Content area
Full Text
Introduction
No post World War II domestic issue equals the struggle for the civil rights of African-Americans. Civil rights as equal opportunity occupied the Congress, the Courts and the Presidency. Ultimately, the struggle resulted in a substantially new national consensus on fundamental civil rights. It also led to a new partisan alignment in which the Democratic Party embraced the cause of black civil rights at the expense of the "Solid South." Republicans joined in the coalitions that passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960 and 1964. The national party thereafter gained the White House, in part, by means of an appeal to southern conservatives.
American Presidents have found themselves at the center of the struggle whether or not they choose to be there. In some instances, presidents chose proactive policies aimed at specific changes. Others chose to hold back, enforcing the law when necessary, avoiding the issue when possible.
Selected decisions of the four civil rights era presidents are used here to test two models of presidential decision making and leadership. The first is a leader/follower consensus model developed from the literature. The second analyzes the decisions of the civil rights era presidents using a four factor model of presidential decision making that includes presidential values and character, the ministerial demands of the presidency, the president's partisan political agenda and the societal demands that are placed on the president.
Presidential Power
The most important modern examination of power is Richard Neustadt's Presidential Power.(1) Neustadt asserts that presidential orders are rarely carried out merely on the basis of presidential authority. He hypothesizes that, in most instances, the primary presidential power is the ability to persuade others that what the president wants from them is in their own best interest. To enhance their persuasive efforts Neustadt suggests that presidents maximize the uncertainty of noncompliance and (conversely) minimize the uncertainties of compliance.
Presidential Character
James David Barber developed a model of presidential character based upon two dimensions, level of activity and positive versus negative elements of the individual president's character. The active positive personality exhibits high level activity and positive orientation to action. The character type is indicative of "relatively high self-esteem and relative success in relating to the environment...(and) shows an orientation toward productiveness as a...