Click her for entire CV in PDF format
JAMES P. PFIFFNER
University Professor Emeritus
Schar School of Policy and Government
George Mason University
3351 Fairfax Drive, 3B1
Arlington, VA 22201
email: pfiffner@gmu.edu
web: pfiffner.gmu.edu
Education
B.A. University of Wisconsin, Madison (1968), Political Science
M.A. University of Wisconsin, Madison (1972), Political Science
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison (1975), Political Science
Experience
2001-220
George Mason University, University Professor of Public Policy
Director of the Doctoral Program, 2010 – 2014
2013
Visiting Professor, Griffith University, Australia (June – August)
2007
S.T. Lee Professorial Fellow, School of Advanced Study, University College London (January-July)
1987-2001
Professor of Government and Politics, George Mason University
1997
Visiting Scholar, The Brookings Institutions (January-August)
1984-87
Associate Professor of Government and Politics, George Mason University
1980-84
California State University, Fullerton, Associate Professor of Political Science
1980-81
U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Special Assistant, Office of the Director
1978-80
California State University, Fullerton, Assistant Professor of Political Science
1975-78
University of California, Riverside, Assistant Professor of Political Science
1974-75
Brookings Institution, Research Fellow
1971-74
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Teaching Assistant
1970
U.S. Army, Vietnam/Cambodia, 25th Infantry Division
Section Chief, Fire Direction Center, A Battery, 1/8 Artillery,
1969
Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Instructor in Artillery Gunnery
Honors and Awards
College of Arts and Sciences, Scholarly Award, George Mason University, 1999.
National Academy of Public Administration, elected member.
Distinguished Faculty Award, George Mason University, 1990.
Brookings Institution, Visiting Scholar (Summer 1983).
John Brown Mason Professorship, California State University, Fullerton (1983-84).
National Association of Schools of Public Affairs & Admin. Faculty Fellowship (1981-82).
Army Commendation Medal for Heroism, (with “V” device) Vietnam/Cambodia (1970).
Who’s Who in America, 2000; Who’s Who in the World, 2010.
JAMES P. PFIFFNER
Bibliography
Books
Organizing the Presidency, Fourth edition, with Stephen Hess (Washington: Brookings, 2021).
Examining Torture: Empirical Studies of State Repression, co-edited with Tracy Lightcap (NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
Understanding the Presidency, co-edited with Roger H. Davidson. Seventh Edition (New York: Pearson-Longman, 2013).
Torture as Public Policy, (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2010).
The Modern Presidency (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994) Sixth Edition (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson, 2010).
Power Play: The Bush Presidency and the Constitution (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2008), paperback edition, 2009.
Intelligence and National Security Policymaking on Iraq: British and American Perspectives
Co-edited with Mark Phythian (Manchester University Press, co-published in the United States by Texas A&M University Press, 2008).
The Character Factor: How We Judge America’s Presidents (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004).
Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency
General editor: David Abshire (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001)
I am listed as “Executive Editor” for The Center for the Study of the Presidency. I edited 75 brief (1000 words) case studies and wrote five cases. I also wrote the concluding chapter (cited below) to the volume.
The Future of Merit: Twenty Years after the Civil Service Reform Act, co-edited with Douglas A. Brook (Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000).
Governance and American Politics: Classic and Current Perspectives, edited (Harcourt, Brace, and Company; 1995).
The Presidency and the Persian Gulf War, co-edited with Marcia Whicker and Raymond Moore (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1993).
The Managerial Presidency, edited (Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1991).
Second edition: (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1999).
The Presidency in Transition, co-edited with R. Gordon Hoxie (New York: Center for the Study of the Presidency, 1989).
The Strategic Presidency: Hitting the Ground Running (Chicago: Dorsey Press, 1988). Second Edition: (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1996). Winner of the Presidency and Executive Politics section of the American Political Science Association “Legacy Award” for a book that has had a “continuing contribution to the intellectual development” of the field of presidency studies (2021).
The President and Economic Policy (editor) (Philadelphia: ISHI Publications, 1986.
The President, the Budget, and Congress: Impoundment and the 1974 Budget Act (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1979).
Editor: special issue of Presidential Studies Quarterly (co-edited with Marcia Whicker): The Clinton Presidency in Crisis, Vol. XXVIII, No. 4, (Fall 1998).
Editor: special issue of Presidential Studies Quarterly: Presidential Decision Making, Vol. 35, No. 2 (June 2005).
Congressional Testimony
“Presidential use of White House ‘Czars’”
Testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, October 22, 2009.
“The Constitutional Role of the Pardon Power”
Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties; March 27, 2019; testimony posted on SSRN.
Scholarly Journal Articles (total = 55)
[many of these articles are posted at pfiffner.gmu.edu]
“Organizing the Biden Presidency,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol 51, No. 4 (Dec. 2021).
“Donald Trump and the Norms of the Presidency,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, (March 2021).
“The Transition of the Presidency, 2020-2021,” Korean Journal of Policy Studies,” Special issue (2021), pp. 110-137.
“Organizing the Trump Presidency, Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 48, No. 1 (March 2018), pp. 153-167.
“The Unusual Presidency of Donald Trump,” Political Insight (September 2017) Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 9-11.
“Magna Carta and the Contemporary Presidency,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March 2016), pp. 140-157.
