Richard Fleisher
Biographic Data
| ID | 987512 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Richard Fleisher |
| GIVEN NAMES | Richard |
| FAMILY NAME | Fleisher |
| SIGNATURE | FLEISHER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Fordham University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 705 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1980 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| H-INDEX | 15 |
Placing Presidential-Congressional Relations in Context: A Comparison of Barack Obama and His Predecessors
What better accounts for Barack Obama's success with Congress, his political skills, or aspects of the political context, such as party control of Congress and public approval? To address this question, we update the Bond-Fleisher-Wood (BFW) political context model through 2010. The BFW model accounts for Obama's success vis-à-vis the House, and, to some extent, for the Senate as well. This article argues that increasing party polarization affect…
Malign Neglect: Evidence That Delay Has Become the Primary Method of Defeating Presidential Appointments
This analysis shows that the lengthening of the confirmation process for presidential nominations to major judicial and executive branch offices from 1965–2008 is due to a purposeful strategy to defeat presidential nominees by preventing them from getting a vote. These changes are most apparent for judicial nominations, but they are also evident to a lesser extent for executive branch nominations. We argue that party polarization of the 1990s pre…
The Shrinking Middle in the US Congress
The virtual disappearance of moderate and cross-pressured members from the US Congress is analysed in this article. There were substantial numbers of these partisan non-conformists in both parties and in both chambers until the early 1980s when the middle began to shrink. This trend continued and accelerated in the 1990s. Partisan non-conformists disappeared through replacement and conversion. When moderate and cross-pressured members left Congre…
The Marginal and Time-Varying Effect of Public Approval on Presidential Success in Congress
We analyze the relationship between public approval and presidential success in Congress using time-varying parameter regression methods. Cues from constituency, ideology, and party dominate congressional vote choice, so the effect of public approval of the president is typically marginal. Because the strength of these primary cues varies through time, the effect of public approval on presidential success should also be time varying. Analysis of …
Evidence of Increasing Polarization among Ordinary Citizens
American Political Parties: Decline or Resurgence?
Powerful cross-currents of both decline and resurgence have been affecting political parties over the past several decades. Is the era of decline that began in the late 1960s over and are the parties in a new era of rebuilding? And in what direction are the parties headed and what does it mean for a healthy and well-functioning democracy? American Political Parties brings together a distinguished team of contributors to explore these questions. S…
The Polls: Partisanship and Presidential Performance Evaluations
The Polls: Partisanship and Presidential Performance Evaluations
This article analyzes the growing impact of partisanship on citizens' evaluations of the president's job performance at the individual level. The literature seeking to explain variation in presidential approval has analyzed aggregate trends over time. Although studies of aggregate trends have contributed to our understanding of the conditions that influence presidential approval, they are unable to model the individual‐level process underlying th…
State-Level Presidential Approval and Senatorial Support
The effect of public presidential approval on congressional support for the president has been the subject of considerable debate and controversy. Systematic, quantitative studies have been unable to demonstrate convincingly that public approval leads to greater legislative support for the president. The lack of constituency-level public approval data has hindered resolution of the controversy. Studies have relied upon either election results or …
From Abe Fortas to Zoë Baird: Why Some Presidential Nominations Fail in the Senate
Why, given a strong presumption of success, do some presidential nominations fail? Of 1,464 important nominations from 1965 to 1994, less than 5% failed. Ninety-four percent of failures were rejected or withdrawn before reaching the floor, suggesting that opponents are most effective during prefloor stages. We propose a theoretical framework based on the notion that policy entrepreneurs pursue their goals within the context of a presumption of su…
Activities and Appointments
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Partisan Differences in Candidate Quality in Open Seat House Races, 1976-1994
This article builds on previous research with an analysis of partisan differ ences in the emergence of politically experienced candidates in open seat House races from 1976 to 1994. Consistent with previous research, we find that local partisan forces-the normal vote in the district and the party hold ing the seat-are the most important determinants of whether experienced candidates emerge in open seat races. But we find that Republicans are more…
The President in a More Partisan Legislative Arena
This article updates our previous analysis of presidential success from 1953 to 1984 (Bond and Fleisher 1990) to see how increased partisanship in the House since 1985 has altered presidential-congressional relations. We ana lyze support from the four party factions in Congress (liberal Democrats, conservative Democrats, liberal Republicans, and conservative Republi cans) and the types of coalitions that formed on presidential votes in the House.…
Follow the Leader: Opinion Polls and the Modern Presidents. Paul Brace , Barbara Hinckley
Explaining the Change in Roll-Call Voting Behavior of Southern Democrats
