Executive Responsiveness to Presidential Policies: The Reagan Presidency

Abstract

The Reagan administration was in a very strong position to secure the responsiveness of executive agencies to its policy goals. Because of the clarity of its public philosophy, it was able to send much clearer signals as to its policy commitments than earlier administrations. The administration also subjected prospective appointees to a much more rigorous ideological screening than its predecessors. And the White House was able to build on the achievements of earlier presidents, especially Jimmy Carter, in staffing administrative agencies with ideologically compatible executives. However, these initial advantages did not enable the administration to escape the policy discord within the executive that had plagued earlier presidencies. Major executive appointees advocated and pursued policies not in accord with the ideological orientation of the White House. Moreover, even when his appointees remained loyal to Reagan's policy goals, this did not necessarily guarantee that the President's policies would prevail. Policy networks opposed to the White House in such areas as social security and environmental protection proved to have defenses in depth against its efforts to change government programs. They were able to defeat the administration in Congress or the courts even when their governmental outposts in the executive branch were overrun by Reagan loyalists.

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