Presidential Outreach and the Transformation of Party Coalitions

How do presidents pursue outreach and expand the base of their party coalitions? Through a combination of symbolic and substantive actions. Although the congressional literature on representation of racial minorities has dealt extensively with the meaning of substantive and symbolic representation, the presidency literature is not nearly as comprehensive. My work attempts to begin filling this gap by defining what constitutes symbolic and substantive actions in presidential outreach, and by exploring the significance of these actions. There are four types of actions: Unilateral-Symbolic, Unilateral-Substantive, Bilateral-Symbolic and Bilateral-Substantive. My research suggests that in order for a president to attract a social group to a party coalition, overall symbolic actions play as key a role as substantive ones. Indeed, symbolic actions will almost invariably precede substantive ones because they help to establish a bond of trust between the president and the social group. The presidency of George W. Bush and his professed outreach effort provides the perfect background to look at this issue.