: Transformation and Redemption   5. The Moral Thrust of Obama’s Ambition: Fairness  6. The Question of Leadership Integrity  7. Ambition’s Confidence  8. A Zen-like President’s Emotional Undercurrents  9. Psychology in the White House  Part 3: The Future of the Obama Presidency  10. Transformation’s Demise and the Redemption of the Obama Presidency.  Appendix A: Analyzing Barack Obama: A Note on Theory, Method, Evidence and Inference.  Appendix B: A Mysterious President: Puzzlement from the Left, Right and Center

O autorze

Stanley A. Renshon is a Professor of Political Science at the City University of New York, Herbert Lehman College and the Graduate School and University Center. He is the author of over 100 articles and sixteen books and is a certified psychoanalyst.