Government 211
The American Presidency
Spring 2010
G. Calvin Mackenzie
Course Description
The American presidency is at
once the best known and the least understood of American political
institutions. The objective of this course is to broaden your understanding of
how this institution developed, where it fits on the landscape of American
politics and government, and how its performance is affected by the individual
incumbents.
To acquaint you
with both the theory and practice of presidential leadership, readings have
been drawn from the scholarly literature of political science, history, and
public administration, as well as from contemporary journalism. Discussions in
class will permit you to engage these materials directly. It is also expected
that you will keep current with events in the current administration so that
they may be discussed at appropriate points throughout the course.
Instructor Information
Office: Diamond 267
Office phone: 859-5306
E-mail: gcmacken@colby.edu
Office hours: I am generally in my
office all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will do my best to be there for
certain on:
Tuesday: 11:00 - 11:45; 2:15-3:00
Wednesday: 9:00 - 10:30
Thursday: 11:00 - 12:45; 2:15-3:00
If you need to communicate with me at
times other than these, please call or send an e-mail. Alternative office hours
can also be arranged.
Course Requirements
Mid-term examination (25%)
Research Paper (30%)
Class Participation (10%)
Final examination (35%)
Readings
The following books have been ordered
for the course and are available at the College Bookstore:
Michael Nelson, ed., The Presidency and
the Political System (CQ Press, 9th edition)
Stephen J.
Wayne, The Road to the White House, 2008 (Wadsworth)
Fred
Greenstein, The Presidential Difference: Leadership Styles from FDR to Barack
Obama (Princeton University Press, 3d edition)
Everyone must read one presidential
biography from a list of
approved biographies on the
class web site. You may chose any biography except one about the
president who is the subject of your research paper.
In addition, everyone is expected to
read the New York Times every day during this course. You may satisfy
the course need by reading the political and national news and the editorials
at the New York Times
On-Line.
All other assigned readings will be
provided through electronic reserve (indicated in the syllabus by ER) or JSTOR.
In addition to assigned materials,
you will find an abundance of information about presidents and their
presidencies at these websites:
americanpresidency.org
White House Web
Site
POTUS
Presidents of the
United States
Research Papers
In the first week of the course, each
student will choose from a list of paper topics. Each topic will focus on a
specific policy or operational area in a single administration: foreign policy,
domestic/economic policy, administrative management, press and popular
leadership, and legislative relations. Research papers will be submitted
no later than the date indicated below. (Fuller description of the research paper.)
Class Policies
1. Except in the most unusual circumstances, work
submitted by students will be evaluated and returned at the following
class.
2. All work in this course
is due at the beginning of class on the date on which it is assigned. Work
received after the assigned due date will be penalized at the rate of one-half
letter grade per day. There will be no extensions of this deadline nor
alterations of the penalty for late submission.
3. Everyone is expected to
attend every class. Your participation in class is valued, and the quality of
your participation will be a component of your grade for the course. Any
absence will lower that grade. Anyone who misses 3 class meetings risks being
dropped from the course.
4. Successful
completion of the course requires the submission of all written assignments and
proper attention to attendance expectations.
5. Each class will
begin promptly at the scheduled time. You should be in your seat and ready to
begin at that time. Respect should be paid to anyone who is speaking to the
class, whether student or instructor.
6. To avoid disrupting the
class, everyone should refrain from leaving the room during class
meetings.
7. No audio, video, or
photographs of the class may be recorded without the explicit consent of the
instructor.
8. All telephones, pagers or other electronic communication
devices should be turned off during class time and none may be brought into the
room during exams. No laptop computers may be used for note taking or any other
purpose during class meetings without the permission of the instructor.
9. All college rules
regarding originality of student work and plagiarism apply in this class and
will be vigorously enforced.
