Barack Obama and the Calculus of Presidential Ambiguity

Bibliographic Data

ID6348069
AuthorsMichael Foley (0000-0002-0900-9509, Aberystwyth University, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume11
Issue3
Pages345-357
Publication date2013-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1478-9299 • E-ISSN: 1478-9302
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/1478-9302.12021
OpenAlexW2167261581
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited10

The 2008 US presidential election brought victory to a largely inexperienced and untested politician who had offered himself as both a symbolic register of social change and an agency of transformative action. President Obama's campaign for re-election in 2012 prompted an intensive period of retrospection and reassessment into what the preceding four years had revealed about both the Obama phenomenon and the complex systemic environment with which he had to engage. Using an array of recently published overviews, the article examines the Obama Presidency from three different categories of analytical and evaluative assessment. It proceeds to review the seminal complaints made against his policies and style from both ends of the political spectrum – as well as Obama's responses to the increasingly fractious nature of the positioning strategies undertaken by his opponents. Finally, observations are made concerning a series of interpretive issues surrounding the 2012 result and its implications for Obama's reputation and legacy

Action (physics · Administration (probate law · Agency (philosophy · Ambiguity · Political science · Politics · Presidency · Presidential system · Reputation · Social science · Sociology · Transformative learning · Victory · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics

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