Media, Congress, and the President

Annotated Bibliography

“Peake, J. (2001). Presidential Agenda Setting in Foreign Policy. Political Research Quarterly, 54(1), 69-86. doi:10.2307/449208”
Peake’s book claims that the president is the chief agenda creator in most of the American political activities. The author, however, suggests that the modern-day presidential foreign policy agenda seem to respond to media coverage as well as global events quickly. Several chapters in the paper review the notion that having a lot of impact on policy agenda is the primary source of political power, particularly for presidents. Peake’s exploration of the traditional structure of agenda-setting has shown that “the president is the most influential official in policy determining cases in the federal government” (Peake, 2001). Thus, this book provides valuable insights on how and why the president is critical when it comes to policy setting instances. This also supports the thesis that the head of state holds a sound effect on the agendas of the media as well as congress. The report is reliable as the author has done a lot of politics-related studies that have been approved and published.
“Edwards, G., & Wood, B. (1999). Who Influences Whom? The President, Congress, and the Media. The American Political Science Review, 93(2), 327-344. doi:10.2307/2585399”
The authors suggest that the policy agenda is the most valuable source of political power in any nation. In the book, a review of other scholarly articles has shown that the commander still holds a critical position in the policy development in the US, but few studies are carried out to ascertain the leader’s scope of power. Several chapters focus entirely on the leader’s accomplishment while centering on the consideration of the Congress as well as mass media. This has been achieved through an analysis of a time sequence measurement of the “presidential, mass media, and congressional attention to five major issues: crime, education, healthcare, US-Soviet relations, and Arab-Israeli conflict” (George & Wood, 1999). The book claims that in most cases, the president reacts to media and international events. This material is valuable as it highlights the influence of the president on policy setting and how the top office impacts the congress as well as media. This book is reliable as the authors have achieved higher education degrees in the political science field.
“Larson, S. (1988). The President and Congress in the Media. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,499, 64-74. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1045818”
Larson’s book focuses entirely on illustrating nature as well as the primary factors of diplomatic as well as congress media coverage. Several chapters have been directed towards exploring the concept that broadcasting has a substantial effect on political power, which implies that the head’s authority is, enhanced without considering the congress. Larson provides several examples to challenge the afore-presented notion by suggesting that there is “need to investigate the dynamic of media coverage in various political settings and promise of congressional hearings for counterbalancing presidential coverage” (Larson, 1988). This will help in the current research as it provides grounds for refuting the long-held idea of the president being the most powerful political leader in the US today. The book is reliable as Larson is a political science professor at the George Washington University for more than three decades and she specializes in the mass media and politics research areas.
“Kampelman, M. (1975). Congress, the Media, and the President. Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, 32(1), 85-97. doi:10.2307/1173619”
    Kampelman argues that there is divided opinion regarding the group that should have the most significant impact on the policy agenda between the president, the Congress, as well as the media. In the book, it is suggested that policy deliberations are often done with a keen awareness of the opinions held by the members of the public. The media only serves as a communicating agent, and it is them that have a significant impact on the attitudes held by the citizens. Kampelman (1975) suggests that the “divide is based on the influence of the democratic community but is not an anathema to any democracy.” There are also concerns that if too much is granted to the president, it may result in the swing to the royal power in the executive branch. As such, this source will be of great aid in the current research study as it outlines the historical factors that have impacted the dominance of the head of state in a policy setting. The author has done a lot of research in politics, and most of the work has been published, making it a highly reliable source.
“Orman, J. (1985). Media Coverage of the Congressional Underdog. PS, 18(4), 754-759. doi:10.2307/419138”
Orman argues the benefits of the incumbency in various congressional races have attracted a lot of attention from researchers. In the book, Orman seeks to establish the factors that contribute to over ninety percent of the incumbents getting easily reelected. It is suggested that most of them have access to a significant amount of electoral resources that are funded by revenues collected through taxation. They also have access to constituent media outlets such newspapers as well as postage that help them to attain higher political score in the electorate. Orman argues that the trend is bound to continue little regulation is put in place to direct what the media relays to the people. As such, the media has been known to glorify the incumbents and poorly present the opponents to the people. Orman’s work is resourceful to this study as it helps explain the effect of media in the political field. Lastly, the resource is reliable since the author is a professor of politics at Fairfield University, which implies that the content is relevant.
