The Contemporary Presidency Reconsidering Presidential Policy Czars

Since controversy began to swirl surrounding then-President-elect Barack Obama\u27s alleged overreliance on policy czars in late 2008, political scientists and pundits alike have been quick to view this approach to White House staffing as an extension of the imperial presidency and, to some, a threat to the constitutional order. In this article, I take a step back and ask whether the phenomenon under attack is exactly what scholars assume it is. In doing so, I investigate the conceptualization problem czars pose as well as how and why presidents actually use czars. I conclude with a series of suggestion for future presidents on how best to use policy czars to advance the interests of their administration and manage the executive institution

Is George W Bush a Burden or Blessing for Jeb Bush’s 2016 Campaign?

Now that Jeb Bush has finally officially announced his bid for the White House, the chattering class can shift its conversation to whether he will win and what hurdles stand in his way

The Evolution and Mechanics of Translational Control in Plants

The expression of numerous plant mRNAs is attenuated by RNA sequence elements located in the 5\u27 and 3\u27 untranslated regions (UTRs). For example, in plants and many higher eukaryotes, roughly 35% of genes encode mRNAs that contain one or more upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in the 5\u27 UTR. For this dissertation I have analyzed the pattern of conservation of such mRNA sequence elements. In the first set of studies, I have taken a comparative transcriptomics approach to address which RNA sequence elements are conserved between various families of angiosperm plants. Such conservation indicates an element\u27s fundamental importance to plant biology, points to pathways for which it is most vital, and suggests the mechanism by which it acts. Conserved motifs were detected in 3% of genes. These include di-purine repeat motifs, uORF-associated motifs, putative binding sites for PUMILIO-like RNA binding proteins, small RNA targets, and a wide range of other sequence motifs. Due to the scanning process that precedes translation initiation, uORFs are often translated, thereby repressing initiation at the an mRNA\u27s main ORF. As one might predict, I found a clear bias against the AUG start codon within the 5\u27 untranslated region (5\u27 UTR) among all plants examined. Further supporting this finding, comparative analysis indicates that, for ~42% of genes, AUGs and their resultant uORFs reduce carrier fitness. Interestingly, for at least 5% of genes, uORFs are not only tolerated, but enriched. The remaining uORFs appear to be neutral. Because of their tangible impact on plant biology, it is critical to differentiate how uORFs affect translation and how, in many cases, their inhibitory effects are neutralized. In pursuit of this aim, I developed a computational model of the initiation process that uses five parameters to account for uORF presence. In vivo translation efficiency data from uORF-containing reporter constructs were used to estimate the model\u27s parameters in wild type Arabidopsis. In addition, the model was applied to identify salient defects associated with a mutation in the subunit h of eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3h). The model indicates that eIF3h, by supporting re-initation during uORF elongation, facilitates uORF tolerance

Presidential Greatness & Political Science: Assessing the 2014 APSA Presidents & Executive Politics Section Presidential Greatness Survey

Debates about presidential greatness have been with us for decades, facilitated in part by numerous systematic surveys of scholars with expertise in American history and politics. Nevertheless, the voice of political scientists in this debate has been relatively muted when compared particularly with the role that historians have had in making these determinations. This article introduces and assesses results of a recent effort to capture the attitudes of political science presidency experts about presidential greatness. By surveying the membership of the APSA Presidents and Executive Politics section, we could identify and then compare specifically the attitudes of political scientists against the growing body of ratings and rankings of a phenomenon with long-standing interest and importance

The Dynamics of Presidential Legacies

It has been said that one of the few things you can’t do in life a second time is to make a first impression; however, in politics, and especially presidential politics, while it may not be possible to change that first impression, it is possible to change the public’s opinion, and how one might be perceived long after their political career is over. The 43 men who have been the U.S president have been analyzed and scrutinized throughout their lives and political careers. Prior to running for president, they establish a resume that puts them in the public eye. Later, during their campaign, the American public decides whether they have the confidence in the candidate to entrust them with the duties as president. While in office, they are evaluated daily by the press and news media along with the onslaught of polls measuring the publics’ satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, with their performance. The evaluations while in office offer them the opportunity to see how “well” they are doing, and also provide insights as to whether they may or may not be residing in the White House at the end of their first term