Southern politics changed dramatically since the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Most notably, we witnessed the emergence of a competitive two-party system and greater electoral participation by blacks. During this period we also saw a substantial liberalization in the voting behavior of southern Democratic members of Congress. A number of researchers have tried to use constituency variables to explain variability in liberal voting by so…
PAC Contributions and Congressional Voting on National Defense
This paper analyzes how PAC contributions from defense contractors influence members' votes for prodefense positions on the floor of the House of Representatives. Previous studies of defense voting in Congress have emphasized the powerful effects of ideological predispositions on members' roll-call votes on national defense. By contrast, PAC contributions are hypothesized to have a marginal impact. Even at the margins, the influence of PAC money …
Assessing Presidential Support in the House II: Lessons from George Bush
This paper uses parameter estimates of a regression model of congressional support of previous administrations to forecast individual members' support for Bush in 1989. The forecast errors reveal whether a member's actual level of support is higher or lower than should be expected given the effects of party, ideology, and public approval of the president. We find that Bush received less support from House members than predicted by the baseline mo…
The President in the Legislative Arena
The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency. Gary King , Lyn Ragsdale
Public Opinion and Presidential Support
Previous research identifies three variables that might bridge the inevitable conflict between the president and Congress: political party, political ideology, and presidential popularity. While the literature provides unambiguous evidence that party and ideology affect presidential support in Congress, the evidence that public approval affects support is mixed. The study reported in this article seeks to clarify the relationship using a research…
Are There Two Presidencies? Yes, But Only for Republicans
Analysis of conflictual roll call votes in the House and Senate indicates that presidents tend to win more often on foreign policy than on domestic policy. And we find no evidence that the differences have diminished over the period from 1953 through 1984. The two presidencies phenomenon, however, characterizes only Republican administrations. We analyze support for the president from different party factions (i.e., liberal Democrats, conservativ…
Puzzles and Confusions: Political Realignment in the 1980s
Few concepts in the social science literature have aroused as much controversy and discussion in recent years as party and electoral realignment. The term conjures up images of sharp dramatic changes in the nature of political conflict, upsurge in mass political involvement and participation, sharp alteration in the political agenda and the nature of political outputs. Realignment has attracted attention because it was thought to be topical as we…
Presidential-Congressional Relations on Economic Votes, 1957-1980
Explaining Challenger Quality in Congressional Elections
This study seeks to explain why some incumbents attract politically experienced, well-financed challengers while others do not. Using data from contested House races in 1980, we analyze the effects of four sets of variables including: (1) incumbents' policy and nonpolicy behavior (ideological discrepancy and use of "perks" for advertising and casework); (2) local partisan conditions (previous vote margin and the normal partisan vote in the distri…
Presidential Popularity and Congressional Voting: A Reexamination of Public Opinion as a Source of Influence in Congress
IN ORDER to achieve his policy goals, the President must persuade Congress to support his preferences. Richard Neustadt (1960) suggests that the President's task is eased considerably if he is popular with the public. More recent quantitative studies tend to supports Neustadt's conclusions (Edwards 1976, 1977, 1980; Bond and Fleisher 1980). Although the findings of these studies have gained wide acceptance, major conceptual and methodological fla…
Explaining Challenger Quality in Congressional Elections
This study seeks to explain why some incumbents attract politically experienced, well-financed challengers while others do not. Using data from contested House races in 1980, we analyze the effects of four sets of variables including: (1) incumbents' policy and nonpolicy behavior (ideological discrepancy and use of "perks" for advertising and casework); (2) local partisan conditions (previous vote margin and the normal partisan vote in the distri…
The Shrinking Middle in the US Congress
The virtual disappearance of moderate and cross-pressured members from the US Congress is analysed in this article. There were substantial numbers of these partisan non-conformists in both parties and in both chambers until the early 1980s when the middle began to shrink. This trend continued and accelerated in the 1990s. Partisan non-conformists disappeared through replacement and conversion. When moderate and cross-pressured members left Congre…
From Abe Fortas to Zoë Baird: Why Some Presidential Nominations Fail in the Senate
Why, given a strong presumption of success, do some presidential nominations fail? Of 1,464 important nominations from 1965 to 1994, less than 5% failed. Ninety-four percent of failures were rejected or withdrawn before reaching the floor, suggesting that opponents are most effective during prefloor stages. We propose a theoretical framework based on the notion that policy entrepreneurs pursue their goals within the context of a presumption of su…
The Marginal and Time-Varying Effect of Public Approval on Presidential Success in Congress
We analyze the relationship between public approval and presidential success in Congress using time-varying parameter regression methods. Cues from constituency, ideology, and party dominate congressional vote choice, so the effect of public approval of the president is typically marginal. Because the strength of these primary cues varies through time, the effect of public approval on presidential success should also be time varying. Analysis of …
