The Role of Political Beliefs in Presidential Decision Making
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1992 The president as administrator : the role of political beliefs in presidential decision making. David Alan Smailes University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Smailes, David Alan, "The president as administrator : the role of political beliefs in presidential decision making." (1992). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 1837. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/1837 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PRESIDENT AS ADMINISTRATOR: THE ROLE OF POLITICAL BELIEFS IN PRESIDENTIAL DECISION MAKING A Dissertation Presented by DAVID ALAN SMAILES Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY February 1992 Department of Political Science (S> Copyright by David Alan Smailes 1992 All Rights Reserved THE PRESIDENT AS ADMINISTRATOR: ROLE OF POLITICAL BELIEFS IN PRESIDENTIAL DECISION MAKING A Dissertation Presented by DAVID ALAN SMAILES Approved as to style and content by: Lewis C. Mainzer, Chair Ronald Pipkin, Member George Sulzner, Department Head Political Science . For my parents, and in loving memory of my grandfather, John Woods ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the love and support of my parents throughout my graduate career. Their unfailing optimism, their expressions of confidence and their willingness to grant me the opportunity to pursue this degree has been more than any son could ask of a parent. The chair of this dissertation, Dr. Lewis Mainzer, has been the source of my greatest intellectual challenge in the field of public administration. Moreover, his personal standards of scholarship and ethical principle have set a model of the honorable professional before me, so that I might seek to emulate his dedication through my work. His patience has been a blessing; his gentle prodding even more appreciated. For his contribution to this project and, more important, his contribution to my education, I gratefully extent my appreciation. Dr. Patricia Lee Sykes has been the ideal "mentor" for any graduate student. As a scholar, she has already demonstrated her ability to think in a clear an original manner; as a teacher, she offered me both an intellectual challenge and a model to follow in the classroom. I hope to be the kind of scholar and teacher Dr. Sykes has become, and her confidence in my abilities encourages me to strive for the best. I would be remiss if I did not also acknowledge that the early idea for this thesis came from Dr. Sykes, and I believe her freshness and originality will always be a part of me. As a colleague, she has contributed her wonderful support and encouragement, and I can write without exaggeration that I would not be finishing this project today, were it not for her friendship. Dr. Ronald Pipkin was the first person at the University of Massachusetts to get me to seriously think about the role of ideology in political life. As the chair of the Legal Studies Department, he gave a young (er) Political Science graduate student the opportunity to stretch his intellectual wings by acting as a teaching assistant. When I recognized that an outside reader should be a person in whom one places a great deal of trust, for both the scholastic challenge of a different discipline and as an "outside" gauge of ability, I could think of no better person to call upon than Dr. Pipkin. For his continued support, I thank him. I have felt particularly blessed in my life to have a number of good friends to lean on, and to support, throughout the past years. At the University, I would especially like to thank Paul Shepard, Leslie Brown, Stephen Pellitier, Marsha Marotta, Glen Ferrara and Beverly Labbee. Of course, all those in the department vi . who have lent their support and instruction are thanked as well, including Sheldon Goldman, Dean Alfange, John Brigham, Glen Gordon, William Connolly, Jean Elshtain and Nicholas Xenos At Mount Holyoke College, I gratefully thank the entire Politics department, but particularly sound a note of gratitude to Dr. Christopher Pyle who, like Ron Pipkin, took a risk by hiring an inexperienced grad student and helped to shape a teacher; Shirley Sudsbury, for her smile each morning in the office and her gentle laugh; and especially Dr. Vincent Ferraro, who made a year as a leave replacement one of the best years of my life. At Regis College, my new home, I have found the kind of support and encouragement that one only wishes the new job will bring. So many people could be