The Perils of Presidential Leadership on Space Policy: The Politics of Congressional Budgeting for NASA, 1958-2008

Abstract

Presidential-congressional relations on NASA appropriations represent an intriguing case of budget politics that warrants greater scrutiny. This research is the first to attempt to quantify the factors that drive congressional responses to presidential budget requests for space policy spanning fiscal years 1959-2009. The analysis accentuates NASA’s exceptional situation in the budgeting process as an agency without a core social or geographic constituency, the impact of congressional budget reforms of the 1970s, and presidents’ relative (in)attention to space policy since the agency’s inception. The theoretical basis for the quantitative analysis also draws from perspectives that include domestic economic factors, international contexts, and the congressional electoral cycle. As such, the empirical analysis highlights the broader implications for theories of executive and legislative budget politics in “tertiary” policy areas.