Julia Azari, “People’s Message: The Changing Politics of the Presidential Mandate” (Cornell UP, 2014)

Julia Azari has written Delivering the People’s Message: The Changing Politics of the Presidential Mandate (Cornell University Press, 2014). Azari is assistant professor of political science at Marquette University.

What was President Obama’s mandate when he was elected in 2008? Did that mandate extend to 2012? We commonly think that mandates attach to wide electoral margins. Azari cuts through this convention to analyze the variety of ways presidents have used the language of mandates to advocate for their policy agenda. Azari’s book fits with a book featured on the podcast in May by John Hudak. Both books link together the political and policy dimensions of the presidency. Azari discovers that presidents refer to mandates when political polarization increases and as the White House loses legitimacy. By the time President Obama was elected, these factors came together, thereby increasing the use of mandate language and the unrealistic expectations that often come with lofty promises.

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