PSC 305: Presidency and Congress, Timetable

What were the original dilemmas over the design of the presidency?
How has the president grown into the presidency?
What are the contemporary problems of running the presidency?
How, and to what degree, do the media and interest groups pressure the presidency?
What types of presidential leadership does Edwards discuss?
What is Edwards's approach to the subject?

How did the US nomination system evolve?
What have been recent changes in the political arena?
How have these affected nominations: party reforms; campagin finance; public relations?
What strategies work for each type of candidate?
Who makes a successful candidate?
General discussion:
How is the US nomination process unique?
What are the stages of the nomination process?
Who should be allowed to select the party's nominee, and in what forum?
What role do the states play in nominating candidates?
What qualities come to the fore of the nomination process?

What shapes the strategic environment?
How does the electoral college set rules for the game?
How do finances shape the race?
Do the media improve the competition?
How can one shape a candidate's image?
How can one create a winning coalition?
How can a candidate use the media?
What can a candidate use polls for, before and after the election?
Have candidate centered campaigns actually weakened governance?
General discussion:
How are presidential elections organized?
What are the stages of the general election?
Do presidential elections guarantee executive leadership?

How did a 3rd rank candidate win the presidency in 1992?
Is it feasible to run a campaign openly, with a large group of young people having access?
Must a campaign manager be machiavellian -- or is there room for ideals?
Film: Speechless (recommended)
How true to life is this fictional account of the campaign trail?

How are presidential relations with the public organized?
With what instruments can a president persuade the public?
How useful are press conferences?
Does it matter if the president's approval ratings drop?
Which presidents are more effective with the media?

How did president Reagan become a hero?
When did president Reagan make the transition from actor to politician?
Are there consistent patterns of presidential behavior with the media?
Are some presidents able to use the media, while others are used by the media?
What are the characteristics of State of the Union speeches, and who are the target audiences?

How is the White House Staff organized?
How does the Exective Office assist the president?

What are the principal theories of decisionmaking?
How do different presidents make decisions so as to use their own qualities?

How did President Kennedy face up to the Cuban missile crisis?
How did JFK organize his decision making process?
What options were available to the president?
What caused a solution to the crisis to become possible?

How does presidential character affect the conduct of office?
What character flaws have been fatal to presidencies?
What character qualities make for successful chief executives?

How does the presidency "ride herd" on the executive branch?
What offices assist the presidency in influencing the larger bureaucracies?

What flaws brought down the otherwise capable presidency of Richard Nixon?

How can the president obtain legislation from the Congress?
What enumerated powers does the president wield over the legislature?
What enumerated powers of Congress restrain the president?
What inherent (or implied) powers (un)balance the branches?

How can the president nominate the judiciary?
How does the judiciary secure its independence of political power?
How satisfied have presidents been with their judicial appointees?

What was this Founders' view of the role of the judiciary in US politics?
What alternative views are there of the role of the judiciary?

How can the president influence domestic policy, and in what major areas?
To what degree is the president buffeted by interest groups in making domestic policy?

What are the main stages of making the US budget?
What limits are there to presidential power over the US economy?
How much of the budget is "uncontrollables"?
To what degree are presidents blamed for the weaknesses of the US economy?

How different is presidential power in foreign versus domestic policy?
How powerful was president Johnson -- and what destroyed his re-election chances?
Do  Congressional committees really constrain presidential power? 
Is the ability to command attention from the media, a dangerous illusion?

How does the presidency make foreign policy, and with what instruments?
What instruments are allocated to the president in the constitution?
What modern instruments have supplemented the constitutional instruments of power?
What advisory system has grown up around the presidency in foreign policy?

What instruments of command authority does the president wield?
Can the presidential veto act as a positive instrument for legislating?
What role does the Commander in Chief function play in presidential power?
General discussion:
Can Congress effectively constrain a president in foreign policy?
Does presidential power increase or decrease during divided government?
In what ways did president W. Bush break with the traditions of presidential foreign policy?

Does any president -- even Nixon or W. Bush -- resemble Machiavelli's prince?
Does Machiavelli present idealist or realist arguments about the Prince's behavior?
What is the role of history -- rather than morality or normative theory -- in studying politics?
Should a prince be religious?
When should a prince deliver unavoidable damage to his subjects?
Is it better for a Prince to be feared than loved?
What is the difference between The Prince and the Discourses on Livy?
Is Machiavelli's work actually machiavellian-- or Aristotelian?

How is representation visualized in the US?
What does a competitive seat in Pennsylvania tell us about representation?
What are the centrifugal and centripetal forces in Congress?
Was Woodrow Wilson right about government by committees?
What types of responsiveness (representation) are there?
Is there a tension between deliberation and decisionmaking?
Is the Congress more characterized by fragmentation or centralization?
How has Congress dispersed and re-gathered power in the Speaker, majority Leader, and commmittee chairman, over the years?

How has Congress changed, and why do congressman seek to retire?
What are the environmental characteristics that determine which types of politician will survive?

Does the fall of Gingrich tell us anything permanent about the Speaker's office?
Can a US Speaker act as a British Prime Minister?
In a confrontation between Speaker and President, who usually wins, and why?
In what sense is Clinton -- or Gingrich -- a tragic character?

What are the rules of congressional elections, and how do they vary?
How do congressional committees operate, and what powers do they wield?
How do committees vary, and are there consistent patterns of behavior?

How do parties play their roles in winning control of Congress and leading on policy?
What are the roles of the Speaker, majority leader, minority leader and whips?
What does the example of Gingrich tell us about the limits of leadership in the House?

How does a congressional staff office work, and with what resources?
What are the common roles taken by congressional staff?

How can presidents manipulate Congress, and with what instruments?
In a crisis between president and Congress, is the Congress bound to lose?

Why does Madison argue for the separation of powers?
In what ways does the president rely on persuasion rather than command authority?
How can separated institutions govern through cooperation?

Does it matter if Congress is more institutionalized and professionalized?
Do we need turnover in Congress, instead of seniority?
Is meritocracy advantageous in Congress instead of seniority?
Has the congress become too bureaucratized?
How do bills become law -- or, more commonly, fail?
How do the chambers differ in procedures?
How do the rules shape the game of legislating?
Can Congress be said to have its own bureaucracy?
How do committees operate in Congress, and how do they differ?

How successful was president Clinton in adapting to political circumstances?
Did president Clinton demonstrate permanent values -- or political agility?

How has the Congress changed since 1994, and what has driven that change?
Why do representatives commonly run against Congress?
What binds representatives together to pass needed but unpopular policy?
If everyone follows district interests, how is the common interest supported?

How do constitutencies influence congressional policymaking?
If Congress is controlled by one party, and the executive by the other -- will gridlock result?