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The Premiership of Tony Blair has not only reaffirmed previous trends towards leader-centered parties and governments, it has provided a decisive change in the development of a British presidency. The strategies and techniques designed to secure and expand Blair's public outreach, together with the priority attached to the prime minister's personal pledges and individual vision have propelled the office into new dimensions of independence. Michael Foley argues that the ascendancy of Blair is not an aberration, but rather a culmination of trends that have established vigorous leadership as a key criterion of political evaluation and governing competence. This edition is completely up-to-date, including the first convincing analysis of Tony Blair's leadership style.
| List of figures and tables | p. viii |
| Acknowledgements | p. x |
| The Blair revolution and the presidential standard | p. 1 |
| Blair and the American connection | p. 4 |
| Disputing the presidential analogy | p. 10 |
| The grand old debate | p. 13 |
| The Thatcher effect | p. 17 |
| The American presidency and the politics of British leadership | p. 22 |
| Outsiders and spatial leadership in modern American politics | p. 30 |
| Past masters: Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton | p. 31 |
| Minding the gap | p. 45 |
| Leadership against Washington | p. 49 |
| The Perot phenomenon | p. 51 |
| Distance learning | p. 53 |
| Moving in from the outside: the Thatcher precedent | p. 60 |
| The rank outsider | p. 60 |
| A personal manifesto | p. 62 |
| A populist insurgent | p. 65 |
| Thatcher in space | p. 68 |
| Thatcher's understudies: (1) David Steel, David Owen, Paddy Ashdown | p. 73 |
| Thatcher's understudies: (2) Neil Kinnock | p. 76 |
| Thatcher's understudies: (3) John Major | p. 81 |
| Moving in from the outside: the Blair phenomenon | p. 88 |
| Spatial leadership and New Labour | p. 90 |
| Blair v. Clause Four | p. 93 |
| The populist counterpoint | p. 96 |
| Daring to be Thatcher | p. 98 |
| A personal contract with Britain | p. 102 |
| The prime minister and 'the people' | p. 104 |
| A premier apart | p. 106 |
| Blair at a distance | p. 110 |
| Going public and getting personal in the United States | p. 116 |
| Going public | p. 116 |
| 'The great communicator' | p. 120 |
| Getting personal | p. 124 |
| Presidential campaigning and the 'new media' | p. 128 |
| The permanent campaign | p. 132 |
| Bob Dole | p. 135 |
| Trends | p. 137 |
| John Major, Tony Blair and the struggle for public outreach | p. 146 |
| The implosion of the Major government | p. 146 |
| Relapse into leadership fever | p. 150 |
| Getting Major across | p. 152 |
| Back to basics | p. 154 |
| Crisis in the premier's linkage to the public | p. 156 |
| Labour and the rise of Millbank | p. 159 |
| Conservative responses to Millbank | p. 162 |
| Opting for a presidential election | p. 165 |
| The British Perot | p. 167 |
| Leadership campaigning | p. 169 |
| The presidential debate issue | p. 171 |
| Tony Blair and the professionalisation of public outreach | p. 175 |
| Fighting personality with personality | p. 181 |
| Governing as New Labour | p. 184 |
| The disciplines and priorities of news management | p. 188 |
| 'Blair direct' | p. 190 |
| The strains of displacement | p. 195 |
| Leadership stretch in Britain | p. 205 |
| Campaign exposure | p. 209 |
| Keep on running | p. 214 |
| Leaders, polls and lists | p. 220 |
| Leadership 'effect' and leadership affect | p. 233 |
| The presidency and the premiership: power, constitution and nation | p. 240 |
| Power | p. 241 |
| Constitution | p. 259 |
| Nation | p. 273 |
| Tony Blair and the British presidential dimension | p. 301 |
| Blair and Labour | p. 301 |
| Blair and parliament | p. 306 |
| Blair and the government machine | p. 310 |
| Factors in premier-cabinet relations: (1) New Labour culture | p. 314 |
| Factors in premier-cabinet relations: (2) Blair's personal preferences | p. 316 |
| Factors in premier-cabinet relations: (3) origins of leadership | p. 317 |
| A presidency in contention | p. 319 |
| The case against | p. 323 |
| Arguing against the grain | p. 329 |
| Rubber bands, riddles and the species barrier | p. 332 |
| British political leadership and the presidential dimension | p. 339 |
| William Hague and the imperative of the Blair model | p. 343 |
| A very British presidency | p. 348 |
| Index | p. 363 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780719050169
ISBN-10: 0719050162
Audience:
Professional
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 384
Published: 19th October 2000
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Country of Publication: GB
Dimensions (cm): 23.4 x 15.6
x 1.91
Weight (kg): 0.53
Edition Number: 2