PAC Contributions and Congressional Voting on National Defense
This paper analyzes how PAC contributions from defense contractors influence members' votes for prodefense positions on the floor of the House of Representatives. Previous studies of defense voting in Congress have emphasized the powerful effects of ideological predispositions on members' roll-call votes on national defense. By contrast, PAC contributions are hypothesized to have a marginal impact. Even at the margins, the influence of PAC money …
Explaining the Change in Roll-Call Voting Behavior of Southern Democrats
Southern politics changed dramatically since the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Most notably, we witnessed the emergence of a competitive two-party system and greater electoral participation by blacks. During this period we also saw a substantial liberalization in the voting behavior of southern Democratic members of Congress. A number of researchers have tried to use constituency variables to explain variability in liberal voting by so…
Malign Neglect: Evidence That Delay Has Become the Primary Method of Defeating Presidential Appointments
This analysis shows that the lengthening of the confirmation process for presidential nominations to major judicial and executive branch offices from 1965–2008 is due to a purposeful strategy to defeat presidential nominees by preventing them from getting a vote. These changes are most apparent for judicial nominations, but they are also evident to a lesser extent for executive branch nominations. We argue that party polarization of the 1990s pre…
The Limits of Presidential Popularity as a Source of Influence in the U. S. House
This note tests hypotheses which predict that the president's popularity with the public has a different impact on support from House members of his own party than it has on members of the opposition. With ideological conflict held constant, we find that, as presidential popularity increases, the president tends to receive more support from House members of his party and less support from members of the opposition. We also find that the positive …
State-Level Presidential Approval and Senatorial Support
The effect of public presidential approval on congressional support for the president has been the subject of considerable debate and controversy. Systematic, quantitative studies have been unable to demonstrate convincingly that public approval leads to greater legislative support for the president. The lack of constituency-level public approval data has hindered resolution of the controversy. Studies have relied upon either election results or …
Are There Two Presidencies? Yes, But Only for Republicans
Analysis of conflictual roll call votes in the House and Senate indicates that presidents tend to win more often on foreign policy than on domestic policy. And we find no evidence that the differences have diminished over the period from 1953 through 1984. The two presidencies phenomenon, however, characterizes only Republican administrations. We analyze support for the president from different party factions (i.e., liberal Democrats, conservativ…
Partisan Differences in Candidate Quality in Open Seat House Races, 1976-1994
This article builds on previous research with an analysis of partisan differ ences in the emergence of politically experienced candidates in open seat House races from 1976 to 1994. Consistent with previous research, we find that local partisan forces-the normal vote in the district and the party hold ing the seat-are the most important determinants of whether experienced candidates emerge in open seat races. But we find that Republicans are more…
Presidential Popularity and Congressional Voting: A Reexamination of Public Opinion as a Source of Influence in Congress
IN ORDER to achieve his policy goals, the President must persuade Congress to support his preferences. Richard Neustadt (1960) suggests that the President's task is eased considerably if he is popular with the public. More recent quantitative studies tend to supports Neustadt's conclusions (Edwards 1976, 1977, 1980; Bond and Fleisher 1980). Although the findings of these studies have gained wide acceptance, major conceptual and methodological fla…
The President in a More Partisan Legislative Arena
This article updates our previous analysis of presidential success from 1953 to 1984 (Bond and Fleisher 1990) to see how increased partisanship in the House since 1985 has altered presidential-congressional relations. We ana lyze support from the four party factions in Congress (liberal Democrats, conservative Democrats, liberal Republicans, and conservative Republi cans) and the types of coalitions that formed on presidential votes in the House.…
Assessing Presidential Support in the House: Lessons from Reagan and Carter
President Reagan's record of congressional victories in a Democratic controlled House surprised most political observers. The stark contrast between Reagan's success and Carter's failures leads many to conclude that President Reagan is a master legislative leader. But was Reagan more successful than one would expect given political conditions in 1981? Was Carter less successful than one would expect given political conditions in 1977? This paper …
The Polls: Partisanship and Presidential Performance Evaluations
This article analyzes the growing impact of partisanship on citizens' evaluations of the president's job performance at the individual level. The literature seeking to explain variation in presidential approval has analyzed aggregate trends over time. Although studies of aggregate trends have contributed to our understanding of the conditions that influence presidential approval, they are unable to model the individual‐level process underlying th…
Placing Presidential-Congressional Relations in Context: A Comparison of Barack Obama and His Predecessors
