The American Presidency

Political Science 344

Spring 2007

Dr. Sean F. Evans

Office: PAC A-38

Phone: (731) 661-5237

E-mail: sevans@uu.edu

Introduction

George W. Bush came into office hoping to lead a realignment and make the Republican Party the natural party of government. However, in his short six years in office, Republicans have disappeared in New England (the historic base of the GOP), the Republican reputation for fiscal responsibility disappeared with the reputation for small government as he created the largest government bureaucracy (Dept. of Homeland Security) in a generation and the first new entitlement program since the Great Society (prescription drug benefit), and the moderate and social conservative wings are at war especially damaging the GOP in the West, And, oh yeah, there is this little matter of Iraq that the November elections and the polls indicate the American public oppose. President Bush now faces a Democratic congress that plans on aggressive “oversight” of his administration with completely different policy goals. To top it off, practically every Republican running for office in 2008 is explaining how s/he opposes Bush on just about everything.

For many people, President Bush is a lame duck with little power and influence in the US and the world. However, the US faces serious domestic problems as the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds are about to go bankrupt, globalization is remaking the world economy, and the world remains a dangerous place. Who is going to lead the US and the world in the interim? When the world faces a crisis, the world does not look to Bonn, Tokyo, London, Moscow, or New Delhi but to the White House. When there is a domestic crisis, the public, elites, and even Congress look to the president for direction. In short, neither the United States, nor the world, can accept a lame duck US president.

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 also answer how George W. Bush can reclaim his presidency and set it in the right direction and how we can apply the presidency’s lessons for developing leadership in the political, business, social, and/or religious world.

Course Requirements

Assigned Readings. The syllabus designates the readings for each class period. The date of the reading indicates the day by which the reading should be completed. Usually, the readings come from the assigned books. In a few instances, readings will be on reserve at Summar Library. The following are the required texts for this class:

Edwards, George C., and Stephen J. Wayne. 2006. Presidential Leadership: Politics and Policy Making, 7th ed. Belmonct, CA: Wadsworth.

Nelson, Michael. 2006. The Presidency and the Political System, 8th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.

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, your participation in the presidency simulation (see below), and your class participation. Exams are composed of essay questions and cover lectures and reading assignments. There are three exams with the first two exams worth 20% each and the final worth 25% of your final grade. 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 25% 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.

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.

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

Jan. 31 Introduction

Edwards and Wayne ch. 1

Feb. 2 Intellectual Origins of the Presidency

McDonald The American Presidency: An Intellectual History, Part I (on reserve)

Feb. 5 Founders’ View of Government

Federalists #10, 51 on reserve or http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html

Feb. 7 Founder’s View of Presidency

Federalists # 70 on reserve

Feb. 9 History of the Presidency

Feb. 12 Constitutional Powers

Article II of the Constitution

Feb. 14 Two Presidencies

Feb. 16 Persuasive Presidency

Neustadt, Presidential Power and the Modern Presidency chs. 1-3 (on reserve)

Feb. 19 Persuasive Presidency – Happy Presidents’ Day

Neustadt chs. 3-6 (on reserve)

Feb. 21 Psychological Presidency

Nelson in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 8

Feb. 23 Presidential Leadership Style

Greenstein, Presidential Difference (on reserve) – each student will make a presentation concerning the presidential style of one of the featured presidents

Feb. 26 The Institutional Presidency

Burke in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 12

Feb. 28 Presidential Time

Skowronek in Nelson

March 2 Imperial or Imperiled Presidency?

March 5 First Midterm

March 7 The Nomination Process

Pious in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 2

March 9 Presidential Elections

Aldrich, Griffin, & Rickershauser in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 3

March 12 Presidential Transitions

March 14 Organizing the Presidency: EOP

Edwards and Wayne ch. 6

March 15 No Class – Southwestern Political Science Association

March 19 Organizing the Presidency: Executive Branch

Rudalevige in Nelson

March 21 The Media: Campaign

March 23 The Media: Governing

Hetherington and Globetti and Jacobs in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 5

March 26 Public Opinion: Going Public

Jacobs in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 4

March 28 Public Opinion: Presidential Approval

Miroff in Nelson

March 30 Second Mid-Term

April 2-9 Spring Break – No class

April 11 Presidential Decision Making

Edwards and Wayne ch. 7; Allison “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis” (on reserve)

April 13 Presidential Decision Making

Allison “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis” (on reserve)

April 16 President and Congress: Agenda Setting

Edwards and Wayne ch. 10

April 18 President and Congress: Making Laws

Dickinson and Milkis in Nelson

April 20 Presidential Advisory Simulation

April 23 Presidential Advisory Simulation

April 25 President and Congress: Divided Government

Quirk and Nesmith in Nelson

April 27 President and Bureaucracy: Administrative Presidency

Lewis in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne chs. 9 & 12

April 30 President and the Courts: Policy Change

Yalof in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 11

May 2 Foreign Policy: The NSC

Polsky in Nelson; Edwards and Wayne ch. 14-15

May 4 Foreign Policy: The US Role in the World

May 7The Bush Presidency – An Assessment

May 9 Reforming the Presidency

Edwards and Wayne, ch. 15

May 11 Catch-up and Review

May 16 Final Exam 9am