Warber, Adam L. 1971–

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Warber, Adam L. 1971–

PERSONAL:

Born January 5, 1971. Education: Hope College, B.A., 1993; Western Michigan University, M.A., 1996; Texas A&M University, Ph.D., 2002.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Political Science, Clemson University, 232 Brackett Hall, Clemson, SC 29634-1354. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, editor, political scientist, and educator. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, research assistant, 1994, teaching assistant, 1994-95; Texas A&M University, Austin, department of political science, research assistant, 1996-2000, Center for Presidential Studies, research assistant, 1997-2000, assistant lecturer in political science, 2000-02; Clemson University, Clemson, SC, assistant professor of political science, 2002—. Presenter at conferences, symposia, and academic meetings.

MEMBER:

American Political Science Association, Center for the Study of the Presidency, Christians in Political Science, Midwest Political Science Association, Policy Studies Organization, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Southern Political Science Association, Western Political Science Association, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Alpha Theta, Pi Sigma Alpha.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Z.D. Schilling Graduate Student Award in Political Science, Western Michigan University, 1996; Excellence in Teaching Award, Texas A&M University, Department of Political Science, 2001; Clemson University research grant, 2006.

WRITINGS:

Executive Orders and the Modern Presidency: Legislating from the Oval Office, Lynne Rienner Publishers (Boulder, CO), 2006.

Contributor to books, including Encyclopedia of the American Presidency, edited by Michael A. Genovese, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2004; Encyclopedia of American Parties and Elections, edited by Larry J. Sabato and Howard R. Ernst, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2006; and Religion and the Bush Presidency, edited by Mark J. Rozell and Gleaves Whitney, Palgrave Macmillan (New York, NY), 2007. Contributor to periodicals and journals, including National Political Science Review, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Choice, and Political Research Quarterly. Book manuscript referee for Congressional Quarterly Press, 2006, Prentice Hall, 2006, Thomson Higher Education, 2006, and Pearson/Longman, 2007. Manuscript referee for journals, including American Journal of Political Science, American Politics Research, Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and Regulation & Governance.

SIDELIGHTS:

Prolific author, editor, and educator Adam L. Warber is an assistant professor of political science at Clemson University. As an educator and academic, he focuses on issues such as the American presidency, public policy, public administration, and bureaucratic politics, he stated in his curriculum vitae posted on the Clemson University Web site. He is also interested in the research methods used by political scientists and associated professionals and scholars. Warber teaches a range of courses in his work at Clemson, covering topics such as American national government, the foundations of political science, quantitative research methods as applied to political science, political polling, religion and the presidency, establishing public policy, and public administration.

Warber is a frequent speaker and presenter at academic conferences and related meetings, having presented papers throughout the United States at meetings of organizations such as the American Political Science Association, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the Midwest Political Science Association. Warber also regularly participates or conducts panel discussions at conferences and professional symposia. He serves as a book reviewer for the magazine Choice, and as a journal manuscript referee for a number of prominent political science journals.

In Executive Orders and the Modern Presidency: Legislating from the Oval Office, Warber examines the ways in which executive orders are formulated and issued by U.S. presidents. Executive orders are expressions of the president's unitary power. These orders, once signed, become law, but these laws are created and promulgated without the input of Congress and, thus, without the input of the American people through their representatives. In his book, Warber looks carefully at the many reasons why presidents would use executive orders to establish and promote their political and policy goals.

As the foundation of his research, Warber "examined a total of 5,392 published executive orders," reported Kyle L. Kreider in the Law and Politics Book Review. "Warber has made a valuable contribution to the field by examining every published executive order from 1936 to 2001 and categorizing each one as a ‘symbolic’ order, a ‘routine’ order, or a ‘policy’ order," reported Barry D. Friedman in the International Social Science Review. Warber believes that, in making the decision to issue an executive order, presidents are rational actors who have rational reasons for their actions and who make conscious decisions to use a particular type of political power at their disposal. Presidents recognize the strategic aspects of executive orders, and are aware of the potential political costs of issuing orders and making law without Congressional oversight. Presidents also realize that executive orders are likely to be more successful in some policy arenas than others, and are willing to risk using them when the issue is important enough.

Kreider observed that "Warber's data on presidents and executive orders will astonish many readers and will serve as interesting discussion for many graduate level courses on the presidency." For example, Democratic presidents are more likely than Republican presidents to use executive orders to advance social policy. Controversy and scandal, such as those experienced during the Nixon and Clinton presidencies, do not have an appreciable effect on the use of executive orders by either Republican or Democratic presidents. Upcoming elections and the need to campaign resulted in a reduction of policy orders. Warber also found that presidents have a greater tendency to issue executive orders of all types during their final year in office. He also found that there is little connection between the number of executive orders issued by a president of one party when the other party maintains a majority in Congress; governmental harmony and unification among political parties, on the other hand, results in the issuance of more executive orders. Another find, Kreider noted, is that, "when controlled for political parties, the data demonstrate that, on average, Democratic administrations issue more policy orders per year than Republican administrations."

In response to Democrats who question whether President George W. Bush has strongly pushed his powers as "unitary executive," issuing executive orders and making policy decisions without the involvement of Congress, Warber presents the finding that Bush has not issued significantly more orders of any type than his predecessors. However, Warber did find that Bush has a greater tendency to alter existing public policy through executive orders that change, supersede, revoke, or amend orders issued by previous presidents.

With this book, "Warber has produced a well-written, solidly argued piece of research that is suitable for undergraduate and graduate courses on the U.S. presidency. Further, he moves presidency scholars toward developing and refining theory to explain the connections between unilateral action and presidential power," commented Christopher S. Kelley in a Presidential Studies Quarterly review. Kreider called the book "an extremely valuable contribution to the presidency literature and a must read for presidency scholars." Kelley concluded that the volume will appeal to "those interested in the bargaining and persuading powers of the president as well as to those examining times when political necessity dictates that a president go it alone."