The ugly truth: why presidential leadership can’t solve gridlock
This is not a normal set of circumstances in American politics. It’s been normal for us basically since 1980. But if you look at the broad sweep of U.S. history, after the Civil War the Republicans were the dominant party in American politics. After the New Deal and up through 1980 the Democrats were the dominant party. And so elections were a lot less interesting. Politicians were much less focused on elections during a time when there was less prospect for real change in power.
.. But your research says that for the president to do what people think of as leading – going public, making big speeches, getting people is excited – can actually be harmful to passing his agenda because when the president associates himself with an idea it becomes more important for the minority party to make sure that idea doesn’t pass.
..You can even see situations where the parties completely reverse positions based on who controls the presidency