Presidential Selection

Rating:
Summary: Boring but informative
Review: Ceaser provides a less-than-engrossing account of the three major changes in presidential selection processes throughout the history of the US, starting with the founding fathers, moving on to Martin Van Buren, and finishing with Woodrow Wilson. The author wrote it as his Harvard thesis, so that should be some indication of how interesting the book is. I read it for a college course on the Presidency, and it was very informative, but not exactly pleasure reading.

Rating:
Summary: Sometimes Oil and Water Does Mix
Review: Mixing common sense with social science is much like mixing oil and water. But sometimes it does work. This is one such case. Presidential Selection by James Ceaser is probably the best theoretical treatment of the development of why the American presidential selection process works the way it does. Ceaser understands that politicians act rationally, given the rules of the game. It is therefore essential to understand the rules. But is is even more important to understand why there are some rules and not others. Much of modern political science is good at explaining the formal and informal rules of presidential elections. This particular work is unique in explaining why we have the particular rules we do and how changing them has or can affect regime principles. Ceaser's touchstone in all of this is The Federalist, but it is read with a critical eye with regard both strengths and weaknesses. Overall the strengths outweigh the weaknesses because the founders' form of liberal democracy trumps any modern alternatives.