“Arnold, R. (2004). Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability. Princeton University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt4cgbtb.”
The book presents insightful information on the part played by the press in different democratic systems in the nation by reporting the actions of politicians in their respective offices. They also provide an updated performance evaluation of the leaders to help the people make informed choices when it comes to reelections. In chapter two, the author addresses the level to which the local newspapers cover their political leaders and the factors that influence their representation on these media outlets. The author has presented legislators as “position takers by referring to recorded votes that have a lot of influence on American politics as they are constitutionally protected” (96). As policymakers, the Congressional Representative cast their votes on vital bills to allow them to be passed or rejected. However, this is dependent on another decision made by the conference committee, senate, and the house. The resource is valuable as it presents information on how congress affects policy agenda setting, which directly answers the study question.
“Mann, Thomas E., and Norman J. Ornstein, eds. (1994). Congress, the Press, and the Public. Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution.”
The authors explore the relationship that exists between “Congress, the press, and the Public.” It is suggested that most of the public opinion researchers have specialized in assessing historical information to determine the source of general hostility towards the legislature. On the other hand, media experts review congressional coverage trends in various federal communication platforms and the attitudes held by the press towards congress. In the book, the authors have discovered that there is has been a lot of misunderstandings in the Congress that can be explained by negative attitudes held by the people towards it to a level that it has become perverted into destructive cynicism. However, the growing skepticism is based on the development of policies regarding minimum wage, massive budget deficits, and scandals. The authors have paid a lot of attention to how the legislative branch is presented and understood by the members of the public. Thus, the material will be helpful in the current research as it provides insights on how the media impacts the perception of Congress in the eyes of the people.
“Larson, Stephanie Greco (1992). Creating Consent of the Governed: A Member of Congress and the Local Media. Carbondale, IL: Southern University Press.”
In this book, Larson has reviewed part played by communication channels in different US political arenas, particularly the influence of the news platform on voter’s assessment of the elected representatives in the nation. The most predominant question posed in this is a book is whether the society or the members of the public are to blame for the community’s inability to focus on the central issues. A case study involving Bill Nelson of East-Central Florida has been presented. Larson analyzes the leaders associated with the local news team and the public to determine the effect of the press on his representation. A follow-up survey has been presented by the author to ascertain the case, and she believes that the media enlightens the people on political issues by they often do not use such data to assess their leaders. Thus, the media has little influence on representation. Larson has done a lot of research in political subjects and has vast experience dealing with such topic something that makes her work reliable. Lastly, the paper is authentic as it focuses primarily on the influence of the media, which will help in ascertaining the thesis for the project.

References

Arnold, R. (2004). Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability. Princeton University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt4cgbtb
Edwards, G., & Wood, B. (1999). Who Influences Whom? The President, Congress, and the Media. The American Political Science Review, 93(2), 327-344. doi:10.2307/2585399   
Kampelman, M. (1975). Congress, the Media, and the President. Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, 32(1), 85-97. doi:10.2307/1173619
Larson, S. (1988). The President and Congress in the Media. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,499, 64-74. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1045818
Larson, Stephanie Greco (1992). Creating Consent of the Governed: A Member of Congress and the Local Media. Carbondale, IL: Southern University Press.
Mann, Thomas E., and Norman J. Ornstein, eds. (1994). Congress, the Press, and the Public. Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution.
Orman, J. (1985). Media Coverage of the Congressional Underdog. PS, 18(4), 754-759. doi:10.2307/419138
Peake, J. (2001). Presidential Agenda Setting in Foreign Policy. Political Research Quarterly, 54(1), 69-86. doi:10.2307/449208