This is one of the first major studies of the Bush presidency in which the contributors succeed in looking beyond the simplistic stereotypes of the administration to establish how decisions are taken and how well the administration performs in governing. List of Figures ix List of Tables xi Notes on Contributors xii 1. Introduction 1 George C. Edwards III and Desmond S. King Part I. Exercising Power 2. The Scope of Inherent Powers 31 Louis Fisher 3. Torture of Detainees and Presidential Prerogative Power 65 Richard M. Pious 4. Bending so as Not to Break: What the Bush Presidency Reveals about the Politics of Unilateral Action 96 William G. Howell and Douglas L. Kriner Part II. Decision Making 5. "The Decider's" Path to War in Iraq and the Importance of Personality 145 Thomas S. Langston 6. From Success to Failure? Iraq and the Organization of George W. Bush's Decision Making 173 John P. Burke 7. Intelligence and Decision Making before the War with Iraq 213 James P. Pfiffner Part III. Governing by Campaigning 8. The Public, the President, and the War in Iraq 245 Gary C. Jacobson 9. The Promotional Presidency and the New Institutional Toryism: Public Mobilization, Legislative Dominance, and Squandered Opportunities 285 Lawrence R. Jacobs 10. Going Public, Going to Baghdad: Presidential Agenda-Setting and the Electoral Connection in Congress 325 Scott B. Blinder 11. Managing the News: The Bush Communications Operation 351 Martha Joynt Kumar Part IV. Building Congressional Coalitions 12. The US Congress and Chief Executive George W. Bush 387 Charles O. Jones 13. Policy Histories and Partisan Leadership in Presidential Studies: The Case of Social Security 419 Fiona Ross Index 447