Schedule of Classes and Readings
Feb 4 (Mis)conceptions of the American Presidency
Lyn Ragsdale, Studying the Presidency: Why Presidents Need Political Scientists in
NELSON
Jeffrey
K. Tulis, The Two Constitutional
Presidencies in NELSON
Constitution of the United States, Article II and Amendments 12, 20, 22, and 25
The
Federalist, Numbers 70, 71, 72, and 73
[NB: Full text of the Constitution and the Federalist Papers
are available at many locations on the Internet including: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm]
Feb 9 Presidential Selection (I)
WAYNE, Entire
Richard M. Pious,
The Presidency and the Nominating
Process: Politics and Power in NELSON
George
C. Edwards, The Faulty Premises of the
Electoral College, in NELSON
Feb 11 Presidential Selection (II)
DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL OF RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS
Feb 16 Presidential Selection (III)
Feb 18 Dimensions of the Modern Presidency
Marc Landy and Sidney M. Milkis, The Presidency in the Eye of the Storm
in NELSON
David A.
Yalof, The Presidency and the Judiciary
in NELSON
Joseph A. Pika, The Vice Presidency: Dick Cheney, Joe Biden and the New Vice Presidency
in NELSON
Richard W. Alsfeld, The Presidency Reconfigured? The Textbook
Presidency Yet Again, Presidential
Studies Quarterly, (Fall, 1995), 677-682 (JSTOR)
Lyn
Ragsdale and John J. Theis, III, The Institutionalization of the
American Presidency, 1924-92 American Journal of Political Science, (Oct., 1997), 1280-1318 (JSTOR)
Feb 23 The Press, the Public, and Popular Leadership
(I)
Bruce Miroff, The Presidential Spectacle in NELSON
Lawrence
R. Jacobs, The Presidency and the Press:
The Paradox of the White House Communications War in NELSON
Daniel J.
Tichenor, The Presidency and Interest
Groups: Allies, Adversaries, and Policy Leadership in NELSON
Jeremy D. Mayer, The Contemporary Presidency: The Presidency and Image Management:
Discipline in Pursuit of Illusion, Presidential Studies Quarterly, (Sep., 2004),
620-631 (JSTOR)
Reed L. Welch, Presidential Success in Communicating with the Public through Televised Addresses, Presidential Studies Quarterly, (Jun., 2003),
347-365 (JSTOR)
Martha Joynt
Kumar, The Contemporary Presidency: Communications Operations in the White
House of President George W. Bush: Making News on His Terms, Presidential Studies Quarterly,
(Jun., 2003), 366-393 (JSTOR)
Feb 25 The Press, the Public, and Popular Leadership
(II)
Mar 2 Administering the Federal Government
David E. Lewis and Terry
M. Moe, The Presidency and the
Bureaucracy: The Levers of Presidential Control in NELSON
G. Calvin
Mackenzie, The State of the Presidential
Appointment Process in Mackenzie, ed., Innocent Until Nominated: The Breakdown of the Presidential
Appointments Process (Brookings, 2001), 1-49
(ER)
John Burke, The Institutional Presidency in NELSON
Robert F. Durant and Adam L. Warber, Networking in the Shadow of
Hierarchy: Public Policy, the Administrative Presidency, and the
Neoadministrative State, Presidential
Studies Quarterly, (Jun., 2001), 221-244 (JSTOR)
Mar 4 Foreign Policy Leadership (I)
Andrew J. Polsky, The Presidency at War: Unchecked Power,
Uncertain Leadership in NELSON
Andrew
Rudalevige, The Presidency and Unilateral
Power: A Taxonomy in NELSON
G. Calvin Mackenzie, Old Wars, New Wars, and the American Presidency in George C.
Edwards III and Philip Davies, eds., New Challenges for the American
Presidency, 195-210 (ER)
Loch K.
Johnson and Kiki Caruson, The Seven Sins
of American Foreign Policy, PS:
Political Science and Politics, January 2003, 5-10
(JSTOR)
Ivo H.
Daalder and James M. Lindsay, The Globalization of Politics: American Foreign
Policy for a New Century, The
Brookings Review, Winter 2003, Vol.21, No.1 (http://www.brookings.edu/press/review/winter2003/daalder.htm)
Kiki Caruson, Victoria A.
