"Julia R. Azari has discovered an interesting pattern to presidents' use of mandate rhetoric across time, and she offers a new and ambitious interpretation to account for its use. Azari argues that changes in the use of mandate rhetoric are responsive to changes in the institutional and party system landscapes. These are large, complex, and intertwined phenomena, and Azari does an able and compelling job in suggesting how the political context affects presidents' construction of the mandate. In an age of high partisanship, when politicians seek every advantage to advance their agenda, understanding the strategy behind mandate rhetoric is vitally important, and Azari's work goes a long way toward revealing these strategies."
"In this insightful analysis, Julia R. Azari locates the increase in mandate talk in the heightened partisanship characterizing national government beginning in the Reagan administration. In the process, she illuminates the ways in which presidents wield specific rhetorical formsin this case the claim of a 'mandate'in order to find political leverage over an increasingly recalcitrant system of governance. She adds to our understanding of both presidential rhetoric and the institution of the presidency. Historians, political scientists, and rhetoricians with an interest in the presidency and national politics will find much of value in this thoughtful work."
"In Delivering the People's Message, Julia R. Azari tackles the issue of presidential mandate talk, tracing its development through four stages from the Progressive era to the current day. She particularly focuses on the correlation between the growth of mandate talk and the decline in presidential legitimacy. Azari illuminates and supports her argument with useful quantitative data."
"By evaluating Republicans and Democrats in each chapter Azari ensures that attention is not on party or personality but on the presidency.... Thus, Azari's work exemplifies the strengths of what she terms "presidency studies," a scholarly venture that is interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary, that employs diverse methods of inquiry, and that advances news that merits attention. This is an excellent book." – David Henry, Journal of American History (June 2016)
"In this insightful analysis, Julia R. Azari locates the increase in mandate talk in the heightened partisanship characterizing national government beginning in the Reagan administration. In the process, she illuminates the ways in which presidents wield specific rhetorical formsin this case the claim of a 'mandate'in order to find political leverage over an increasingly recalcitrant system of governance. She adds to our understanding of both presidential rhetoric and the institution of the presidency. Historians, political scientists, and rhetoricians with an interest in the presidency and national politics will find much of value in this thoughtful work."Mary E. Stuckey, Georgia State University, author of Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and the National Agenda
"Julia R. Azari has discovered an interesting pattern to presidents' use of mandate rhetoric across time, and she offers a new and ambitious interpretation to account for its use. Azari argues that changes in the use of mandate rhetoric are responsive to changes in the institutional and party system landscapes. These are large, complex, and intertwined phenomena, and Azari does an able and compelling job in suggesting how the political context affects presidents' construction of the mandate. In an age of high partisanship, when politicians seek every advantage to advance their agenda, understanding the strategy behind mandate rhetoric is vitally important, and Azari's work goes a long way toward revealing these strategies."Nicole Mellow, Williams College, author of The State of Disunion: Regional Sources of Modern American Partisanship
"In Delivering the People's Message, Julia R. Azari tackles the issue of presidential mandate talk, tracing its development through four stages from the Progressive era to the current day. She particularly focuses on the correlation between the growth of mandate talk and the decline in presidential legitimacy. Azari illuminates and supports her argument with useful quantitative data."Andrew Busch, Crown Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow, Claremont McKenna College, coauthor of After Hope and Change: The 2012 Elections and American Politics