ABSTRACT
Until the 1960s the traditional view of the Presidency was that alone among American political institutions it was capable of representing the public or national interest. The reasoning went something like this: only Presidents represent a national constituency. To get elected, Presidents have to appeal to the broad mass of the American people. No candidate can afford to neglect a major region, social group or class. Congress, in contrast, is highly particularistic. Individual members of Congress serve relatively small constituencies. Once in office, members put the particular interests of their constituents before those of the country as a whole. The same was true of state and local politics, which, if anything, were more prone to ‘capture’ by special interests.