“The Constitutional Legacy of George W. Bush,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 4 (December 2015), pp. 727-741.
“On Reading the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report on CIA Detention and Interrogation,” Intelligence and National Security: Special Forum on the US Senate Select Committee Report on the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, November 2, 2015), pp. 15-17.
“Dysfunctional Politics in the United States: Origins and Consequences,” Papers on Parliament, No. 60 (March 2014), pp. 17-37. Published by the Department of the Senate, Parliament House, Canberra, Australia.
“The Paradox of President Reagan’s Leadership,” Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 43, No.1, (March 2013), pp. 81-100.
“Torture During Interrogation: Notes from the Field,” Public Integrity, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Winter 2012-2013), pp. 97-102 (book review essay).
“Strong Executive Branch Leadership Crucial for Policy Implementation,” (with co-authors) The Public Manager (Winter 2012), pp. 37-40.
“Federalist No. 70: Is the President Too Powerful?” Public Administration Review
Special Issue, (November/December 2011), pp. 112-118.
“Decision Making in the Obama White House,” Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 41, No.2, (June 2011), pp. 244-262.
“U.S. Blunders in Iraq: De-Baathification and Disbanding the Army,” Intelligence and National Security Vol. 25, No. 1 (February 2010), pp. 76-85.
“Obamas Prasidentschaft: Wandel und Kontinuitat,” (“The Obama Presidency: Change and Continuity”) Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (January 2010), pp. 6-12.
“Decision Making in the Bush White House,” Presidential Studies Quarterly (June 2009), pp. 363-384.
“Presidential Signing Statements and Their Implications for Public Administration,” Public Administration Review Vol. 69, No. 2 (March/April 2009), pp. 249-255.
“Executive Power: George W. Bush and the Constitution,” Presidential Studies Quarterly (March 2008), pp. 124-144.
“The Institutionalist: A Conversation with Hugh Heclo,” Public Administration Review Vol.. 67, No. 3 (May/June 2007), pp. 418-423. [conducted and edited interview with Heclo]
“Marching in Time: Alliance Politics, Synchrony, and the Case for War in Iraq, 2002-2003,” co-authored with Mark Phythian, Rod Tiffen, and Alan Doig. Australian Journal of International Affairs, March 2007.
“The First MBA President: George W. Bush as Public Administrator,” Public Administration Review, January/February 2007.
“U.S. Obligations for the Treatment of Prisoners,” Virginia Lawyer, Vol. 95, No. 4 (December 2006), pp. 44-49.
“Les decisions de guerre de George W. Bush: ‘’Afghanistan et l’Irak Politique Americaine No. 5, (Ete-Automne, 2006), pp. 35-52.
“Torture and Public Policy,” Public Integrity Vol. 7, no. 4 (Fall 2005), pp. 313-330. Reprinted in Richard J. Stillman, ed. Public Administration: Concepts and Cases (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2010), pp. 454-465.
“Presidential Decision Making: Rationality, Advisory Systems, and Personality,” Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 35, No. 2 (June 2005), pp. 217-228.
“Did President Bush Mislead the Country in His Arguments for War with Iraq?,” Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 34, No. 1 (March 2004), pp. 25-46.
“The Electoral College and the Framers’ Distrust of Democracy,” with Jason Hartke, White House Studies Vol. 3, No. 3 (2003), pp. 261-272.
“President George W. Bush and His War Cabinet,” Foreign Policy Bulletin (Winter 2003), pp. 288-296.
“Elliot L. Richardson: Exemplar of Integrity and Public Service,” Public Integrity Vol. 5, No. 3 (Summer 2003), pp. 251-269. Won award from the Ethics Section of the American Society for Public Administration for outstanding article published in 2003.
“Ranking the Presidents: Continuity and Volatility,” White House Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1 (2003), pp. 23-34. Reprinted in Meena Bose and Mark Landis, eds. The Uses and Abuses of Presidential Ratings (Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2004).
“Judging Presidential Character,” Public Integrity, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Winter 2002-2003), pp. 7-24.
“George Washington’s Character and Slavery” White House Studies, Vol 1, No. 4, ( 2001), pp. 351-461. Reprinted in: Robert P. Watson, ed., Contemporary Presidential Studies:; A Reader(NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2003), pp. 3-12.
“The White House Office of Presidential Personnel,” (with Bradley Patterson) Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 31, No. 3 (September 2001), pp. 415-438.
[A longer version of this article was prepared by the authors for the White House 2001 project, directed by Martha Kumar and financed by the Pew Charitable Trusts. It was one of a series of papers on the primary White House Offices prepared for the 2001 transition. The papers were read and used by the incoming Bush transition team.]
Reprinted in: The White House World edited by Martha Kumar and Terry Sullivan (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press), pp. 165-192.
“Meeting the Freight Train Head on: Planning for the Transition to power,” (co-author) Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 30, No. 4 (December 2000), pp. 754-769. Reprinted in: The White House World edited by Martha Kumar and Terry Sullivan (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press), pp. 5-24/
“Presidential Lies,” Presidential Studies Quarterly (Vol. 29, No. 4 (December 1999), pp. 903-917.
“Sexual Probity and Presidential Character,” Presidential Studies Quarterly (Vol. XXVIII, No. 4 (Fall 1998), pp. 881-887.
