PRESIDENTIAL INFLUENCE IN THE POLICY-MAKING PROCESS

The president seeks to exert influence in the policymaking process. We examine influence as the relationship of preferences and resources on activities to assess the presidential role in policymaking. The findings show that influence is complex and variable across stages of the policy process. The president's resources appear to aid him in different ways depending upon the specific target. Persuasion as an additional mediating factor provides no increase in explanatory power. We conclude that a variety of theories of influence are correct, each limited to particular stages of the policy process, specific issues or both. Therefore, further analysis is necessary before a more general empirical theory of presidential influence is possible.