New Books Network What Does the American Presidency Mean?
May 5, 2026
Richard Holtzman, associate professor of political science at Bryant University and author of What Does the American Presidency Mean?, discusses interpreting presidential words and symbols. He contrasts interpretive approaches with causal methods. Topics include presidential rhetoric as spectacle, how research questions shape study of the presidency, and how presidents construct meaning through visual and media practices.
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Interpretivism Reveals What Causal Tools Miss
- Interpretivism complements causal presidency studies by asking what presidential words and symbols mean rather than only what effects they produce.
- Richard Holtzman argues meaning-making reveals spectacle, symbolism, emotion, and institutional construction that causal tools can miss.
Presidential Speech As Spectacle Not Argument
- Presidential language can function as spectacle rather than argument, turning citizens into spectators who consume demonstrations of power.
- Holtzman uses the example of a president offering undeveloped, shifting reasons for war as spectacle rather than persuasive argument.
Questions Determine The Presidency We See
- Research questions shape what scholars see: a hammer makes everything look like a nail, so causal tools narrow the conception of the presidency.
- Holtzman lists legal, political, emotional, and symbolic lenses that mainstream studies often omit.