“The Public Service Ethic in the New Public Personnel Systems,” Public Personnel Management, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Winter 1999), pp. 541-555.
“The National Performance Review in Perspective,” International Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 20, No. 1 (1997), pp. 41-70.
“The President’s Chief of Staff: Lessons Learned,” Presidential Studies Quarterly (Winter 1993), pp. 77-102. Reprinted in: The Managerial Presidency, 2nd ed., James P. Pfiffner editor (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1998), pp. 75-104.
“Establishing the Bush Presidency,” Public Administration Review (January/February 1990), 64-72.
“The 1988-89 Presidential Transition,” Presidency Research, Vol. XI, No. 2 (Spring 1989), p.18-30.
“The President’s Legislative Agenda,” The Annals Vol. 499 (September 1988), pp. 22-35. Reprinted in: Randall Ripley and Elliot Slotnick (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2nd ed., 1993, pp. 353-362.
“Thirteen Year Paper Chase: The Nixon Archives,” Presidency Research (Spring 1987), pp. 15-20).
“Political Appointees and Career Executives: The Democracy-Bureaucracy Nexus in the Third Century,” Public Administration Review (January/February 1987), pp. 57-65.
Reprinted in: The American Constitution and the Administrative State edited by Richard Stillman (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1989).
Reprinted in: The Managerial Presidency edited by James P. Pfiffner (Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole 1991).
Reprinted in: Agenda for Excellence edited by Patricia Ingraham and Donald Kettl (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1992).
“White House Staff versus the Cabinet: Centripetal and Centrifugal Roles,” Presidential Studies Quarterly (Fall 1986) pp.666-90.
Reprinted in: Readings In American Government and Politics edited by Randall Ripley and Elliot Slotnick (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989), pp. 429-439; 2nd ed., 1993, pp. 322-331.
“Learning From Presidential Transfers,” Presidency Research (Fall 1985), pp. 15-19).
“The Federal Budget: Policy, Process, and Politics,” Congress and the Presidency (Autumn 1985), pp. 193-197).
“Political Public Administration,” Public Administration Review (March/April 1985), pp. 352-356).
“Budgetary Crisis and Congressional Spending,” Policy Studies Journal (March 1983), pp. 539-545).
“The Challenge of Federal Management in the 1980s,” Public Administration Quarterly (Summer 1983), pp. 162-182).
“The Carter-Reagan Transition: Hitting the Ground Running,” Presidential Studies Quarterly (Fall 1983), pp. 623-645.
“Presidential Personnel Policy,” Presidency Research (Spring 1982), pp. 2-6.
“Management and Central Controls Reconsidered,” The Bureaucrat (Winter 1981-82), pp. 13-16.
“Budgeting and the ‘People’s Reform’,” Public Administration Review (March/April 1980), pp. 194-200.
Book Chapters (Total = 68)
[many of these chapters are posted at pfiffner.gmu.edu]
“How Donald Trump Tried to Overturn the 2020 Election, in James Thurber, ed. Rivals For Power, 7th edition, (Roman and Littlefield, 2022).
“OMB, the Presidency, and the Federal Budget,” in Executive Policymaking, edited by Meena Bose and Andrew Rudalevige (Brookings 2020), pp. 11-40.
“The Lies of Donald Trump: A Taxonomy” in The Trump Presidency and Executive Power, edited by Charles Lamb (NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), pp. 17-40.
“President Bush and the Invasion of Iraq: Presidential Leadership and Thwarted Goals,” in James McCormick, ed., The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy, 6th ed. (Roman & Littlefield, 2017), pp. 361-380.
“Unilateral Presidential Authority: Uses and Abuses,” in Rivals for Power, edited by Jordan Tama and James Thurber (Roman and Littlefield, 2017), pp. 75-97; updated in 7th edition.
Staffing the President’s Team,” in Keifer, J. J. and Neaves, T. T. “Implementing Successful Strategies for Emergency Management and Homeland Security.” In Memos to National Leaders, edited by P. L. Posner, J. R. Lachance, and T. T. Neaves. Washington, DC: National Academy of Public Administration and the American Society for Public Administration (2016)., pp. 28-31.
“Managing the Federal Executive Branch,” with Mary Boardman, in Foundations of Public Administration, edited by Jos C.N. Raadschelders and Richard J. Stillman (Irvine, CA: Melvin & Leigh, 2017), pp. 262-278.
“Introduction,” in The George W. Bush Presidency, Volume I: The Constitution, Politics, and Policymaking, ed. Meena Bose (Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2016), pp. xi-xvi.
“White House Rules: The Post-World War II Presidency,” in Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency, edited by Maxmillian Angerholzer III, et al. (Praeger, Denver, CO, 2016), pp. 11-15.
“The First Hundred Days: Myth and Mystique,” in Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency, edited by Maxmillian Angerholzer III, et al. (Praeger, Denver, CO, 2016), pp. 91-96.
“Presidents Bush, Obama and the Surveillance of Americans,” In The Quest for Leadership: Essays in Honor of Thomas E. Cronin. Michael Genovese, ed. (Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2015), pp. 131-148.
“The Efficacy of Coercive Interrogation,” in Examining Torture: Empirical Studies of State Repression, editors James P. Pfiffner and Tracy Lightcap, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), pp. 127-157.
