Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 763-780 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | American Politics Research |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Early online date | 9 Nov 2022 |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2023 |
Abstract
To what extent and under which conditions do presidents challenge foreign policy legislation through Statements of Administration Policy (SAPs)? While the presidents’ use of executive orders and signing statements has been studied extensively, this paper argues that SAPs are a subtler and less politically costly tool that is more important than scholars realized. Delivered at a crucial intervention point along the legislative process, these communications provide a key gateway for assertive presidential challenges. Relying on a novel assertiveness-score, this paper finds that SAPs target legislative content more aggressively over time and that the composition of government predicts executive assertiveness particularly well. Next to that, I show that presidents are more assertive when their term comes to an end. These insights contribute to our understanding of spiking interbranch tensions in American Politics.
Keywords
- executive-legislative relations, presidents, foreign policy, Lawmaking, lawmaking, statements of administration policy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Sociology and Political Science
Research Area (based on ÖFOS 2012)
- SOCIAL SCIENCES
- Political Science
- Political Science
- International relations
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In: American Politics Research, Vol. 51, No. 6, 11.2023, p. 763-780.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Preemptive Action
T2 - Measuring Presidential Assertiveness in Foreign Policy Lawmaking
AU - Wiedekind, Jakob
PY - 2023/11
Y1 - 2023/11
N2 - To what extent and under which conditions do presidents challenge foreign policy legislation through Statements of Administration Policy (SAPs)? While the presidents’ use of executive orders and signing statements has been studied extensively, this paper argues that SAPs are a subtler and less politically costly tool that is more important than scholars realized. Delivered at a crucial intervention point along the legislative process, these communications provide a key gateway for assertive presidential challenges. Relying on a novel assertiveness-score, this paper finds that SAPs target legislative content more aggressively over time and that the composition of government predicts executive assertiveness particularly well. Next to that, I show that presidents are more assertive when their term comes to an end. These insights contribute to our understanding of spiking interbranch tensions in American Politics.
AB - To what extent and under which conditions do presidents challenge foreign policy legislation through Statements of Administration Policy (SAPs)? While the presidents’ use of executive orders and signing statements has been studied extensively, this paper argues that SAPs are a subtler and less politically costly tool that is more important than scholars realized. Delivered at a crucial intervention point along the legislative process, these communications provide a key gateway for assertive presidential challenges. Relying on a novel assertiveness-score, this paper finds that SAPs target legislative content more aggressively over time and that the composition of government predicts executive assertiveness particularly well. Next to that, I show that presidents are more assertive when their term comes to an end. These insights contribute to our understanding of spiking interbranch tensions in American Politics.
KW - executive-legislative relations
KW - presidents
KW - foreign policy
KW - Lawmaking
KW - lawmaking
KW - statements of administration policy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142119979&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1532673x221135550
DO - 10.1177/1532673x221135550
M3 - Article
VL - 51
SP - 763
EP - 780
JO - American Politics Research
JF - American Politics Research
SN - 1532-673X
IS - 6
ER -