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Week, Author, Reading:
Topic
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Week
1, 9-13 Jan.
Edwards 1: Presidential
Leadership: An Introduction [Lecture
notes]
Wadsworth
Publishers' Site |
Book
Description
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?
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| US
constitution, Article II (annotated by Cornell Law School) [Lecture
notes] |
Week
2, 16-20 Jan. (M
is MLK Day; no F)
Edwards 2: Nomination
Process [Lecture on
Edwards] [Lecture
(Lewis)]
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?
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Edwards 3: Presidential
Election
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?
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Video: War
Room (Clinton campaign, 1992)
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?
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Week
3, 23-27 Jan.
Edwards 4: President
& Public
Edwards 5: President
& Media
Presidential debates
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?
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video: CBS, "The
Real Life of Ron Reagan"
video: Sander
Vanocur, "The President and the Media" (when time permits)
Late Jan, eve: Presidential
State of the Union Address TV analysis event?
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?
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Week
4, 30 Jan-3 Feb.
Edwards 6: President's
Office
How is the White
House Staff organized?
How does the Exective Office
assist the president?
Edwards 7: Presidential
Decision Making
What are the principal
theories of decisionmaking?
How do different presidents
make decisions so as to use their own qualities?
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Video: ABC, One Minute
to Midnight: The Cuban Missile Crisis [as time permits]
Early Feb, eve: Presidential
Budget Message, Possible TV evening.
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?
|
Week
5, 6-10 Feb. (no
F)
Edwards 8: Psychological
Presidency [Lecture]
[Barber's Theory PPT]
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?
Edwards 9: President
& Executive Branch
How does the presidency
"ride herd" on the executive branch?
What offices assist the
presidency in influencing the larger bureaucracies?
See Dates
page for Test 1, which may include multiple choice, short answer and essay
questions on all the above. |
Film: All the President's
Men. (on Watergate scandal, recommended)
video CBS TV, Watergate:
The Secret Story. (Documentary).
What flaws brought
down the otherwise capable presidency of Richard Nixon?
|
Week
6, 13-17 Feb.
Edwards 10: President
& Congress [Legislative
Process Lecture]
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?
Lecture, Theodore Roosevelt
and Presidential Progressivism [PPT] [Lecture]
[Only the portion of the
PowerPoint actually shown in class is testable.]
When feasible: Test 1 returned,
with exemplary written answers presented |
Week
7, 20-24 Feb. (no
F)
Edwards 11: President
and Judiciary
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?
|
Nivola 7: #28:
Alexander
Hamilton, "Federalist No. 69" [Hunter X]
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?
|
Edwards 12: Domestic
Policy Making
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?
|
Week
8, 27 Feb-2 Mar.
Edwards 13: Budgetary
& Economic Policy Making
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?
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Nivola 7: #29:
Aaron
Wildavsky, "Two Presidencies" [John Phillips X]
Nivola 7: #32:
Doris
Kearns, "Lyndon Johnson & American Dream" [Zach X]
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?
|
Week
9, 5-9 Mar. (no
W)
Edwards 14: Foreign
& Defense Policy Making
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?
|
Thursday 8 March, 2012: Student presentations
of civic participation, to delegation from Kazakhstan |
Edwards 15: The
Unilateral Presidency
video: PBS, Nixon in China
(when time permits)
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?
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Curtis v.1: Machiavelli
[John Dean, The Prince X] [Bandon, The Discourses X]
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?
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Week
10, 12-16 Mar.
Loomis
1: Drama
of Representation
Loomis
2: Congressional
Decentralization and re-centralization
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?
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Loomis 3: Changing
Environment of Congressional Politics
How has Congress
changed, and why do congressman seek to retire?
What are the environmental
characteristics that determine which types of politician will survive?
See Dates
page for Test 2, which may include multiple choice, short answer and essay
questions on all since Test 1. |
PBS
Frontline, "Fall of Newt Gingrich" [video]
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?
|
| Spring
Break, 19-23 Mar. |
Week
11, 26-30 Mar. Loomis
4: Congressional
Elections: Roots of Centrifugal Congress
Loomis 5: Congressional
Committees
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?
|
US
constitution, Article I (annotated by Cornell Law School)
When feasible: Test 2 returned,
with exemplary written answers presented
Late March, Friday &
Saturday: ALaPSA conference |
Week
12, 2-6 Apr. [Good Friday]
Loomis 6: Parties
and Leadership: Capturing the Congress
PBS, "The
Long March of Newt Gingrich"
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?
|
Loomis 7: The
Individual Enterprise
How does a congressional
staff office work, and with what resources?
What are the common roles
taken by congressional staff?
|
| See
Dates
page and Requirements
page for research project |
Week
13, 9-13 Apr.
Loomis 8: Presidential-Congressional
Relations: Focus, Auth & Negotiation
How can presidents
manipulate Congress, and with what instruments?
In a crisis between president
and Congress, is the Congress bound to lose?
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Nivola 6: #23:
James
Madison, "Federalist 51"
Nivola 7: #30:
Richard
Neustadt, "The Power to Persuade"
Nivola 7: #31:
Charles
Jones, "Separating to Govern: the American Way"
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?
|
Week
14, 16-20 Apr.
Loomis 9: Legislative
Process and Rules of Game | Lecture
Nivola 6: #26:
Nelson
Polsby, "Institutionalization of the US House"
Nivola 6: #27:
Richard
Fenno, "Congressmen in Committees"
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?
|
PBS
Frontline, The Clinton Years [video]
How successful was
president Clinton in adapting to political circumstances?
Did president Clinton demonstrate
permanent values -- or political agility?
|
Loomis 10: Partisanship,
Individualism, & Contemporary Congress
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?
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Nivola 6: #24:
Miller
& Stokes, "Constituency Influence"
Nivola 6: #25:
David
Mayhew, "Divided We Govern"
How do constitutencies
influence congressional policymaking?
If Congress is controlled
by one party, and the executive by the other -- will gridlock result?
|
| See
Dates
page for Comprehensive Exam. |