“U.S. Torture Policy and Command Responsibility,” in Examining Torture: Empirical Studies of State Repression, editors James P. Pfiffner and Tracy Lightcap, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), pp. 103-125.
“Organizing the 21st Century White House,” in James Thurber, ed., Rivals for Power, 5th ed. (Lanham, MD: Roman Littlefield, 2013), pp. 63-86.
“Bill Clinton and the Character Factor in Perspective,” in Rosanna Perotti, ed. The Clinton Presidency and the Constitutional System (Texas A&M University Press, 2012), pp. 221-232.
“Clinton, Congress, and the Presidency,” in Rosanna Perotti, ed. The Clinton Presidency and the Constitutional System (Texas A&M University Press, 2012), pp. 43-46.
“Organizing the Obama White House,” in James A. Thurber, ed., Obama in Office (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2011), pp. 75-85.
“President Bush as Chief Executive,” in Robert Maranto, et al., Judging Bush (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2009), pp. 58-74.
“Presidential Transitions,” in George C. Edwards and William G. Howell, eds. The Oxford Handbook of The American Presidency (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 85-107.
“Partisan Polarization, Politics, and the Presidency: Structural Sources of Conflict,” in James A. Thurber, ed. Rivals For Power: Presidential Congressional Relations (Lanham, MD: Roman and Littlefield, 2009), pp. 37-60 (revised for 4th edition).
“George W. Bush as Chief Executive,” in Andrew Wroe and Jon Herbert, Assessing the Bush Presidency: A Tale of Two Terms? (Edinburgh University Press, 2009), pp. 29-43.
“Introduction: Policy-Making and Intelligence on Iraq,” with Mark Phythian, In James P. Pfiffner and Mark Phythian, eds. Intelligence and National Security Policymaking on Iraq: British and American Perspectives (UK: Manchester University Press, 2008); U.S. edition: Texas A&M University Press, 2008, pp. 1-16.
“Decisionmaking, Intelligence, and the Iraq War,” in James P. Pfiffner and Mark Phythian, eds. Intelligence and National Security Policymaking on Iraq: British and American Perspectives (UK: Manchester University Press, 2008); U.S. edition: Texas A&M University Press, 2008, pp. 213-232.
“The Ethics of Interrogation: Torture and Public Management,” in Derek S. Reveron and Judith Hicks Stiehm, eds., Inside Defense: Understanding the U.S. Military NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, pp. 161-172.
“Intelligence and Decision Making Before the War with Iraq,” in George C. Edwards and Desmond King, eds., The Polarized Presidency of George W. Bush (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 213-242.
“Presidential Leadership and Advice about Going to War,” in Terry L. Price and J. Thomas Wren, eds., The Values of Presidential Leadership (NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), pp. 135-157.
“Partisan Polarization, Politics, and the Presidency: Structural Sources of Conflict,” in James A. Thurber, ed. Rivals For Power: Presidential Congressional Relations (Lanham, MD: Roman and Littlefield, 2006), pp. 33-58.
“Do Presidents Lie?”, in George C. Edwards, Readings in Presidential Politics (Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth, 2006), pp. 159-181.
“The Decision to Go to War with Iraq,” in Richard J. Stillman, Public Administration: Concepts and Cases (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2010), pp. 195-209 (also in 8th and 9th editions).
“National Security Policymaking and the Bush War Cabinet,” in Richard Conley, ed. Transforming the American Polity: The Presidency of George W. Bush and the War on Terrorism (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004).
“George W. Bush: Policy, Politics, and Personality,” in George C. Edwards III and Philip John Davies, eds., New Challenges for the American Presidency (NY: Pearson/Longman, 2004), pp.161-181.
“Ranking the Presidents: Continuity and Volatility,” in Meena Bose and Mark Landis, eds., The Uses and Abuses of Presidential Ratings (Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2004), pp. 27-42.
“Traditional Public Administration versus The New Public Management: Accountability versus Efficiency” Festschrift for Professor Klaus Konig of Speyer, Germany. in Institutionenwandel in Regierung und Verwaltung: Festschrift fur Klaus Konig, Arthur Benz, HHeinrich Siedentopf, and Karl-Peter Sommermann, eds. (Berlin,Germany: Duncker & Humblot, 2004), pp. 443-454.
“Assessing the Bush Presidency,” in Gary L. Gregg and Mark J. Rozell, eds. Considering the Bush Presidency (NY: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 1-20.
“George H.W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton,” Chapter 10 in Organizing the Presidency by Stephen Hess (Washington: Brookings, 2002), pp. 146-164.
“The Transformation of the Bush Presidency,” in James P. Pfiffner and Roger Davidson, eds. Understanding the Presidency, 3rd edition (NY: Longman, 2002), pp. 453-471.
“Reevaluating the Electoral College” in James P. Pfiffner and Roger Davidson, eds. Understanding the Presidency, 3rd edition (NY: Longman, 2002), pp. 57-72.
“Presidential Appointments: Recruiting Executive Branch Leaders” in Innocent Until Nominated: the Breakdown of the Presidential Appointments Process, edited by G. Calvin Mackenzie (Washington: Brookings, 2001), pp. 50-80.
A 2500 word version of the chapter was published in The Brookings Review (Spring 2001), pp. 41-44.
