This book explores the failure of the modern American presidency, a failure the author attributes to the development of a political system that impedes creative leadership. The American presidency, Gary L. Rose argues, is under siege. Surrounded and blockaded by a reactionary Congress, an entrenched bureaucracy, an aggressive media, lobbyists, political action committees, and special interest groups, American presidents fail not because of a lack of ability or character but because of the political system and style of politics inside the Beltway.

Rose ascribes this emergence of a...

This book documents the decline of political parties in the State of Connecticut. The author presents an extensive description of statewide political trends, taps the perceptions of state lawmakers regarding the current condition and influence of party organization, and provides the results of detailed interviews with seasoned politicians to demonstrate that political parties in Connecticut have declined in their capacity to structure the course of state politics. The evidence is compelling in a state often identified as a model in terms of powerful and effective political parties. It is...