Political Science 3300
The American Presidency
Fall 2008
Monday -
Wednesday, 12:30-1:45
SSB
206
Instructor:
Dave Robertson, 801 Tower
Office Hours:
Tuesday, 9:00-12:00
noon
& other times can easily be arranged
Phone 516-5855; Fax 516-5268,
e-mail
daverobertson@umsl.edu
What Is The Course About? / Our Contract / How To Get A Good Grade / Exams / Books / Participation / The Campaign Memo / The Journal / Detailed Course Schedule
1. What is the Course About? How do you know a great president when you see one? Does the president have too much power, or too little? What will it take to have an African-American or a woman president, and when will we have one? Why would anyone in their right mind subject themselves to the process we use for choosing presidents? In The American Presidency, we will search for answers to these vital questions, against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential campaign. We’ll examine the job of the presidency. We’ll look at what kinds of people become president, and how they do it. We’ll try to understand what the framers had in mind when they designed the presidency. We’ll come to grips with the tools of presidential power, and the people who help the president exercise those powers. We’ll look at way presidents influence and respond to public opinion, the media, interest groups and political parties. Finally, we’ll study presidential effects on economic, domestic, and foreign policy.
2. Our Contract. By
enrolling in this course, you and I have agreed to a contract with each
other. l'll work hard
to be prepared, enthusiastic, fair and respectful of every student and their
opinions. I'll be accessible and try my best to return graded materials
after no more than a week. By enrolling in the class, you've agreed to
(1) attend every class, (2) to participate by asking questions and joining in
class discussions, and (3) reading the assigned material and completing written
assignments on time. Of all the consumer purchases you make, don't let
your
3. How to Get a Good Grade. The grade for the course will be determined in the following way:
Participation constitutes 10% of the final grade.
The Journal constitutes 15%
of the final grade
Exam 1 constitutes 15% of the
final grade
Exam 2 constitutes 15% of the
final grade
Exam 3 constitutes 20% of the
final grade
The memo constitutes 25% of
the final grade
NOTE: You are not are NOT competing with other students for a grade. There is no curve in this course. Each student can get an A, or can get a D. It's up to you.
4. Exams. There will be three exams (September 24, October 27, and December 10). Each of the exams will consist of three parts: 20 true / false questions worth 2 points each, 3 identification questions worth 10 points each, and an essay worth 30 points. The final exam will include a second essay question that asks you to integrate the course material. Note that the final exam is scheduled to begin at 10 am on December 10.
5. Books and
- Joseph A. Pika
and John Anthony Maltese, The Politics of the
Presidency, 7th Edition
(
- Michael Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System,
8th Edition (
- Stephen J. Wayne, The Road to the White House 2008 (8th ed)., (Thomson / Wadsworth 2007) Paperback, ISBN: 0495096326
6. Participation. You must participate in this course actively in order for it to work well. You must prepare for and attend class, and you must contribute thoughtfully to discussion. To ensure fairness in allocating this portion of the grade, sign-up sheets will be circulated during many of the classes. If we have a guest speaker, you can be certain that your absence will reduce your grade.
Your reading assignments are listed on the detailed class schedule. You are expected to read the material before coming to class, and you are expected to be prepared to discuss the reading material in class. You may be asked to discuss a question regarding the reading during the class for which the reading is assigned.
I strongly encourage you to ask questions, including questions about current events and politics.
7. Campaign Memo. You will write a 10 to 15 page campaign memo for the class. Your memo will provide strategic campaign advice to the Republican or Democratic presidential candidate for winning the general election in 2008. This assignment aims to encourage you integrate everything you are learning about the presidency, particularly about presidential elections. You will have to do research on your candidate, some opposition research, become familiar with the key states, constituencies, tactics and strategies.
Your final memo should include a specific
plan for helping your candidate for winning the electoral votes of
Please send me an email that identifies your candidate by September 29. The memo is due no later than Wednesday November 3, at 5 pm.
You will be graded on (1) demonstrated effort and research, (2) thoughtfulness and creativity, (3) effective execution (good writing).