Conclusion: Message Control at the Margins

In the introduction, we identified four key themes that would guide the series of independent yet intersecting analyses that would follow. As those themes were explored and answers were provided to the questions being asked, a series of lessons for operating in the social-media-driven political environment emerged. These lessons shape the larger conclusions that can be derived from the collective efforts of the analyses herein

Introduction: Controlling the Message in the Social Media Marketplace of Ideas

The presidential candidate\u27s campaign faced the threat of being derailed following a scathing depiction of him posted by an individual citizen. Regardless of whether the claims made against the candidate were truthful, the message already had gone viral, and the candidate\u27s campaign flailed in its efforts to respond. Finally, one of the candidate\u27s supporters not affiliated with his campaign repackaged the critic\u27s depiction into a new theme, one that resonated positively with voters. The repackaged message itself continued well beyond its original posting as it was replicated in different forums time and time again

Third Annual Idaho Public Policy Survey

The Third Annual Idaho Public Policy Survey was conducted December 2-7, 2017 and surveyed 1000 adults currently living in the state of Idaho. The survey sample was designed to be representative of all regions of the state. The results illuminate new and ongoing public priorities as well as sentiment about the direction of the state and its economy. Respondents were asked about their attitudes concerning several key policy issues, including taxes, health care, education, and workforce development. GS Strategy Group, a Boise-based polling firm, administered the survey on behalf of the School of Public Service. Statewide results have a margin of error of +/- 3.1%

Presidential responsiveness to public opinion

In this dissertation, I examine the determinants of presidential responsiveness to public opinion, employing a theory of context and venue that explains why presidents are more responsive at some times and in certain policy making venues than at other times and in other venues. To test this theory, I create a new direct measure of presidential responsiveness to public opinion, a measure that quantifies the ideological distance between presidential policy positions and public policy preferences. I develop versions of this measure in four important venues of the modern presidency: relations with the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, the unilateral administrative presidency, and the president’s rhetoric. Using time-series regression techniques, I analyze the influence that factors such as political context, electoral context, institutional context, and venue visibility have on the dynamics of presidential responsiveness scores. The results indicate that although the president’s policy position taking responds to public opinion dynamics, there is no clear contextual factor that conditions this responsiveness

Deep Eutectic Salt Formulations Suitable as Advanced Heat Transfer Fluids

Concentrating solar power (CSP) facilities are comprised of many miles of fluid-filled pipes arranged in large grids with reflective mirrors used to capture radiation from the sun. Solar radiation heats the fluid which is used to produce steam necessary to power large electricity generation turbines. Currently, organic, oil-based fluid in the pipes has a maximum temperature threshold of 400 °C, allowing for the production of electricity at approximately 15 cents per kilowatt hour. The DOE hopes to foster the development of an advanced heat transfer fluid that can operate within higher temperature ranges. The new heat transfer fluid, when used with other advanced technologies, could significantly decrease solar electricity cost. Lower costs would make solar thermal electricity competitive with gas and coal and would offer a clean, renewable source of energy. Molten salts exhibit many desirable heat transfer qualities within the range of the project objectives. Halotechnics developed advanced heat transfer fluids (HTFs) for application in solar thermal power generation. This project focused on complex mixtures of inorganic salts that exhibited a high thermal stability, a low melting point, and other favorable characteristics. A high-throughput combinatorial research and development program was conducted in order to achieve the project objective. Over 19,000 candidate formulations were screened. The workflow developed to screen various chemical systems to discover salt formulations led to mixtures suitable for use as HTFs in both parabolic trough and heliostat CSP plants. Furthermore, salt mixtures which will not interfere with fertilizer based nitrates were discovered. In addition for use in CSP, the discovered salt mixtures can be applied to electricity storage, heat treatment of alloys and other industrial processes