The Provisional Pulpit

The cornerstone of the public presidency is the ability of the White House to influence, shape, and even manipulate public opinion. Ultimately, although much has been written about presidential leadership of opinion, we are still left with many questions pertaining to the success of presidential opinion leadership efforts throughout the modern presidency. What is still missing is a systematic, sequential approach to check the accuracy of conventional political wisdom on how, when, and under what conditions presidents lead public opinion.

Brandon Rottinghaus is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Houston. He received his PhD from Northwestern University.