residency is subordinate to Congress, during another period the relationship reverses. A third tenet of the presidency-centered perspective is that presidential power has become increasingly stronger in recent decades. This perspective also claims that it is in the national interest to inflate the power of the presidency because the president acts as a philosophical role model. Political institutional reform has also contributed to the existence of a presidency-centered perspective in America. According to Peterson, such reform, " . . . seeks reintroduction into the policy-making process of a coherence that can be achieved only by reinforcing the role of the president as leader and manager of the national government (6).
Peterson contends that the presidency-centered perspective is incomplete and misleading. Political decisionmaking at the national level is conducted using a systems approach in which Congress and the presidency work in tandem. The legislative process exhibits a true sharing of powers: "Neither institution can legislate domestic policy on its own, but must do so with the cooperation or at least acquiescence of the other" (7).
A clear analysis of the Congressional decisionmaking processes is provided in this book. Peterson examines the process in terms of Congressional treatment of presidential initiatives. One response that Congress can take is to ignore a presidential proposal. When this option is chosen, Congress may hold hearings in committee or subcommittee, but the bill never makes it to the congressional floor: "The proposal is not actively defeated, it is just not afforded space on the congressional agenda" (83).
Bills that reach the congressional floor are then subject to bargaining by those who support the legislation and those who oppose it. Presidential dominance prevails when presidents are left with all that they wanted on a particular
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