Current Issue: Volume 7, Issue 1 (2009)
The Obama Administration: Setting Up a Government

Introduction

This issue of The Forum brings a focus on elements shaping the new presidential administration. One cluster of articles concentrates on key influences going into the Obama Administration: Wendy Cho and James Gimpel on the differential influences from an economic meltdown; Charles O. Jones on the place of prior political experiences; Todd Estes on lessons from the beginnings of the Clinton Administration; Casey Dominquez on the mandate and the honeymoon; and Matt Grossman on the interest group environment. A second cluster of articles considers the new administration as it moves forward: Fred Greenstein on key strengths and weaknesses that Barack Obama brings to the job; Sidney Milkis and Jesse Rhodes on the interaction of this president with his own party; Dennis Thompson on the fortunes of his proposed ethics initiatives; Sheldon Goldman on his potential place in the politics of judicial selection; Steve Schier on institutional evolution, regime structure, and available skills, and David Magleby, Bradley Jones, and David Lassen on the shifting environment for campaign finance. In the book reviews, John Kenneth White asks about the current political structure as portrayed in Andrew Gelman, Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State, while Bruce Oppenheimer celebrates one of the great analysts and interpreters of American politics, by way of Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Congressional Travels.

We invite our readers to join us for a special online discussion of the articles in this issue on The Monkey Cage, a blog that specializes in informed commentary on political events and topics. We look forward to your comments.

Articles

Reviews