"Dan Wood is one of our most respected scholars. In this new book Wood asks the question: Are presidents responsive to public opinion when making policy decisions? Wood uses a meticulously collected data set, the best yet collected to address this question, as well as advanced and appropriate time series analysis techniques. He finds little presidential responsiveness, contrary to several major studies. Wood's findings have profound implications for the operation of democracy in the United States, for our understanding of the relationship between the president and the public, and will stimulate much debate and research on this important topic." - Jeffrey Cohen, Fordham University "In this valuable book, Dan Wood uses his usual rigorous approach to research and finds that presidents are not reflections of public opinion but instead are ideological partisans more concerned with advancing their own agendas. Not only are presidents not representatives of the public, but they also have little success in persuading the public to follow their lead. These findings provide significant food for thought for every student of the presidency." - George C. Edwards III, Texas A&M University "Wood provides a thoughtful and provocative examination of the political relationship between the president and the American public. His conclusions will frustrate and disappoint plenty of scholars, but his analysis will be impossible to ignore. The Myth of Presidential Representation should be required reading for students of the presidency, public opinion, and public policymaking more generally." - Irwin Morris, University of Maryland "Wood is to be commended for the complexity and and richness of his analysis and for the creative use of presidential public statements as variables of analysis. One does not have to agree with all of his conclusions to recognize the sophistication and power of his analysis. A strong contribution to the question of presidential representation that should drive research for years to come." CHOICE, A.L. Crothers, Illinois State University
