| Agreeable Administrators? Analyzing
the Public Positions of Cabinet Secretaries and Presidents
Bertelli, Anthony M.; Grose, Christian R.
Presidential Studies Quarterly, Junw 2007, v37, #2, pp228-248
"Cabinet secretaries represent their departments when testifying
before Congress on a broad range of legislation. Do they also represent
the president's views on such legislation? Consistent with institutional
theories of the presidency, we posit that, in some instances, cabinet
secretaries take public positions contrary to those of the president,
suggesting ideological distinctions between presidents and their
appointed secretaries. [The authors] examine all congressional testimonies
of secretaries of labor, commerce, and agriculture from 1991 to
2002, coding their positions taken on legislation considered on
the floor of the Senate. Though these public disagreements are infrequent,
our evidence suggests that agreement is more likely as support for
the president's position among oversight committee members increases,
yet less likely as secretaries' tenure in office increases."
Dr. Anthony M. Bertelli, Department of Public Administration &
Policy, University of Georgia/Athens. Christian
R. Grose, Department of Political Science, Vanderbilt University.
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Posted May 12/07
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