The Obama Presidency

Andrew Dowdle is the editor of the American Review of Politics and the Vice-Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Arkansas.

This timely volume of notable thinkers on the presidency presents scholarly as well as applied insights on Obamäs administration at the half-way point. Assessing the political context of his first two years, the inter-branch relations, and policy developments all provide the necessary grounding for students to make sense of the continuity and change that Barack Obama represents.

Part 1: The Setting 1. Barack Obama: A Reagan of the Left? Andrew Dowdle, Dirk C. van Raemdonck, and Robert Maranto 2. Making Race Go Away President Obama and the Promise of a Post-Racial Society Wilbur C. Rich 3. Presidential Leadership and Public Opinion in an Age of Polarization Jeffrey E. Cohen and Costas Panagopoulos Part 2: Managing the Executive Branch 4. The Obama Cabinet: A Team of Rivals or Pragmatic Governance? Shirley Anne Warshaw 5. Presidential Appointments in the Obama Administration: An Early Evaluation David E. Lewis 6. President Barack Obama, Unilateralist Christopher S. Kelley, Melanie Cook Marlowe, and Ryan J. Barilleaux 7. Continuity and Change in White House Communications: President Obama Meets the Press Martha Joynt Kumar Part 3: Managing Relations with the Other Branches 8. No Place for a Community Organizer: Barack Obamäs Leadership of Congress Justin S. Vaughn 9. Beyond Two Terms: Shaping the Supreme Court and a Legacy Richard L. Pacelle, Jr. Part 4: Managing Policies 10. Economic Policymaking During the Great Recession Ted Gayer 11. President Obamäs Health Care Reform: The Inevitable Impossible Mark Carl Rom 12. President Obama and Education: The Personal and the Political Robert Maranto and Michael Q. McShane 13. Fighting Two Wars Lawrence J. Korb and Laura Conley Part 5: At the End of the Beginning: Judging President Obama 14. Barack Obama's First Two Years: Policy Accomplishments, Political Failure William A. Galston