The offices of the U.S. president as policy tools

White House spaces and offices are not created equal. The spaces that constitute the offices of the president are distinctive, familiar, and publicly translatable assets of statecraft. Whether in the Oval Office, the Treaty Room, aboard Air Force One, or even in the Rose Garden their use is designed...

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Main Authors: Chris Pepin-Neff, William McManus, Ben Ormerod
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:Cogent Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2225335
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author Chris Pepin-Neff
William McManus
Ben Ormerod
author_facet Chris Pepin-Neff
William McManus
Ben Ormerod
author_sort Chris Pepin-Neff
collection DOAJ
description White House spaces and offices are not created equal. The spaces that constitute the offices of the president are distinctive, familiar, and publicly translatable assets of statecraft. Whether in the Oval Office, the Treaty Room, aboard Air Force One, or even in the Rose Garden their use is designed to deliver information and send an influential signal to the public. Many of the offices of the president have their own cognitive profiles in the public’s mind. The utilization of physical spaces establishes a repertoire of routine and ritual that informs the public about how important a potential policy issue is. The question driving this research asks: How do the physical offices of the president function as policy instruments? We argue that physical offices can be considered policy tools under categories of (1) nodality, when they are employed as a tool to publicly rally around a policy decision and (2) authority, when they serve as a heuristic regarding command-and-control to the public. In short, the physical offices of the president facilitate policy adoption by serving as devices to communicate information about the direction and gravity of a policy decision.
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spelling doaj-art-e7a08c50529d41e58f450ed5c03fbdee2025-08-20T02:10:13ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862023-12-019110.1080/23311886.2023.2225335The offices of the U.S. president as policy toolsChris Pepin-Neff0William McManus1Ben Ormerod2Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Discipline of Government and International Relations, School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Sydney NSW, Camperdown, AustraliaSchool of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney NSW, Camperdown, AustraliaSchool of History, The University of Sydney NSW, Camperdown, AustraliaWhite House spaces and offices are not created equal. The spaces that constitute the offices of the president are distinctive, familiar, and publicly translatable assets of statecraft. Whether in the Oval Office, the Treaty Room, aboard Air Force One, or even in the Rose Garden their use is designed to deliver information and send an influential signal to the public. Many of the offices of the president have their own cognitive profiles in the public’s mind. The utilization of physical spaces establishes a repertoire of routine and ritual that informs the public about how important a potential policy issue is. The question driving this research asks: How do the physical offices of the president function as policy instruments? We argue that physical offices can be considered policy tools under categories of (1) nodality, when they are employed as a tool to publicly rally around a policy decision and (2) authority, when they serve as a heuristic regarding command-and-control to the public. In short, the physical offices of the president facilitate policy adoption by serving as devices to communicate information about the direction and gravity of a policy decision.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2225335Presidencypolicy toolsWhite Housecueingvisual politics
spellingShingle Chris Pepin-Neff
William McManus
Ben Ormerod
The offices of the U.S. president as policy tools
Cogent Social Sciences
Presidency
policy tools
White House
cueing
visual politics
title The offices of the U.S. president as policy tools
title_full The offices of the U.S. president as policy tools
title_fullStr The offices of the U.S. president as policy tools
title_full_unstemmed The offices of the U.S. president as policy tools
title_short The offices of the U.S. president as policy tools
title_sort offices of the u s president as policy tools
topic Presidency
policy tools
White House
cueing
visual politics
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2225335
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