The politics presidents make

This book by Stephen Skowronek examines the presidency as a 'blunt, disruptive force' in American politics.

It introduces the concepts of 'political time' and 'secular time' to illustrate the recurring patterns of presidential politics.

Skowronek analyzes the cyclical patterns and long-term effects of presidential leadership, identifying four phases of transformation in presidential strategies: patrician, partisan, pluralist, and plebiscitary politics.

The study challenges conventional ways of thinking about presidential leadership and provides a broader analytic approach by comparing leadership efforts according to constitutional, organizational, and political criteria.