“The President and Congress at the Turn of the Century: Structural Sources of Conflict,” in Rivals For Power, ed. By James A. Thurber (Lanham, MD: Roman and Littlefield, 2002), pp. 27-48.
“Presidents in Crisis: Watergate, Iran-Contra, and President Clinton’s Impeachment” in Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency, ed David Abshire (Wesport, CT: Praeger, 2001), pp. 284-300.
“The Paradox of Governmental Power,” in Moorhead Kennedy, et. al, The Moral Authority of Government (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2000), pp. 183-188.
“Character and the Modern Presidency: Multi-Dimensional or Seamless?” in Clyde Wilcox and Mark Rozell eds. The Clinton Scandal (Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2000), pp. 225-255..
“Government Legitimacy and the Role of the Civil Service,” in James P. Pfiffner and Douglas A. Brook, eds. The Future of Merit Twenty Years after the Civil Service Reform Act. (Washington: Woodrow Wilson Press, 2000), pp. 15-38.
“Presidential Constraints and Transitions.” in Presidential Policymaking: An End-of-Century Assessment. Ed. Steven A. Shull. (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharp, 1999). pp. 19-37.
“President Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the 104th Congress.” in On Parties: Essays Honoring Austin Ranney. Eds. Nelson W. Polsby and Raymond E. Wolfinger (Berkeley, CA: Institute of Governmental Studies Press, 2000). pp. 135-168.
“President Clinton’s Impeachment and Senate Trial,” in Understanding the Presidency, 2nd ed. edited by James P. Pfiffner and Roger H. Davidson (NY: Longman, 2000).
“The American Tradition of Administrative Reform,” in The White House and the Blue House: Government Reform in the United States and Korea eds., Yong Hyo Cho and H. George Frederickson (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998).
“Ronald Reagan’s Contrasting Chiefs of Staff,” in Ronald Reagan’s America, edited by Eric J. Schmertz, et. al. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997), pp. 493-502.
“President Clinton and the 103rd Congress: Winning Battles and Losing Wars,” in Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations, edited by James Thurber (Washington: CQ Press, 1996), pp. 170-190.
“Governance,” in Governance V: Institutions and Issues, ed. Kenneth Thompson (New York: University Press of America, 1994), pp. 113-134.
“Presidential Policy Making and the Gulf War,” in The Presidency and the Persian Gulf War, co-edited Marcia Whicker, James Pfiffner, and Raymond Moore (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1993), pp. 3-24.
Reprinted in: Understanding the Presidency, eds. James P. Pfiffner and Roger Davidson (New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2000), pp. 405-415.
“The Bush Transition: Symbols and Substance,” in Presidential Transitions: The Reagan to Bush Experience ed. Kenneth Thompson (New York: University Press of America, 1993), pp. 61-84.
“The President and the Postreform Congress,” The Postreform Congress, ed. Roger Davidson (New York: St. Martins, 1991).
“Divided Government and the Problem of Governance,” Divided Democracy, edited by James A. Thurber (Washington: CQ Press, 1991).
“The Political Appointments Process and the Recruitment of Scientists and Engineers,” in Report of the National Academy of Sciences, Recruitment, Retention, and Utilization of Federal Scientists and Engineers (Washington: National Academy Press, 1990), pp. 133-142.
“Introduction,” with Elliot L. Richardson to Leadership for America: Rebuilding the Public Service [The Volcker Commission]. Report of the National Commission on the Public Service (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1990), pp. xii-xxvi.
“Politics and Performance: Strengthening the Executive Leadership System,” with Elliot L. Richardson in Leadership for America: Rebuilding the Public Service [The Volcker Commission]. Report of the National Commission on the Public Service (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1990), pp. 209-242.
“Can the President Manage the Government?, in James P. Pfiffner, ed. The Managerial Presidency, 2nd ed. (College Station, TX, 1998), pp. 3-22.
Reprinted in: Understanding the Presidency 2nd ed, James P. Pfiffner and Roger H. Davidson eds. (New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2000), pp. 226-240.
“Presidential Control of the Bureaucracy,” Chapter four of The Strategic Presidency, reprinted in Current Issues in Public Administration edited by Frederick S. Lane (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990).
“OMB: Professionalism, Politicization, and the Presidency,” in Executive Leadership in Anglo-American Systems, edited by Colin Campbell and Margaret J. Wyszomirski (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991), pp. 195-218.
“Presidential Transitions and National Security Policy” in The Constitution and National Security edited by Walter R. Thomas and Howard E. Shuman (Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press, 1990).
“Nine Enemies and One Ingrate: Presidential Appointments During Transition,” in The In and Outers: Presidential Appointees and the Problems of Transient Government in Washington, edited by G. Calvin Mackenzie (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987).
“Strangers In a Strange Land: Orienting New Presidential Appointees,” in The In and Outers, edited by G. Calvin Mackenzie (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987).
“Taking Over the Government: Key Tools for a New Administration,” in Papers on Presidential Transitions and Foreign Policy edited by Frederick C. Mosher (New York: University Press of America, 1987).
“The Reagan Budget Juggernaut: The Fiscal 1982 Budget Campaign,” in The President and Economic Policy edited by James P. Pfiffner (Philadelphia: ISHI Publications, 1986).
