Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T16:50:02.007Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Presidential Greatness in a Polarized Era: Results from the Latest Presidential Greatness Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2020

Brandon Rottinghaus Open the ORCID record for Brandon Rottinghaus [Opens in a new window] ,
Gregory Eady Open the ORCID record for Gregory Eady [Opens in a new window]  and
Justin S. Vaughn
Brandon Rottinghaus
Affiliation:
University of Houston
Gregory Eady
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

For generations, scholars have used surveys to examine presidential greatness. However, the rising tide of politicization calls these ratings into question. Can those who study the presidency offer fair judgments regardless of their political affiliation? Does their affiliation alter judgments of presidential greatness in historical or contemporary terms? Using a 2018 expert survey of political scientists who study the presidency, we find that party affiliation and ideological differences do alter—albeit slightly—perceptions of presidential greatness for both past and present presidents up to and including Donald Trump. Our results call into question such ratings insofar as they exist absent the political and ideological context of the reviewer.

Type
Article
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , July 2020 , pp. 413 - 420
Copyright
© American Political Science Association, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adler, David G. 2003. “Presidential Greatness as an Attribute of War Making.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 29 (3): 466–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balz, John. 2010. “Ready to Lead on Day One: Predicting Presidential Greatness from Political Experience.” PS: Political Science & Politics 43 (2): 487–92.Google Scholar
Bose, Meena. 2003. “Presidential Ratings: Lessons and Liabilities.” In The Uses and Abuses of Presidential Ratings, eds. Bose, Meena and Landis, Mark, 3–24. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.Google Scholar
Curry, Jill L., and Morris, Irwin L.. 2010. “Explaining Presidential Greatness: The Roles of Peace and Prosperity?” Presidential Studies Quarterly 40 (3): 515–30.10.1111/j.1741-5705.2010.03784.xGoogle Scholar
Felzenberg, Alvin S. 2008. The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn’t): Rethinking the Presidential Rating Game. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Hetherington, Marc J., and Rudolph, Thomas J.. 2015. Why Washington Won’t Work. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.10.7208/chicago/9780226299358.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyengar, Shanto, and Westwood, Sean J.. 2015. “Fear and Loathing across Party Lines: New Evidence on Group Polarization.” American Journal of Political Science 59 (3): 690–707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenney, Patrick J., and Rice, Tom W.. 1988. “The Contextual Determinants of Presidential Greatness.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 18 (4): 161–69.Google Scholar
Landy, Marc, and Milkis, Sidney M.. 2001. Presidential Greatness. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
McCarty, Nolan, Poole, Keith T., and Rosenthal, Howard. 2006. Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Mercieca, Jennifer R., and Vaughn, Justin S.. 2014. “Barack Obama and the Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations.” In The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency, eds. Vaughn, Justin S. and Mercieca, Jennifer R., 1–29. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.Google Scholar
Nichols, Curt. 2012. “The Presidential Ranking Game: Critical Review and Some New Discoveries.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 42 (3): 275–99.10.1111/j.1741-5705.2012.03966.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfiffner, James P. 2003. “Ranking the Presidents: Continuity and Volatility.” White House Studies 3 (1): 23–34.Google Scholar
Rottinghaus, Brandon, and Vaughn, Justin S.. 2017. “Presidential Greatness and Political Science: Assessing the 2014 APSA Presidents and Executive Politics Section Presidential Greatness Survey.” PS: Political Science & Politics 50 (3): 824–30.Google Scholar
Schlesinger, Arthur M. 1948. “Historians Rate the U.S. Presidents.” Life, November 1: 65–66, 68, 73–74.Google Scholar
Schlesinger, Arthur M.. 1962. “Our Presidents: A Rating by 75 Historians.” New York Times Magazine, July 29: 12–13, 40–41, 43.Google Scholar
Schlesinger, Arthur M.. 1997. “Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton.” Political Science Quarterly 112 (2): 179–90.10.2307/2657937CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simonton, Dean Keith. 2006. “Presidential IQ, Openness, Intellectual Brilliance, and Leadership: Estimates and Correlations for 42 US Chief Executives.” Political Psychology 27 (4): 511–526.10.1111/j.1467-9221.2006.00524.xGoogle Scholar
Sommers, Paul M. 2002. “Is Presidential Greatness Related to Height?” College Mathematics Journal 33 (1): 14–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Rottinghaus et al. supplementary material

Online Appendix

Download Rottinghaus et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 348.2 KB