Farrar-Myers, Promoting the
President's Foreign Policy Agenda: Presidential Use of Executive Agreements as
Policy Vehicles,
Political Research Quarterly (Dec., 2007), 631-644
(JSTOR)
Melvin R.
Laird, Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam, Foreign Affairs, (Nov. - Dec., 2005), 22-43 (JSTOR)
Mar 9 Foreign Policy Leadership (II)
Mar 11 Exercise: Presidents and Foreign Policy
Mar 16 Economic Policy Leadership (I)
Donald Regan, For the Record, 204-220 (ER)
Ron Suskind and
Paul O'Neill, The Price of Loyalty,
87-122 (ER)
Bob Woodward, The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House,
81-92 (ER)
John H. Kessel,
Presidents, the Presidency, and the
Political Environment (Economic
Policy), 126-165 (ER)
Burton A. Abrams, How Richard Nixon Pressured Arthur Burns: Evidence from the Nixon Tapes, The Journal of Economic Perspectives (Fall, 2006),
177-188 (JSTOR)
Roger B. Porter, Presidents
and Economists: The Council of Economic Advisers, The American Economic Review,
(May, 1997), 103-10 (JSTOR)
Roger B. Porter, Organizing
Economic Advice to the President: A Modest Proposal, The American Economic Review,
(May, 1982), 356-360 (JSTOR)
Mar 18 Economic Policy Leadership (II)
FINAL DAY TO SUBMIT RESEARCH PAPERS
Mar 24 Spring Break. No Class.
Mar 26 Spring Break. No Class.
Mar 30 The President and Congress (I)
Matthew Dickinson, The President and Congress in NELSON
Sidney Milkis, The Presidency and Political Parties in
NELSON
Andrew W. Barrett and Matthew
Eshbaugh-Soha, Presidential Success on the
Substance of Legislation, Political Research Quarterly, (Mar., 2007), 100-112 (JSTOR)
Matthew
Eshbaugh-Soha, The Politics of Presidential
Agendas, Political Research Quarterly, (Jun., 2005), 257-26 (JSTOR)
James M.
Lindsay, Deference and Defiance: The Shifting
Rhythms of Executive-Legislative Relations in Foreign Policy, Presidential Studies Quarterly, (Sep., 2003), 530-546 (JSTOR)
Apr 1 The President and Congress (II)
Apr 6 MID-TERM EXAMINATION
Apr 8 CLASS DISCUSSON: Assessing Presidents
GREENSTEIN, 1-90, 111-144
Randi L. Arsenault
and G. Calvin Mackenzie, Characteristics
and Skills of Effective Presidents, (Manuscript, 38 pp.) (ER)
Michael Nelson,
The Psychological Presidency in
NELSON
Paul J. Quirk, Presidential Competence in NELSON
Apr 13 Lyndon Johnson
GREENSTEIN, 59-90
David M. Barrett, Secrecy and Openness in Lyndon Johnson's
White House: Political Style, Pluralism, and the Presidency, The Review of Politics (Winter,
1992), 72-111 (JSTOR)
Doris Kearns, Lyndon Johnson's Political
Personality, Political Science Quarterly, (Autumn, 1976), 385-409 (JSTOR)
Fredrik
Logevall, Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam, Presidential Studies Quarterly, (Mar., 2004), 100-112 (JSTOR)
Joe B. Frantz, Opening a Curtain: The Metamorphosis of Lyndon B. Johnson, The Journal of Southern History, (Feb., 1979), 3-26 (JSTOR)
Robert W.