What better accounts for Barack Obama's success with Congress, his political skills, or aspects of the political context, such as party control of Congress and public approval? To address this question, we update the Bond-Fleisher-Wood (BFW) political context model through 2010. The BFW model accounts for Obama's success vis-à-vis the House, and, to some extent, for the Senate as well. This article argues that increasing party polarization affect…
Public Opinion and Presidential Support
Previous research identifies three variables that might bridge the inevitable conflict between the president and Congress: political party, political ideology, and presidential popularity. While the literature provides unambiguous evidence that party and ideology affect presidential support in Congress, the evidence that public approval affects support is mixed. The study reported in this article seeks to clarify the relationship using a research…
Assessing Presidential Support in the House II: Lessons from George Bush
This paper uses parameter estimates of a regression model of congressional support of previous administrations to forecast individual members' support for Bush in 1989. The forecast errors reveal whether a member's actual level of support is higher or lower than should be expected given the effects of party, ideology, and public approval of the president. We find that Bush received less support from House members than predicted by the baseline mo…
Puzzles and Confusions: Political Realignment in the 1980s
Few concepts in the social science literature have aroused as much controversy and discussion in recent years as party and electoral realignment. The term conjures up images of sharp dramatic changes in the nature of political conflict, upsurge in mass political involvement and participation, sharp alteration in the political agenda and the nature of political outputs. Realignment has attracted attention because it was thought to be topical as we…
Presidential-Congressional Relations on Economic Votes, 1957-1980
The Limits of Presidential Popularity as a Source of Influence in the U. S. House
This note tests hypotheses which predict that the president's popularity with the public has a different impact on support from House members of his own party than it has on members of the opposition. With ideological conflict held constant, we find that, as presidential popularity increases, the president tends to receive more support from House members of his party and less support from members of the opposition. We also find that the positive …
Assessing Presidential Support in the House: Lessons from Reagan and Carter
President Reagan's record of congressional victories in a Democratic controlled House surprised most political observers. The stark contrast between Reagan's success and Carter's failures leads many to conclude that President Reagan is a master legislative leader. But was Reagan more successful than one would expect given political conditions in 1981? Was Carter less successful than one would expect given political conditions in 1977? This paper …
Presidential Popularity and Congressional Voting: A Reexamination of Public Opinion as a Source of Influence in Congress
IN ORDER to achieve his policy goals, the President must persuade Congress to support his preferences. Richard Neustadt (1960) suggests that the President's task is eased considerably if he is popular with the public. More recent quantitative studies tend to supports Neustadt's conclusions (Edwards 1976, 1977, 1980; Bond and Fleisher 1980). Although the findings of these studies have gained wide acceptance, major conceptual and methodological fla…
Explaining Challenger Quality in Congressional Elections
This study seeks to explain why some incumbents attract politically experienced, well-financed challengers while others do not. Using data from contested House races in 1980, we analyze the effects of four sets of variables including: (1) incumbents' policy and nonpolicy behavior (ideological discrepancy and use of "perks" for advertising and casework); (2) local partisan conditions (previous vote margin and the normal partisan vote in the distri…
Presidential-Congressional Relations on Economic Votes, 1957-1980
Puzzles and Confusions: Political Realignment in the 1980s
Few concepts in the social science literature have aroused as much controversy and discussion in recent years as party and electoral realignment. The term conjures up images of sharp dramatic changes in the nature of political conflict, upsurge in mass political involvement and participation, sharp alteration in the political agenda and the nature of political outputs. Realignment has attracted attention because it was thought to be topical as we…
Public Opinion and Presidential Support
Previous research identifies three variables that might bridge the inevitable conflict between the president and Congress: political party, political ideology, and presidential popularity. While the literature provides unambiguous evidence that party and ideology affect presidential support in Congress, the evidence that public approval affects support is mixed. The study reported in this article seeks to clarify the relationship using a research…
Are There Two Presidencies? Yes, But Only for Republicans
Analysis of conflictual roll call votes in the House and Senate indicates that presidents tend to win more often on foreign policy than on domestic policy. And we find no evidence that the differences have diminished over the period from 1953 through 1984. The two presidencies phenomenon, however, characterizes only Republican administrations. We analyze support for the president from different party factions (i.e., liberal Democrats, conservativ…
The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency. Gary King , Lyn Ragsdale
The President in the Legislative Arena
Assessing Presidential Support in the House II: Lessons from George Bush
