"The president's agenda is a major force for policy change. Presidents have a singular ability not only to focus the attention of other policymaking institutions, the public, and news media, but also to frame a policy debate to reflect national consensus or provoke reasons for change. Throughout the modern era of the presidency, it is the president's words, rhetoric, and speeches that express a president's commitment to an issue. By going public, presidents seek to mobilize others to also support policy change. With so much ...
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"The president's agenda is a major force for policy change. Presidents have a singular ability not only to focus the attention of other policymaking institutions, the public, and news media, but also to frame a policy debate to reflect national consensus or provoke reasons for change. Throughout the modern era of the presidency, it is the president's words, rhetoric, and speeches that express a president's commitment to an issue. By going public, presidents seek to mobilize others to also support policy change. With so much expected of presidential leadership in the public arena why have presidents failed to motivate immigration policy change for the past thirty years? From Washington through Biden, we catalog the president's public mentions of immigration, counting not only how much attention presidents have devoted to immigration, but also their tone. We reveal that despite prioritizing immigration policy, especially since Clinton, presidents are most likely to respond to the agenda of the public, news media, and Congress on immigration. Without leading the public and news media, each president since Clinton has failed to sign comprehensive immigration reform into law. It may be that the president's immigration rhetoric is insufficient to affect immigration policy change, paving the way for a new strategy of presidential leadership"--
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