Sellen, Old Assumptions versus New Realities:
Lyndon Johnson and Foreign Policy, International Journal, (Spring, 1973), 205-229 (JSTOR)
Lyndon B. Johnson
Presidential Library
Apr 15 Richard Nixon
GREENSTEIN,
91-110
Richard Nixon, In the Arena, 204-209, 218-223,
252-262, 278-290 (ER)
John Erlichman,
Witness to Power,
244-262 (ER)
John C. Whitaker, Nixon's Domestic Policy: Both
Liberal and Bold in Retrospect, Presidential Studies Quarterly, (Winter, 1996), 131-153. (JSTOR)
Dwight Ink, Nixon's Version of Reinventing Government, Presidential Studies Quarterly, (Winter, 1996), 57-69 (JSTOR)
Richard
Nixon Presidential Library
Apr 20 Ronald Reagan
GREENSTEIN, 145-158
Lou Cannon, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime,
206-231, 792-837 (ER)
John W. Sloan, Meeting the Leadership Challenges of the
Modern Presidency: The Political Skills and Leadership of Ronald Reagan, Presidential Studies Quarterly,
(Summer, 1996), 795-804 (JSTOR)
Ken Collier, Behind the Bully Pulpit: The Reagan
Administration and Congress, Presidential Studies Quarterly (Summer, 1996), 805-815
(JSTOR)
Shirley
Anne Warshaw, White House Control of Domestic
Policy Making: The Reagan Years, Public Administration Review, (May - Jun., 1995), 247-253 (JSTOR)
Bert A.
Rockman, Tightening the Reins: The Federal Executive
and the Management Philosophy of the Reagan Presidency, Presidential Studies Quarterly, (Winter, 1993), 103-114 (JSTOR)
Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library
Apr 22 George H. W. Bush
GREENSTEIN, 159-172
Michael
Duffy and Dan Goodgame, Marching in
Place: The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush, 202-227 (ER)
Shirley
Warshaw, The Domestic Presidency,
145-178 (ER)
Mark J. Rozell, In Reagan's Shadow: Bush's
Antirhetorical Presidency, Presidential
Studies Quarterly, (Winter, 1998), 127-138 (JSTOR)
Kerry Mullins
and Aaron Wildavsky, The Procedural Presidency of
George Bush, Political Science Quarterly, (Spring, 1992), 31-62 (JSTOR)
George H. W. Bush
Presidential Library
Apr 27 William J. Clinton
GREENSTEIN, 173-188
Joe Klein, The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of
Bill Clinton, 162-217 (ER)
David
Gergen, Eyewitness to Power,
313-342 (ER)
Clinton's Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, (Nov. - Dec., 2000), 18-29 (JSTOR)
Stanley A.
Renshon, After the Fall: The Clinton Presidency in
Psychological Perspective, Political Science Quarterly, (Spring, 2000), 41-65 (JSTOR)
Stephen J.
Wayne, Clinton's Legacy: The Clinton Persona, PS: Political Science and Politics, (Sep., 1999), 558-561 (JSTOR)
Bill Clinton
Presidential Library
Apr 29 George W. Bush and the Expansion of
Presidential Power
GREENSTEIN, 273-282
Ronald Brownstein, The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington
and Polarized America, 263-323
(ER)
Bert A.
Rockman, The Legacy of the George W. Bush
Presidency--A Revolutionary Presidency? in Colin Campbell et al, eds., The George W. Bush Legacy,
325-348
(ER)
Joel D.
Aberbach, Supplying the Defect of Better
Motives? The Bush II Administration and the Constitutional System in Colin
Campbell et al, eds., The George W.
Bush Legacy, 112-134
(ER)
Charlie Savage,
Takeover: The Return of the
Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy, 10-37,
308-330 (ER)
Philip H. Gordon, The End of the Bush Revolution, Foreign Affairs, (Jul. - Aug.,
2006), 75-86 (JSTOR)
Melvyn P.
Leffler, Bush's Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, No. 144 (Sep. - Oct., 2004), pp. 22-28 (JSTOR)
Robert Jervis, Understanding the Bush Doctrine, Political Science Quarterly, (Fall, 2003), 365-388 (JSTOR)
May 4 Barack Obama
Readings TBA
May 6 The Problems of a Democratic Presidency
GREENSTEIN, 189-200
[Last Updated: January 21, 2010 9:53 AM]