Rhetoric and reality : Presidential commissions and the making of public policy / Terrence R. Tutchings.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tutchings, Terrence R.

Series:

Westview special studies in public policy and public systems management.

Westview special studies in public policy and public systems management

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Executive advisory bodies--United States.

Executive advisory bodies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 164 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

London : Routledge, 2019.

Summary:

Since 1945, the role of the president in shaping domestic and foreign policy has changed dramatically. Though the prodigious growth of the federal bureaucracy under the Executive Branch reflects much of this change, bureaucratic response to the major issues of the past three decades has been ineffective or nonexistent, and a notable parallel development has been the increasing use of public commissions in the policymaking process. Dr. Tutchings studies more than 100 public commissions using a model of the policymaking process that includes demands, decision and information costs, and policy results and outcomes. Reviewing the results of the commissions as reflected in presidential support of recommendations (via proposed legislation) and in congressional response, he notes that their membership has typically been dominated by government/corporate elites: as this membership has become more pluralistic, there has been a sharp decline in the contributions of the commissions to the policymaking process. Perhaps the most significant contribution of the book is its detailed development of the concept of rhetorical policy as a first step in the policymaking process.

Notes:

First published 1979 by Westview Press.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-000-23821-0

0-429-30478-1

9780429304781

OCLC:

1108559029