mentioned; I particularly thank Sister Lee Hogan and Dr. Leo Chang, my colleagues in the department; Dr. Edward Mulholland, for his gentle words of wisdom when they have been most needed; Dr. Ernest Collamatti, whose determination to teach me Italian knows no bounds; and Sister Therese Higgins, for her shining example. And, most gratefully, a note of thanks to the Sisters of St. Joseph, for the determination to encourage the best in all our students. Vii ABSTRACT THE PRESIDENT AS ADMINISTRATOR: THE ROLE OF POLITICAL BELIEFS IN PRESIDENTIAL DECISION MAKING FEBRUARY 1992 DAVID ALAN SMAILES , B.A., COLLEGE OF WOOSTER Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Directed by: Professor Lewis C. Mainzer This research seeks to discover why and how presi- dents choose their administrative strategies. The hypo- thesis advanced argues the political beliefs of a presi- dent make some administrative strategies more appealing than others. Chapter One offers a critique of current explanations of presidential behavior, including the "classic" models of the "rational decider" and "personality" models of decision making. A third model, that of "political belief," is described and discussed. The chapter concludes by arguing this belief model can escape the methodological problems plaguing the other "classic" approaches to explaining behavior. Chapters Two, Three and Four test this model by examining the reorganizational and budget decisions of the Nixon, Carter and Reagan administrations. Chapter Two viii demonstrates that Richard Nixon's belief in the indivi- dual's power to control one's life best explains his decisions to decentralize government through reorgani- zation and revenue sharing. Chapter Three concludes that Jimmy Carter's belief in a progressive agenda to demo- cratize government best explains his decision to reorgan- ize government from the ''bottom-up" and through the use of zero base budgeting. Chapter Four finds that Ronald Rea- gan's decisions to reorganize the executive branch from "within" and to alter the budget process are best ex- plained by his belief in government as an agent for social change, but only in specific areas of activity. Chapter Five concludes the research by briefly examining the Bush presidency, and concludes that Bush, like Jimmy Carter, is a president more concerned with "process" than "policy." Each "classic" methodology is demonstrated to be flawed, and the "belief" model is shown to best explain the behavior of each president. For that reason, the project closes, political science under- appreciates the role of political belief in decision making. ix . TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . v ABSTRACT Vlll Chapter I. DECISION MAKING AND POLITICAL BELIEFS ] A. Decision Making and the Role of Poli- tical Beliefs i- 1. The "Rational Decider" Model: Richard Neustadt 20 2. The "Personality" Model: James David Barber 26 3. Values and Preferences 29 B. Ideology and Beliefs: A Research Design 32 II. GOALS AND BELIEFS: THE NIXON PRESIDENCY 55 A. "Centralized" Decentralization: Reor- ganization 57 B. "Centralized" Decentralization: Bud- get 77 C. Explaining the Nixon Decisions: Tradi- tional Models 86 D. Explaining the Nixon Decisions: Poli- tical Beliefs 96 III. BELIEFS AND FAILURE: THE CARTER PRESI- DENCY 108 A. Reorganizing Administration: The Car- ter Record 109 B. The Zero Based Alternative: Carter's Budget Policy 128 x C. Explaining the Carter Decisions: "Classic" Studies 142 1. The "Rational Decider:" Carter as Calculator 142 2. "Personality:" The "Active-Posi-" tive" Carter? 147 D. Explaining the Carter Decisions: "Belief Systems" 151 IV. BELIEF AND "SUCCESS:" THE REAGAN PRESI- DENCY 165 A. Reorganizing Administration: The Reagan Record * i 67 B. The "Heavy Hand" Alternative: Rea- gan's Budget Policy 175 C. Explaining the Reagan Decisions: "Classic" Studies 186 1. The "Rational Decider: Reagan as Calculator 187 2. "Personality:" The "Passive- Positive" Reagan? 195 D. Explaining the Reagan Decisions: "Belief Systems" 200 V. CONCLUSIONS, WITH REFLECTIONS ON THE BUSH PRESIDENCY 213 BIBLIOGRAPHY 234 xi CHAPTER I DECISION MAKING AND POLITICAL BELIEFS The choices shaping the federal administrative system constitute one element of presidential decision making. Why and how do presidents choose their administrative strategies? My research will test the hypothesis that the political beliefs of a president make some administrative strategies more appealing than others. By examining the effect of these beliefs on choice, 1 this research will 1 Use of the word "choice" in the statement of my