The Methodology of Presidential Research

Abstract

The original purpose of the paper this chapter was based on was to use the Presidency Research Conference's first-round papers -- by John H. Aldrich, Erwin C. Hargrove, Karen M. Hult, Paul Light, and Richard Rose -- as my "data." My given task was to analyze the literature ably reviewed by these authors and report what political methodology might have to say about presidency research. I focus in this chapter on the traditional presidency literature, emphasizing research on the president and the office. For the most part, I do not consider research on presidential selection, election, and voting behavior, which has been much more similar to other fields in American politics.