Reprinted in: Public Administration: Concepts and Cases, 3rd Edition, edited by Richard J. Stillman (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984).
“The Crisis of Confidence in U.S. Economic Policy,” in The President and Economic Policy (Philadelphia: ISHI Publications, 1986).
“Inflexible Budgets, Fiscal Stress, and the Tax Revolt,” in The Municipal Money Chase edited by Alberta Sbragia (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983.
“California and the Tax Revolt,” in California Government in National Perspective edited by Keith Boyum and Philip Gianos (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1984).
Papers Posted on Websites
“Trump’s lies corrode democracy,” The Brookings Institution (April 13, 2018).
“The Unusual Presidency of Donald Trump,” Political Insight (September 2017), pp. 9-11.
“Why John Kelly can’t tame the White House Chaos, Washington Post (August 18, 2018).
“Inexperience in the White House breeds friction across the executive branch,” Brookings FixGov Website on the first 100 days of the Trump administration (May 2, 2017).
“Trump wants a White House that’s not ‘top down.’ Here’s why this won’t work,” Washington Post, Monkey Cage blog, (28 November 2016).
“Trump pledged to reverse Obama’s executive orders. Here’s how well past president have fulfilled that pledge,” with graduate student Joshua Lee. Washington Post, Monkey Cage, (23 January, 2017).
“Why Does Trump Still Have So Many Vacancies to Fill?” Foreign Affairs online (April 27, 2017).
“The Office of Presidential Personnel,” White House Transition Project Report, 2016), pp. 1-30.
“Cabinet Secretaries versus the White House Staff,” Posted by Brookings on the FIXGOV: Making Government Work website (March 2015) http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/fixgov
“Policy Making in the Bush White House,” (2008 APSA paper cited above)
Posted by Brookings in their Issues in Governance Studies paper series at: http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2008/1031_bush_pfiffner.aspx
“Managing the Executive Branch in the 20th Century: Consolidation and Disaggregation” co-authored with Mary Boardman. Posted on Public Administration Review website: Foundations of Public Administration, along with bibliography and model course syllabus. http://www.aspanet.org/scriptcontent/pdfs/FPA-MEB-References.pdf
Scholarly Reference Works
“The Presidency: Governing” (6,000 words)
Oxford Companion to American Politics, edited by David Coates
Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2013. Vol. II, pp. 220-229.
“Impeachment: The Constitutional Issues,” Oxford Companion to American Politics, edited by David Coates
Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2013. Vol. II, pp. 526-528.
“Torture, Interrogation, and Fair Trial Procedures,” (2,750 words)
Oxford Companion to American Politics, edited by David Coates
Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2013. Vol. II, pp. 372-376.
“Torture, Issue of, in U.S. Military and Diplomatic Affairs.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History, edited by Timothy J. Lynch, vol. 2, pp. 364- 366. Oxford University Press, UK and New York, 2012.
“Presidential Transitions,” in The Oxford Handbook of The American Presidency, edited by George C. Edwards and Willaim G. Howell. (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 85-107.
Encyclopedia of the American Presidency edited by Leonard W. Levy and Louis Fisher (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994)
Commissioned entries:
Divided Government (750 words)
Managerial Presidency (500 words)
Patronage (1500 words)
Strategic Presidency (750 words)
Departmental Secretaries (2000 words)
Office of Personnel Management (1500 words)
Schedule C Positions (500 words)
Presidential Transitions (2500 words)
White House Personnel Office (1000 words)
The Persian Gulf War (1000 words)
Encyclopedia of the United States Congress edited by Donald C. Bacon, Roger H. Davidson, and Morton Keller (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994). One commissioned article on Presidential Transitions.
Oxford Historical Guide to American Government edited by George T. Kurian (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997)
Commissioned Entries:
Office of Personnel Management (2,000 words)
Chief of Staff to the President (1,500 words)
White House Office (1,500 words)
Executive Office of the President (500 words)
Office of Presidential Personnel (500 words)
The President’s Cabinet (2,500 words)
The Heritage Guide to the Constitution edited by Matthew Spalding and David Forte (Washington: Regnery, 2005, 2014).
Commissioned Entries:
“Pardon Power,” pp. 203-205
“Recommendation Clause,” pp. 217-219 (coauthored)
Popular Press
“Executive Power in the Bush and Obama Administrations,” Presidency Research Group Report (PRG), Spring 2011, pp. 4-5.
Op-ed piece: “Impeachment: The Constitutional Issues” White House Weekly (14 December 1998). [5 days before the House voted on impeachment]
“Rating Scootergate: Washington scandals run the gamut, from greed to sex, but abuse of power threatens the health of our republic,” New York, Newsday, October 30, 2005
“Cutting Staff No Easy Task for Clinton,” Maine Sunday Telegram (12 December 1993), 1800 words.
“Building the White House Staff,” with Bradley H. Patterson Government Executive (December 1992), pp. 14-16.
“Political Appointees: Fewer is Better,” with Elliot L. Richardson, Government Executive (June 1991), pp. 58-59.
“Creating a Real Cabinet,” with Elliot L. Richardson, USA Today Magazine, Vol. 119, No. 2544 (September 1990), pp. 10-12.
Reprinted in Governing, ed. Roger Davidson and Walter Oleszek (Washington: CQ Press, 1992), pp. 364-368.
