The Politics of the Presidency

Trace the opening rounds of the Trump administration: highlighting the 2016 election, transition, inauguration, and first one hundred days.  

Never losing sight of the foundations of the office, The Politics of the Presidency maintains a balance between historical context, the current political environment, and contemporary scholarship on the executive branch, providing a solid foundation for any presidency course. In addition to offering readers a comprehensive framework for understanding the expectations, powers, and limitations of the executive branch, the Revised Ninth Edition uses the most up-to-date coverage and analysis of the 2016 election and Trump administration to demonstrate key concepts.

New to the Revised Ninth Edition

• A new chapter dedicated to the Trump transition and first one hundred days examines important topics such as the immigration ban and other executive orders; efforts at deregulation; the targeted military strikes in Syria; and the war on the intelligence community and the deconstruction of the administrative state.
• Recent congressional relations analyzed, including the confirmation of Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch after Senate Republicans employed the "nuclear option" and took away the opportunity to filibuster Supreme Court nominees; efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare; fiscal 2017 and 2018 budget negotiations; and congressional investigations of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, his firing of FBI director James Comey, and the appointment of a special counsel in the matter.
• An assessment of the public presidency reviews Trump’s approval ratings, communications strategies, and media coverage.
• Discussions of Trump’s leadership challenges in a polarized age explain the difficulties of unifying a nation after a bitter election, launching an administration, and structuring the executive branch.

Joseph A. Pika is the James R. Soles professor emeritus of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware. He holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin and taught previously at SUNY at Buffalo. He is coauthor with Jason D. Mycoff of Conflict & Compromise: Presidential and Congressional Leadership, 2001–2006 and coauthor with John Anthony Maltese and H. Phillips Shively of American Democracy in Context. He served for seven years on the Delaware State Board of Education, four years as president.

John Anthony Maltese is the Albert B. Saye professor of political science and associate dean of the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs and was named a University professor in 2023 in recognition of significant impact on the university beyond normal academic responsibilities. He holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of The Selling of Supreme Court Nominees and Spin Control: The White House Office of Communications and the Management of Presidential News, and coauthor with Joseph A. Pika and H. Phillips Shively of American Democracy in Context. He is a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor and was named the 2004 Georgia Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Professor Maltese also writes about >classical music, for which he won a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Andrew Rudalevige is the Thomas Brackett Reed professor of government at Bowdoin College and former chair of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section; in 2023-2024 he is a visiting professor at the London School of Economics. He holds a PhD from Harvard University and won the Richard E. Neustadt Prize from the American Political Science Association for best book on the U.S. presidency in 2003 and 2022, as well as the 2022 Louis Brownlow Prize from the National Academy of Public Administration. His books include By Executive Order, Managing the President’s Program, The New Imperial Presidency: Renewing Presidential Power after Watergate, and, as coeditor, a volume on the Office of Management and Budget and a series assessing recent presidencies. Prior to his academic career, he worked in state and local politics in Massachusetts.