Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, and the Future of the "New American Party System"
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Sidney M. Milkis
Ascending to the presidency in the midst of a severe economic crisis and an ongoing war on terrorism, Barack Obama faces numerous political and policy challenges. We examine an oft-obscured facet of presidential leadership: the president's relations with his party. We argue that Obama has benefited from and abetted the development of a new relationship between the president and the parties that features presidents as strong party leaders who invest heavily in mobilizing voters, raising campaign funds, and articulating party doctrine. As we show, Obama's party leadership may hold both promise and peril for the practice of American democracy. Just as previous Republican presidents such as Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush used their powers in ways that bolstered their parties, Obama's exertions have strengthened the Democratic Party's capacity to communicate with constituents, mobilize voters, and raise funds. However, Obama must take care to avoid the pitfalls of presidential party leadership that ultimately undermined Reagan's and Bush's presidencies. In particular, recent history suggests that Obama must avoid forms of administrative aggrandizement that alienate citizens from government; and that he must forego leadership strategies that threaten the independence and integrity of the party apparatus.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- The Obama Administration: Setting Up a Government
- Article
- Presidential Voting and the Local Variability of Economic Hardship
- The Legitimacy of Inexperience: Leadership from Outside
- Cautionary Tales from the Clinton Administration: First Year Lessons the New Democratic President Can Learn from the Last One
- Mandates, Honeymoons, and the Obama Administration
- Who Gets What Now? Interest Groups under Obama
- The Leadership Style of Barack Obama: An Early Assessment
- Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, and the Future of the "New American Party System"
- Obama's Ethics Agenda: The Challenge of Coordinated Change
- Obama and the Federal Judiciary: Great Expectations but Will He Have a Dickens of a Time Living up to Them?
- Understanding the Obama Presidency
- Turning the Tables: Individual Contributions, Member Contributions, and the Changing Campaign Finance Environment
- Review
- Review of Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do
- Review of Congressional Travels: Places, Connections, and Authenticity
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- The Obama Administration: Setting Up a Government
- Article
- Presidential Voting and the Local Variability of Economic Hardship
- The Legitimacy of Inexperience: Leadership from Outside
- Cautionary Tales from the Clinton Administration: First Year Lessons the New Democratic President Can Learn from the Last One
- Mandates, Honeymoons, and the Obama Administration
- Who Gets What Now? Interest Groups under Obama
- The Leadership Style of Barack Obama: An Early Assessment
- Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, and the Future of the "New American Party System"
- Obama's Ethics Agenda: The Challenge of Coordinated Change
- Obama and the Federal Judiciary: Great Expectations but Will He Have a Dickens of a Time Living up to Them?
- Understanding the Obama Presidency
- Turning the Tables: Individual Contributions, Member Contributions, and the Changing Campaign Finance Environment
- Review
- Review of Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do
- Review of Congressional Travels: Places, Connections, and Authenticity