To understand politics in specific
states, I very strongly urge you to being by looking at the relevant pages in
The Almanac of American Politics or
Politics in
LATE MEMOS lose 5 POINTS THE FIRST DAY AND 1 point per day AFTER THAT.
8. Journal. You will keep a Presidential Leadership journal during the semester. You'll read 1 magazine or newspaper stories about the American presidency or the current president each week (you may also read an editorial, and extended blog entry, watch a TV show on a presidential topic or attend a special museum exhibit). Every two weeks, you'll hand in a notebook in which you have two entries. Each entry should spend no more than one paragraph summarizing the main points of one story, and at least on paragraph reacting to it by exploring its significance for understanding the presidency (not just an individual person who is the president). Be sure to draw on course readings and discussions where appropriate.
The object of this journal is to develop three of your critical thinking skills: 1), your ability to summarize succinctly exactly what someone else is saying; 2) your ability to connect material from outside the course to the key themes of the course; and 3) to provide a cogent, reasoned response to the things you read. Each entry should be about two paragraphs: one paragraph to summarize the article, editorial, or opinion piece, and one paragraph to react to it. Again, you will write about one entries a week, two entries in all for each submission, or a total of 10 entries. You will hand in the journal about every other week until the late April. the journal is due on September 3, September 17, October 13, November 12, and December 1. Please leave room for comments after each entry. Each time you hand in the journal, please include all the previous entries and comments. The best way to include everything is in a spiral notebook.
LATE JOURNALS lose 1 point a day.
The journal assignment will require you to pay closer attention to presidential developments this semester. You can do this by reading the St. Louis Post-Dispatch national news section more closely, and by scanning the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. It is my understanding that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the New York Times, and USA Today are available for students for free on campus through the newspapers in Education program (the Wall Street Journal is available for purchase or in the TJ Library). I urge you to start with the Washington Post's White House page and with Dan Froomkin's "White House Briefing" blog. Froomkin 's own perspective on the Bush administration has been critical, but it's a great source for finding articles about the president, and he hotlinks many of the articles in his online column. Real Clear Politics and the Washington Times provide more conservative perspectives on the Bush administration. The Lexis/Nexis service, available through the UMSL library website, includes articles from many newspapers. The Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report and the National Journal are weekly publications available in the reference area, and they are outstanding sources for national political and policy developments.
Here are some websites that may also provide
some useful material for you to use:
The White House / AmericanPresident.org
/ POTUS Blog
/ Taegan
Goddard’s Political Wire
Russell D. Renka's U.S. Presidency Links
and
Modern
Presidents from FDR to the Present
Can't get enough of the presidency? Try Presidential Baseball
9. Plagiarism. Plagiarism means taking the written ideas of someone else and presenting them in your writing as if they were your ideas, without giving the author credit. Plagiarism (a word which comes from the Latin word for kidnapping) is deceitful and dishonest. Violations that have occurred frequently in the past include not using quotation marks for direct quotes and not giving citations when using someone else's ideas; using long strings of quotations, even when properly attributed, does not constitute a paper of your own.
Plagiarism in written work for this class
is unacceptable. The University's Student Conduct
Code classifies plagiarism as a form of academic dishonesty. Depending on the severity of the plagiarism,
punishment can include receiving no credit for the assignment, failing the
course and referral for university disciplinary action.
10. Other Stuff. When I return your exam, please check to make
sure that I have computed your grade correctly. Please be in your seat by the
time class begins. Please do not hold private conversations during class.
If you do not understand lecture, if you have further questions about lecture,
please don't hesitate to interrupt and ask your question. If I speak too
quickly with an unintelligible
COURSE SCHEDULE
August 18 (Monday) Introduction
August 20 (Wednesday) Coming to Grips with the Presidency
READ: Pika and Maltese, The Politics of the Presidency, pp. 1-36
August 25 (Monday) The Invention of the Presidency
READ: Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp. 1-56 (Nelson; Rockman)
August 27 (Wednesday) Choosing the President
READ:
Wayne, The Road to the White House 2008, pp. iv-vi, 2-31
Pika and Maltese, The Politics of
the Presidency, pp. 37-44
Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp. 195-218 (Pious)
September 1 (Monday) Labor Day - class does not meet.
