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Summary Of Presidential Power By Richard Neustadt

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Richard Neustadt’s significant book, “Presidential Power”, published in 1960. It offered perspective on the presidency and presidential power. The most famous claim of Neustadt is that “presidential power is the power to persuade” (Edition 1990, p.11). Neustadt believed that a president must give concessions to his political opponents, essentially when trying to gather the best possible returns for his expanded favors. Therefore, presidential persuasion—upon which power depends on—distils to presidential bargaining (p.32).

A President is expected to do much more than his authority allows him to do. Persuasion and bargaining are the ways that president uses to influence policies. President not only need to bargain to leverage other organ of …show more content…

Unfortunately, Truman accomplished this objective through command, by means of formal power, and resultantly MacArthur was ousted. Later on, this action was proved to be a costly to Truman. Before the joint session of Congress, MacArthur came back to homeland to ticker tape parades and gave a famous address to thunderous applause. Truman’s decision was criticized by almost all walks of life in the United States. He used command, not persuasion, which invited a public wrath and …show more content…

To Neustadt, the successful leadership and the best way for presidents to achieve their goals are by influencing others by means of persuasion, and by bargaining with them. Presidents’ bargaining powers are caused by their vantage points, or unique advantages, that can tilt the field in their favor if they are perceived properly by others. President needs to persuade others that what he wants is in their interests. And as an outcome of Madisonian system of shared powers, those with whom presidents must deal have their own vantage points, status, and authority. In fact, persuasion is like a give-and take policy; necessarily, “the power to persuade is the power to bargain.” To Neustadt, the effectiveness of bargaining can be improved by two resources that indirectly boost president’s bargaining advantage: Public prestige and Professional

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