Course Description
Powers of the United States Presidency. The President's constitutional position, including theories of executive dominance and executive privilege. Attention will also be given to the President's attempts to control the executive branch, presidential-congressional relations, and the president's leadership over domestic and foreign policy.
Athena Title
US PRESIDENCY
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This research seminar is designed to introduce students to empirical research on the U.S. Presidency. This is a seminar course; hence class participation is expected. Students should read all assigned material before class and be prepared to discuss the readings in detail. This course assumes a basic familiarity with American government and the Presidency. Students without this background should consider reading a good overview text such as Pika and Maltese’s The Politics of the Presidency. Throughout the course, we will pay attention to current political and scholarly controversies (as well as some “classics”) in terms of identifying important research questions as well as examining and improving upon existing research designs. By the end of the course, you should have a better understanding of the nature of presidential research, even though it would be impossible to cover all facets of executive politics in a single graduate seminar.
Topical Outline
Researching the Presidency Presidency as an Institution Presidential Approval Presidential Rhetoric and Agenda-Setting The President and Congress The Presidency and the Judiciary Presidential Management of the Bureaucracy The President as Commander-in-Chief Presidential Appointments and Party Leadership Presidents and the Media Evaluating Presidents and the Presidency
Syllabus