PRESIDENTIAL INFLUENCE AND CENTRALIZATION: THE CASE OF NIXON AND GEORGE ROMNEY

Political scientists have always been interested in presidential influence in American politics, but they have rarely explored the process of centralization as a mechanism for presidents to exert their influence. To date, Terry Moe has developed the best conceptual framework for understanding presidential influence in general and centralization in particular. We rely on and go beyond Moe's concept of centralization in a study of fair housing policy during the Nixon administration. Though we conclude that centralization may potentially be detrimental to existing democratic structures, there are cases where centralization may be the only viable alternative for a president to secure policy outputs in accordance with his desired outcomes.