This paper uses parameter estimates of a regression model of congressional support of previous administrations to forecast individual members' support for Bush in 1989. The forecast errors reveal whether a member's actual level of support is higher or lower than should be expected given the effects of party, ideology, and public approval of the president. We find that Bush received less support from House members than predicted by the baseline mo…
Explaining the Change in Roll-Call Voting Behavior of Southern Democrats
Southern politics changed dramatically since the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Most notably, we witnessed the emergence of a competitive two-party system and greater electoral participation by blacks. During this period we also saw a substantial liberalization in the voting behavior of southern Democratic members of Congress. A number of researchers have tried to use constituency variables to explain variability in liberal voting by so…
PAC Contributions and Congressional Voting on National Defense
This paper analyzes how PAC contributions from defense contractors influence members' votes for prodefense positions on the floor of the House of Representatives. Previous studies of defense voting in Congress have emphasized the powerful effects of ideological predispositions on members' roll-call votes on national defense. By contrast, PAC contributions are hypothesized to have a marginal impact. Even at the margins, the influence of PAC money …
Follow the Leader: Opinion Polls and the Modern Presidents. Paul Brace , Barbara Hinckley
The President in a More Partisan Legislative Arena
This article updates our previous analysis of presidential success from 1953 to 1984 (Bond and Fleisher 1990) to see how increased partisanship in the House since 1985 has altered presidential-congressional relations. We ana lyze support from the four party factions in Congress (liberal Democrats, conservative Democrats, liberal Republicans, and conservative Republi cans) and the types of coalitions that formed on presidential votes in the House.…
Activities and Appointments
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Partisan Differences in Candidate Quality in Open Seat House Races, 1976-1994
This article builds on previous research with an analysis of partisan differ ences in the emergence of politically experienced candidates in open seat House races from 1976 to 1994. Consistent with previous research, we find that local partisan forces-the normal vote in the district and the party hold ing the seat-are the most important determinants of whether experienced candidates emerge in open seat races. But we find that Republicans are more…
From Abe Fortas to Zoë Baird: Why Some Presidential Nominations Fail in the Senate
Why, given a strong presumption of success, do some presidential nominations fail? Of 1,464 important nominations from 1965 to 1994, less than 5% failed. Ninety-four percent of failures were rejected or withdrawn before reaching the floor, suggesting that opponents are most effective during prefloor stages. We propose a theoretical framework based on the notion that policy entrepreneurs pursue their goals within the context of a presumption of su…
State-Level Presidential Approval and Senatorial Support
The effect of public presidential approval on congressional support for the president has been the subject of considerable debate and controversy. Systematic, quantitative studies have been unable to demonstrate convincingly that public approval leads to greater legislative support for the president. The lack of constituency-level public approval data has hindered resolution of the controversy. Studies have relied upon either election results or …
Evidence of Increasing Polarization among Ordinary Citizens
American Political Parties: Decline or Resurgence?
Powerful cross-currents of both decline and resurgence have been affecting political parties over the past several decades. Is the era of decline that began in the late 1960s over and are the parties in a new era of rebuilding? And in what direction are the parties headed and what does it mean for a healthy and well-functioning democracy? American Political Parties brings together a distinguished team of contributors to explore these questions. S…
The Polls: Partisanship and Presidential Performance Evaluations
The Polls: Partisanship and Presidential Performance Evaluations
This article analyzes the growing impact of partisanship on citizens' evaluations of the president's job performance at the individual level. The literature seeking to explain variation in presidential approval has analyzed aggregate trends over time. Although studies of aggregate trends have contributed to our understanding of the conditions that influence presidential approval, they are unable to model the individual‐level process underlying th…
The Marginal and Time-Varying Effect of Public Approval on Presidential Success in Congress
We analyze the relationship between public approval and presidential success in Congress using time-varying parameter regression methods. Cues from constituency, ideology, and party dominate congressional vote choice, so the effect of public approval of the president is typically marginal. Because the strength of these primary cues varies through time, the effect of public approval on presidential success should also be time varying. Analysis of …
The Shrinking Middle in the US Congress
The virtual disappearance of moderate and cross-pressured members from the US Congress is analysed in this article. There were substantial numbers of these partisan non-conformists in both parties and in both chambers until the early 1980s when the middle began to shrink. This trend continued and accelerated in the 1990s. Partisan non-conformists disappeared through replacement and conversion. When moderate and cross-pressured members left Congre…
Law (25 works) · Political science (25 works) · Politics (24 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (23 works) · Law (22 works) · Public Administration (16 works) · Presidential system (15 works) · Public Administration (15 works) · Political economy (12 works) · Economics (11 works)