Reprinted in Bruce Stinebrickner, American Government 91/92 (Guilford, CT Dushkin, 1991), pp. 83-85.
“Our Cabinet System is a Charade,” with Elliot L. Richardson, The New York Times (28 May 1989), op-ed page.
“The Twentieth Amendment,” The Book of Days: 1988 (Ann Arbor, MI: The Pierian Press, 1987).
“Presidential Succession and Transition,” Book of Days: 1987 (Ann Arbor, MI: The Pierian Press, 1986).
Commissions and Panel Reports
National Academy of Public Administration Report, 2012.
with Dwight Ink, David Lewis, and Anne O’Connell, “Strengthening Administrative Leadership: Fixing the Appointment Process,” http://www.politicalappointeeproject.org/sites/default/files/FINAL_AppointeeProcess.pdf
National Academy of Sciences, Consultant and Staff Member, 1991. Project on “Politically Appointed Scientists and Engineers.” Participated in Panel meetings, did research, and helped draft final report. Panel chaired by Kenneth Dam.
Testimony: Statement before the President’s Commission on the Federal Appointments Process, printed in the Report of the Commission (Washington: Executive Office of the President, December 1990), pp. 41-47.
National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, 1990:
Project on “Recruitment, Retention, and Utilization of Federal Scientists and Engineers.” Participated in Panel Meetings, wrote and presented paper: “The Presidential Appointments Process and the Recruitment of Scientists and Engineers.” Published in the Final Report of the Project, pp. 133-142. Panel chaired by Alan K. Campbell.
Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1990-91:
Panel member, Congressional Oversight of Defense Project Participated in series of Panel meetings. Prepared background paper: “Congressional Oversight of Defense Management.” Panel Chaired by John O. Marsh.
National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker Commission)
Project Director, Task Force on Political/Career Relationships. Researched/wrote, revised, and edited the Task Force Report: “Politics and Performance: Strengthening the Executive Leadership System,” Published by the National Commission on the Public Service, 1989. in Leadership for America: Rebuilding the Public Service, Task Force Reports. Task Force chaired by Elliot L. Richardson.
National Academy of Public Administration, 1987-88
Issue Leader, Presidential Transition Project. Researched, wrote, revised, and edited the report section on the White House Staff and the Cabinet, published as: “Organizing the White House and Consulting with the Cabinet,” Chapter Two of The Executive Presidency: Federal Management for the 1990s (Washington: 1988). Panel chaired by Elmer B. Staats.
National Academy of Public Administration, 1984-85
Senior Research Associate, Presidential Appointee Project Collaborated in the collection of an extensive data base on Presidential Appointees from 1964-84, and the writing of:
The Presidential Appointee’s Handbook (NAPA, 1985) and Leadership in Jeopardy: The Fraying of the Presidential Appointments System, (NAPA, 1985).
Panel chaired by John W. Macy.
Book Reviews
About thirty book reviews in the following journals:
American Political Science Review
Presidential Studies Quarterly
Public Administration Review
Western Political Quarterly
Political Science Quarterly
Journal of Politics
The Bureaucrat
Perspective
The Annals
Governance
Professional Conferences and Conventions
One or two appearances each year (since 1975) as paper presenter, chair, or panel discussant at annual conventions of the following professional associations, among others:
American Political Science Association
Center for the Study of the Presidency
Midwest Political Science Association
International Lectures and Briefing of Foreign Officials
Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, Summer 2013
Visiting Professor and Lecture tour of government agencies and universities:
Senate Occasional Lecture, The Theatre, Parliament House, Canberra, July 19
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, July 18
Office of National Assessments Roundtable
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, luncheon
Griffith University, Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Seminar
Australia Institute of International Affairs, Lectures
ACT Branch, Canberra, July 16; Victoria Branch, July 29, Melbourne
Swinburne Institute for Social Research, Leadership Institute, July 30, Lecture
Monash University, Melbourne, academic seminar, August 1.
Rothermere American Institute and Nuffield College, Oxford University
Conference on the American Presidency, “Politics and Polarization: The George W. Bush Presidency” May 25-27, 2006
Paper Presentation: “Presidential Decision Making and the War in Iraq”
University of Leuven, Belgium
Conference on: “Ethics and Integrity of Governance,” June 2-5, 2005 Leuven, Belgium
Paper presented: “Torture and Public Policy: The Ethics of Interrogation”
University of Wales, Swansea, October 6-10, 2004, Conference on U.S. Elections
United States Studies Program.
Presentation: “U.S. National Security and the 2004 Presidential Election.”
American Politics Group of the United Kingdom
Annual Meeting: November 14, 2003, United States Embassy, London
Keynote address: “John Kennedy and the Transformation of the American Presidency”
School of Advanced Study, University College London
Institute of United States Studies
Conference: “New Challenges for the American Presidency” May 12-13, 2003, British Library Conference Centre
Paper presentation: “George W. Bush: Politics, Policy, and Personality”
Embassy of Brazil in Washington, D.C., 13 April 2002
Briefing of members of the President’s Office on presidential transitions
Follow-up briefing on the organization of the presidency, spring 2005.
Germany, Paper presentation at conference on “Federalism in Germany and the USA: From Cooperative to Competitive Federalism?” Sponsored by the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, Munchen. April 22-24, 1998.
