The
American Presidency
Political
Science 344
Spring
2009
Dr. Sean F.
Evans
Office: PAC A-38
Phone:
(731) 661-5237
E-mail:
sevans@uu.edu
Introduction
President Bush
has left office one of the most unpopular presidents in modern US history. If
something went bad over the past 4 years whether it was budget deficits, the
Iraqi quagmire, the inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina, the financial
crisis and recession or anything else, George W. Bush received the blame.
Because of that, Republicans suffered their worst consecutive electoral losses
since the Great Depression. Now our new president, Barack Obama, enters the
presidency with high approval, large Democratic majorities in the House and
Senate, a discredited opposition, and the chance to remake American
politics.
However, Obama
faces many serious problems. The economy is shedding jobs and people are losing
confidence in the market. Iran is building a nuclear weapon and becoming more
powerful in the Middle East. Islamic terrorism is still a threat to the West.
The trading system is falling apart with the failure of the Doha Round of trade
talks. Health care is becoming more expensive leading people to lose their
coverage. The US still relies on unstable nations to provide most of its energy
needs. The budget deficits are soaring which mortgages the younger generation’s future and that does not even include the
unbearable financial burdens of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Almost
makes you wonder why anyone would want to become president.
But Obama is
president. And the US and the world are looking to Obama for leadership. The
question becomes then: how can the president maximize his power to deal with
these problems when others, whether congress or world leaders, have different
interests and no reason to follow the president’s lead? This is the question that this class will
focus on this semester. In the coming
months, we will examine why a president does what he does and how that affects
his power. We begin by examining the
formal, personal, and institutional sources of power. Next, we examine who is elected, why, and how
that affects the president’s ability to govern.
We follow this with an examination of one of the president’s most
important resources -- public approval -- and how the media affects this. Then, we examine how the president uses his
power vis-a-vis other
institutions such as Congress, the bureaucracy, and the courts. Finally, we
examine how to improve the presidency or whether we should. Along the way, we should learn how Obama can
use the tools at his disposal to set the course aright and improve the country
and the world.
Course
Requirements
Assigned
Edwards, George C. 2006. Readings in Presidential Politics. Wadsworth.
Edwards, George C., and Stephen J.
Wayne. 2006. Presidential Leadership: Politics and Policy
Making, 7th ed.
Wadsworth.
Nelson, Michael. 2006. The
Presidency and the Political System, 8th ed.
In addition, it
is expected that students will keep abreast of developments in the presidency
by reading a daily newspaper. While the
local papers are adequate, I suggest reading a national paper, most of which
are available on-line. My home page has
useful links under News Links (http://www.uu.edu/personal/sevans/_private/news.htm)
that might be useful.
Grading. Your grade for this course will come from
three exams, participation in the presidency simulation (see below), a case
study, and your class participation.
Exams are composed of essay questions and cover lectures and reading
assignments. There are three exams and
each are worth 20% each. The final exam
is cumulative. There are no make-ups for
missed exams. If you miss an exam, the
final will count twice.
After exams are
returned, you must wait 24 hours before discussing the exam with me. This serves as both a cooling off period and
as a time for you to reflect upon the exam and what you may have done
wrong. We will then sit down and discuss
what is wrong, how we can correct this, and how you can improve over the course
of the semester. If I make a mistake, I
will rectify that, but I do not engage in point grubbing. Finally, your performance at the end of the
semester is more important than your performance at the beginning of the
semester. If you show dramatic improvement, I will grade you
on how you ended the course rather than on how you began the course.
Simulation. This semester you will engage in a
role-playing exercise that mimics the presidential advisory system. This simulation involves members of the class
acting in the roles of presidential advisors and solving a crisis or problem of
some sort. More information regarding this simulation will be discussed after
the first exam. The simulation and its
accompanying paper are worth 10% of your final grade. Finally, attendance on simulation days is mandatory. The simulation cannot function without your
presence. If you know now that you will
have a conflict with the simulation, please let me know soon so I can rearrange
the schedule.
Presidential Case Study. Each
student will conduct an in-depth examination of a president or an event or
compare presidents to advance our knowledge of the presidency. Your goal is not
only to describe but to explain. Your
case study can disprove or refine an existing theory or identify hypotheses
worthy of future testing. If you compare two or more cases, you should chooses cases that are similar yet different so that you can
explain the similarities and differences. Case studies do not report one point
of view solely but rather researches of all points of views so one can draw the
appropriate conclusions. Consequently, students may want to pursue a
triangulation approach as one uses media accounts, documents, interviews (by
someone else), your direct observation (if it happened when you were alive and
paying attention), archival data, etc.
For a quick overview of case study methodology, students may want to
read http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR3-2/tellis1.html.
The report is due May 8 and is worth 20% of your grade.
