Abstract
AbstractOne of the most important decisions a president will make after an election is what kind of relationship he/she will have with cabinet secretaries and agency heads. Will the president be controlling or autonomy giving? George H. W. Bush created a contractor presidency, one that subcontracted management to important officials, giving them considerable freedom, making them policy entrepreneurs. Yet, when it came time to support initiatives, Bush did not back his policy entrepreneurs, which ultimately led to policy failure. Bush's approach to government is informative because of its similarities with Donald J. Trump's strategy, who also created a contractor presidency. But Trump prevented those same executives from building their own teams and gave equivocal, or even contradictory, responses to their policy initiatives. Just as Bush's unsupportive relationship with his policy entrepreneurs led to policy defeat, Trump's contradicting connection with his policy entrepreneurs also resulted in policy failure.Related ArticlesDolan, Chris J. 2008. “The Shape of Elite Opinion on U.S. Foreign Policy, 1992 to 2004.” Politics & Policy 36 (4): 542‐585. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2007.00121.x/abstractHaar, Roberta. 2010. “Explaining George W. Bush's Adoption of the Neoconservative Agenda after 9/11.” Politics & Policy 38 (5): 965‐990. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2010.00265.x/abstract
Highlights
This investigation begins by first presenting the contractor model as a possible presidential strategy, and establishes that Trump has embraced the contractor presidency as his approach towards foreign policy
We find that two of the five scenarios apply to Trump’s unsuccessful foreign policy: lack of support for his appointed officials and the appointment of inexperienced loyalists
One of the most important decisions a president makes soon after the election is what kind of relationship he or she will have with the heads of departments and agencies in his or her administration
Summary
One of the most important decisions a president makes soon after the election is what kind of relationship he or she will have with the heads of departments and agencies in his or her administration. The public policy scholar Martin Laffin found that Bush appointed three policy activists or entrepreneurs to two cabinet positions and one agency head. Through their activism Bush’s entrepreneurs certainly improved the morale in their departments and agency. Their strong activist reputations further enhanced the expectations of good policy outcomes
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