About this episode
The episode discusses Richard Holtzman's book on interpretivist presidency research and its implications for understanding the American presidency.
Coming in the thick of the second Trump term, What Does the American Presidency Mean? The Need for Interpretation in Presidency Studies is a timely and provocative new title for the Routledge Series on Interpretive Methods. In it, Richard Holtzman sets an agenda for interpretivist presidency research. Using Tulis’s The Rhetorical Presidency as a bridge between presidency studies and interpretive political science, the book succinctly outlines how by interpreting presidential words and symbols our understanding of the presidency is enriched, and causal-inferential studies of presidential behaviour, complemented. Though the book directly addresses researchers of the American presidency, as we discuss in this episode of New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science, it holds lessons for researchers of executive power everywhere. Presidency studies your thing? Other episodes on the New Books Network that might interest you include Coe and Scacco on The Ubiquitous Presidency, and Hennessey and Wittes talking about their Unmaking the Presidency. Looking for something to read? To start the day Rich suggests Thich Nhat Han’s Peace is Every Step, and perhaps to conclude it…
People in this episode
Guest: Richard Holtzman
Topics covered
- American presidency
- interpretive political science
- presidency studies
- executive power
- presidential rhetoric
Keywords
- American presidency
- interpretation
- presidency studies
- executive power
- presidential behavior
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Routledge
Books & works: The Rhetorical Presidency, Peace is Every Step, Player Piano
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