Participation. Participation
is worth 10% of your final grade. Each
student is expected to come to class prepared to integrate readings with
lecture material and to apply presidential models to the Bush Presidency. I have found that your daily
participation is essential to understanding the material and contributing to
class discussions. Please do not feel
inhibited about speaking. The best means
of my determining how well you understand the material is through your
discussion. Moreover, an important component
of this participation is active feedback.
If there are any suggestions that would help you understand the material
more fully, please let me know.
In assessing
participation, students who attend class but do not participate earn a D. Those who show they read but show a
superficial understanding receive a C.
Those who read and show they understand the material in discussions
receive a B for participation and those who excel by showing a thorough
understanding of readings and an ability to connect concepts across lectures,
readings, and discussions receive an A for participation. Participation is worth 10% of your grade.
Cheating. Don’t do it.
Anyone caught cheating will receive an automatic F for the course and
will be referred to the appropriate authorities for punishment.
Communication Devices. Please turn off all cell phones and other
portable electronic devices while in my class.
Your life is not so important that you need to answer the phone or text
your friend immediately. If found using
any such device, I reserve the right to answer the phone and/or read your text
message to the class. Moreover, I will confiscate your communication device until the
next class meeting. Therefore, if you have an emergency necessitating having
the communication device on, please let me know before the class.
Computer Policy. Students are welcome
to bring your laptops to class to assist you in taking notes. However, the
computer is to be used solely for academic purposes and not to play games,
catch up on email or Facebook, or anything else.
Recording Policy. Students are not
allowed to make audio or visual recordings of lectures without the professor’s
permission.
Extracurricular. Students are expected to attend
any special political events this semester.
Special Needs. If you have any special needs that will
affect your ability to learn in this class, please inform me and I will take
the appropriate steps to help you.
The Syllabus. I reserve the right and prerogative to modify
the syllabus in accordance with student and professorial needs. The syllabus should not be construed as a
contract.
Class Outline
Feb. 4
Introduction
Edwards and
Feb. 6 Intellectual Origins of the Presidency
McDonald The American
Presidency: An Intellectual History, Part I (on
reserve)
Feb. 9 Founders’ View of Government
Federalists #10, 51 on reserve or http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html
Feb. 11 Founder’s View of Presidency
Federalists # 70 on reserve or http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fed_70-2.html
Feb. 13 History of the Presidency
James in Edwards
Feb. 16 Constitutional Powers – Happy Presidents’ Day
Article II of the Constitution; Howell in Edwards
Feb. 18 Two Presidencies
Feb. 20 Persuasive Presidency
Neustadt, Presidential
Power and the Modern Presidency chs. 1-3 (on reserve)
Feb. 23 Persuasive Presidency
Neustadt chs. 3-6 (on reserve)
Feb. 25 Psychological Presidency
Nelson in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch.
8
Feb. 27 Presidential Leadership Style
Fred Greenstein, “The Person of the President, Leadership, and
Greatness” (on reserve)
March 2 The Institutional Presidency
Burke in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch.
12
March 4 Presidential Time
Skowronek in Nelson
March 6 Imperial or Imperiled Presidency?
March 9 First Midterm
March 11 The Nomination Process
Pious in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 2
March 13 Presidential Elections
Aldrich,
March 16 Presidential Transitions and Presidential Appointments
Edwards “Why Not the Best?” in Edwards
March 18 Organizing the Presidency: EOP
Edwards and
March 20 Organizing the Presidency: Executive Branch
Rudalevige in Nelson
March 23-27 Spring Break
March 30 The President and the Press
Martin Wattenberg” The Changing Presidential Media Environment”
and Jeffrey Cohen “News That Doesn’t Matter” in Edwards
April 1 The Media: Governing
Hetherington and Globetti and Jacobs in
Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 5
April 3 Public Opinion: Going Public
Jacobs in Nelson; Edwards in Edwards; Edwards and Wayne ch. 4
April 6 Public Opinion: Presidential Approval
Miroff in Nelson
April 8 Second Mid-Term
April 10 Good Friday – No Class
April 13 Presidential Decision Making
Edwards and
April 15 Presidential Decision Making
Allison “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis” (on
reserve)
April 17 President and Congress: Agenda
Setting
Edwards and
April 20 President and Congress: Making Laws
Dickinson and Milkis in Nelson
April 22 Presidential Advisory Simulation
April 24 Presidential Advisory Simulation
April 27 President and Bureaucracy
Lewis in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne chs. 9 & 12
April 29 Judicial Selection
Yalof in Nelson and Goldman in Edwards
May 1 President and the Courts
Edwards and Wayne ch. 11
May 4 The Partisan Presidency
Skinner “The Partisan Presidency” on reserve
May 6 President and Foreign Policy
Polsky in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 14-15
May 8 Congress and Foreign Policy
Fisher in Edwards
May 11 Economic Policy Making
Edwards and Wayne ch. 13
May 13 Reforming the Presidency
Edwards and Wayne, ch. 15
May 15 Catch-up and Review
May 20 Final Exam 9am