September 3 (Wednesday) Convention Wrap / Choosing the President: Finance and Context
READ:
Wayne, The Road to the White House 2008,
pp. 32-115
Pika and Maltese, The Politics of the Presidency,
pp. 37-44
JOURNAL 1 DUE (two entries)
September 8 (Monday) Choosing the President: Nomination
READ:
Wayne, The Road to the White House 2008,
pp. 116-172
Pika and Maltese, The Politics of
the Presidency, pp. 44-61
September 10 (Wednesday) Choosing the President: Interregnum
READ: Wayne, The Road to the White House 2008, pp. 173-212
September 15 (Monday) Choosing the President: The General Election
READ: Pika and Maltese, The
Politics of the Presidency, pp. 61-85
September 17 (Wednesday) Choosing the President: WrapUp
READ: Wayne, The Road to the White House 2008, pp. 299-342
JOURNAL 2 DUE (two entries; please hand in entire journal)
September 22 (Monday) The Permanent Campaign and the Public Spectacle
READ: Pika and Maltese, The Politics of
the Presidency, pp. 93-137
Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp. 255-283 (Miroff)
September 24 (Wednesday) Exam 1 Study Guide
September 29 (Monday) Presidents and the Media
READ: Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp. 283-310 (Jacobs)
Send me an email that identifies your candidate for the campaign memo
October 1 (Wednesday) Presidents and Political Parties
READ: Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp. 341-382 (Milkis)
October 6 (Monday) Presidents and Interest Groups
READ: Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp. 311-340 (Tichenor)
October 8 (Wednesday) Presidential Personality & Character
READ: Pika and Maltese, The
Politics of the Presidency, pp. 146-168
Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp.
170-194 (Nelson)
October 13 (Monday) Presidential Skill and Management Style
READ: Pika and Maltese, The
Politics of the Presidency, pp. 168-190
Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System,
pp. 136-169 (Quirk)
JOURNAL 3 DUE (two entries; please hand in entire journal)
October 15 (Wednesday) The Presidency in Political Time
READ: Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp. 89-135 (Skowronek)
October 20 (Monday) Presidents and Congress
READ: Pika and Maltese, The
Politics of the Presidency, pp. 200-238
Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp.
455-480 (
October 22 (Wednesday) Presidents and Congress
READ:
Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the
Political System, pp. 508-532 (Quirk & Nesmith)
October 27 (Monday) EXAM 2 Study Guide
October 29 (Wednesday) Watergate
MEMO DUE
NOVEMBER 4 (TUESDAY): ELECTION DAY; POLLS OPEN 6am to 7pm
November 5 (Wednesday) Election WrapUp / Executive Branch Politics
READ: Pika and Maltese, The
Politics of the Presidency, pp. 246-289
Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, pp. 383-409
(Burke)
November 10 (Monday) Executive Branch Politics
READ: Nelson, ed., The
Presidency and the Political System, pp. 410-429, 430-454 (Lewis; Campbell)
November 12 (Wednesday) Presidents and the Courts
READ: Pika and Maltese, The Politics of the Presidency, pp. 298-327
JOURNAL 4 DUE (two entries; please hand in entire journal)
November 17 (Monday) Budgets and Domestic Policy
READ:
Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the
Political System, pp. 57-99 (Tulis)
Pika and Maltese, The Politics of
the Presidency, pp. 333-362, 367-407
November 19 (Wednesday) National Security
READ: Pika and Maltese, The
Politics of the Presidency, pp. 412-446
November 24 & 26 - Thanksgiving - class does not meet.
December 1 (Monday) A New Imperial Presidency?
READ: Pika and Maltese, The
Politics of the Presidency, pp. 454-487
Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the
Political System, pp. 235-254 (Hertherington and Globetti)
JOURNAL 5 DUE (two entries; please hand in entire journal)
December 3 (Wednesday) Reforms (?)
READ: Wayne, The Road to the White House 2008, pp. 343-376
December 10 (Wednesday) FINAL EXAM, 10:00-12:00 Study Guide