United States Information Agency, Representative of the United States
Conference on Management Reform, Institute for Strategic and Developmental Studies
Athens, Greece (May 1996)
Briefing of Foreign visitors for USIA and State Department for representatives of the countries of: France, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Poland, Russia (former Soviet Union), Sierra Lione.
United States Information Agency, Lecture tour of Germany
Seminars and Lectures at Universities in Munich, Frankfurt, Gottingen, Heidelberg, and Speyer (Summer 1990).
Department of State, Foreign Service Institute briefings and professional development seminars
Professional Development Seminars or Lectures
National War College, National Defense University
Department of Treasury, Treasury Executive Institute
Department of Defense, Inspector General’s Office
Federal Executive Institute
Office of Personnel Management, Government Executive Institute
American Political Science Association, Congressional Fellows Program
The Brookings Institution
Executive Seminar Center, Denver, Office of Personnel Management
The American University
Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York
Harvard Center for International Affairs, Fellows Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Graduate School
University of Kansas, Keynote Speaker, Conference on War in Iraq, 2004
Television and Radio Programs and Interviews
Voice of America, USIA: 30 March 1999, 26 May 2004.
ABC Network Morning News, CNBC News, NVCC TV, WORLDNET (USIA), Voice of America, Tros Aktua Televisie (The Netherlands)
Newsweek on Air, Canadian Broadcasting Radio
C-SPAN, Series of interviews on White House Organization (November 1996)
C-SPAN, presentation on the Clinton Presidency, Hempstead, NY: Hofstra University, 12 November 2005 (aired November 24, 2005)
News Reporting Interviews and Quotes
The New Yorker
The New York Times
The Washington Post
Wall Street Journal
Associated Press
Los Angeles Times
National Journal
Congressional Quarterly
Christian Science Monitor
Business Week
USA Today
Editor of Book Series, 1996-2014
“The Hughes Series in the Presidency and Leadership Studies”
Texas A & M University Press
34 books published, 1996-2014
Editorial Boards
Journal of Public Administration and Theory (1996-2002)
Presidential Studies Quarterly, Editor of The Contemporary Presidency Feature
responsible for commissioning one article for each issue, 2000- present.
Book Manuscripts Reviewed
Westview Press
Johns Hopkins University Press
New York University Press
Brooks/Cole Publishing
The Dorsey Press
Duxbury Press
W.H. Freeman
University of Tennessee Press
Nelson Hall Publishers
State University of New York Press
Greenwood Press
F.E. Peacock
St. Martin’s Press
Cambridge University Press
University of Pittsburgh Press
University Press of Kansas
Texas A & M University Press
Columbia University Press
New York University Press
AW Longman
Cambridge University Press
Palgrave Macmillan
Roman and Littlefield
Princeton University Press
Reviewer of Articles submitted to:
American Political Science Review
Public Administration Review
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
Public Budgeting and Finance
Congress and the Presidency
Western Political Quarterly
Presidential Studies Quarterly (5-6 per year)
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
State and Local Government Review
Political Science Quarterly
American Politics Research
Intelligence and National Security
University Service
Chair, Second Level Promotion and Tenure Committee, Schar School 2016-17
Chair, Second Level Promotion and Tenure Committee, S-CAR 2015-16
Chair, Second Level Promotion and Tenure Committee, PIA, 2014-15
Member, Provost Committee to Review Appeal of Dean’s Report, S-CAR, 2016
Chair, Search Committee for several positions, SPP 2005-2006, 20010-2011
Chair, SPP Promotion and Tenure Committee, 2012-13
Strategic Planning Committee for George Mason University, appointed by the president, 2013.
University Life Committee, appointed by the President, 1991-92
Robinson Recruitment Committee, 1987-1995
Provost Search Committee, 1987-88
Public Policy Program Development and Search Committee, 1987-88
University Faculty Search Committee
for Senior Faculty Position in Applied Physics and National Security (1988)
Graduate Council, 1987-88
Department Search Committees
Position in Soviet Politics (1988)
Position in Public Policy (1988)
Department Chair Search (1989-91)
Three positions in Public Administration (1995-96)
Political Theory Search (1999)
MPA Director Search (2000-2001)
MPA Screening Committee (1991-92)
Public Policy PhD Development Committee
Dean’s Advisory Committee, College of Arts and Sciences, 1991-1993
College of Arts and Sciences Promotion and Tenure Committee, 1994-1997
Chair, Provost’s Committee to Evaluate the Dean of the Law School, 2001
Chair, Search Committee for the Hazel and Hirst Chairs, SPP, 2003-2004
Professional Service
Steering Committee, Presidential Studies Group, 1984-1990
American Political Science Association
Advisory Board, Public Administration Group, 1982-1988
American Political Science Association
Academic Board of Advisors
Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, 1980 –
The American University
President, National Capital Area Political Science Association 1990-91, Member of Board, 1985-95
Academic Judge for the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency, 1992, 1993, 1994
Brownlow Book Award Committee
National Academy of Public Administration, 1999.
Chair, Committee to select the best dissertation on the presidency, annual award
Bush School of Public Service, Texas A&M University, 1997-2001.
Fellows Selection Committee, National Academy of Public Administration 2003-2004. updated: December 2021