Campaigning in Governance
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Samuel Kernell makes the observation that the nature of the presidency has changed as those holding the office have tended to spend their time in office campaigning for the next election more than governing. There is always an element of campaigning in governance as those holding office know that their actions will have some effect, pro or con, on their chances in the next election. In the case of the President, the man holding the office knows that his actions will affect not only his own fortunes but those of his party. Kernell finds that the campaign mode that now affects the executive branch so severely has developed because of changes in the political environment and in the ways in which the President reacts to these changes: Whether in exploiting favorable conditions to advance policy goals or in attempting to improve the incumbent's prestige, the strategic prescriptions of going public put the office on a campaign footing. Governing, according to a Reagan staffer, amounts to little more than an extension of the campaign that brought him into office. The same trend has been noted for the Clinton administration, and indeed it has been highlighted by many commentators who find that Clinton's ability to govern may be impaired because he has been unable to escape from the campaign mode that brought him to office. Kernell cites Sidney Blumenthal to the effect that candidates who are elected still have to deal with shaky coalitions held together by momentary moods
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ion has an immediacy that also means a continuing demand for answers, for pictures, for images that can convey some meaning to the audience. Politicians know this and have learned to make use of television in a campaign, and once they are in office they continue in this mode, using television to gather support for their policies and to sell ideas to voters. Television has changed the message and has placed a new emphasis on the messenger. It has not placed that emphasis on his or her competence or knowledge, however, but on image. Neal Postman says that this indicates that our culture has moved toward a new way of doing business, and especially a new way of doing its most important business, the selection of someone for high office:
The nature of its discourse is changing as the demarcation line between what is show business and what is not becomes harder to see with each passing day. Our priests and presidents, our surgeons and lawyers, our educators and newscasters need worry less about satisfying the demands of their discipline than the demands of good showmanship.
Television has contributed to the continuation of the campaign mode after the election, but this is not necessarily seen as a detrimental influence. Clin
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2177
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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