Winter 2009 Course Schedule
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Political Science 157

Class Schedule and Readings

There will be updates to this schedule throughout the quarter. The updates will usually be noted at the bottom of this page to assist you in identifying what has changed. Significant modifications will also be noted in the class forum. Updates will include links to contemporary commentary and video and to sources used or discussed in class.

(r) denotes RECOMMENDED
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Week 1

January 5 . Introduction and overview 
Individual Presidents, Institutions, and a Changing Economic, Technological, and Political Context; Agency vs. Choice; Thinking about when individual presidents matter and why. Counterfactual reasoning. Historical analogies.

"Presidential Greatness" Rankings [new window]
(r)Schlesinger:   Rating the Presidents   [pdf online]
(r)Cohen, PSQ 33 (2003) "Presidential Greatness As Seen in the Mass Public" [pdf online]

(r)Counterfactuals:
Tetlock and Belkin, "Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics" from Tetlock and Belkin, eds, Counterfactual thought Experiments in World Politics. [pdf online]
Chwieroth, "Counterfactuals and the Study of the American Presidency," PSQ 2002 [pdf online]
Lebow, "What's So Different About a Counterfactual?" World Politics 2000 [pdf online]

January 7. Institutions of the Presidency 
Different meanings of "institutions." You are the President. What can you do? What must you do? What must you not do? Where they came from; Why and how they change; How we study them. Read the Constitution before class!!! There will be a quiz on the Constitution IN SECTION.

Skim the following:
Federalist 69, "The Real Character of the Executive" ( Hamilton ) [pdf online]
Federalist 70, "The Executive Department Further Considered" ( Hamilton ) [pdf online]
Federalist 71, "The Duration in Office of the Executive" ( Hamilton ) [pdf online]
Federalist 72, "The Same Subject Continued and Re-Eligibility of the Executive Considered" ( Hamilton ) [pdf online]
Federalist 73, "The Provision for the Support of the Executive and the Veto Power" ( Hamilton ) [pdf online]

The entire Federalist papers online via the Library of Congress.
(r) Scigliano, "The President's 'Prerogative Power,'" in Cronin, ed., Inventing the American Presidency , 236-256. [pdf online]
(r) Locke, "On Prerogative" from Second Treatise on Civil Government [pdf online]

Sample Constitution Quiz
The US Constitution

Week 2

January 12. Individuals When do individual characteristics matter? What do we need to know? 

Greenstein, "The Qualities of Effective Presidents," Presidential Studies Quarterly Spring 2000 [pdf online]
Mendell chapter 1-3 (pp 1-49)
Schier, pp 19-28.
Brookhiser, "The Mind of George W. Bush" Atlantic Monthly April 2003, 55-70   [html online]

(r)Neustadt “The Power to Persuade” from Presidential Power chapter 3.   [ pdf online]
(r)Greenstein, "George W. Bush and the Politics of Agenda Control" from The Presidential Difference [pdf online]

(r) PBS Frontline, "The Choice 2000" Excellent Video on GWBush and Al Gore!
(r) PBS Frontline "The Choice 2004" Video on GW Bush and John Kerry.
(r) PBS Frontline, "The Jesus Factor," On the role of religion in GW Bush's life.
(r) PBS Frontline, "The Choice 2008," Video on Obama and McCain
(r)James Fallows "When George Meets John," The Atlantic [opens new window; fascinating analysis of the effectiveness of Bush's debate style]
(r)Wayne, "The Influence of Personality on George W. Bush's Decisions to Go to War," From Readings in Presidential Politics [pdf online]

January 14.  Who is Obama? What do we know about him and what do we need to know?

Mendell, chapters 4-9 (pp 50-139)

(r) Renshon, "Psychological Reflections on Barack Obama and John McCain" Political Science Quarterly 123 (Fall 2008): 391-433. [pdf online]
Greatness and experience correlation: http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Info/experience.html
(r) Simonton, "Presidential IQ, Openness, Intellectual Brilliance, and Leadership; Estimates and Correlations for 42 U.S. Chief Executives," Political Psychology 27 (August 2006)" 511-526. [pdf online]

Week 3.

January 19. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HOLIDAY. NO CLASS.

January 21.  Contexts : Party Cohesion, War, Disasters, The Legacy of History

Skowronek, “Structure and Action,” Chapter 3 from The Politics Presidents Make Harvard1997 (pp 33-58.) [pdf online]
Schier, pp 3-19
Mayhew, "Wars and American Politics," Perspectives on Politics 3 (September 2005): 473-493. [pdf online]
(r) Skowronek, " Leadership by Definition: First Term Reflections on George W. Bush's Political Stance" Perspectives on Politics 3 (December 2005): 817-831. [pdf online]

Week 4

January 26. Washington, Adams. 
Whiskey Rebellion; Jay Treaty. What legacy did Washington and Adams leave? Did Washington make choices that any other president would have made? Historical Precedents; assertions of presidential power

January 28.   Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, JQ Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan
Presidents and Political Party; Polk and Presidential War; Protracted inability to resolve a fundamental conflict through political institutions; Rise and fall of the Whigs. Are you a whig?

Week 5.

February 2. Lincoln the Savior. Presidential Power in War-time

Materials cited in the textbook:
Cornell page on contemporary reaction to Gettysburg Address
April 19, 1861 Proclamation
April 27, 1861 Executive Order Suspending Habeas Corpus
May 3, 1861 Proclamation
Julyl 4, 1861 Message to Special Session of Congress
September 24, 1862 Proclamation
January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation
November 9, 1863, Gettysburg Address
March 4, 1865, Second Inaugural Address
Ex Parte Milligan (Supreme Court Decision 1866)

February 4. The meaning of Lincoln for His Successors--Including Bush and Obama

Week 6

February 9. MIDTERM IN CLASS

February 11. Andrew Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, TR, Taft
The Rise of Congress and Presidents Fight Back.  Threats to presidential leadership of the executive branch. What changed?

In re Neagle [links to another site]

Week 7.

February 16. PRESIDENT'S DAY HOLIDAY. NO CLASS

February 18. Wilson , Harding, Coolidge, Hoover
The "Public" Presidency in a Changing Media Environment

Wilson's Precedent-Setting 1913 Speech
NYT Coverage of Wilson's Speech

Week 8.

February 23. FDR, Truman, Eisenhower.
Is FDR a Model for Obama? Presidents and Presidential Staff; the Growth of the Presidential Institution; Crisis Leadership; Legislative Leadership

Milkis and Nelson Chapter 12

  Week 9

PAPERS DUE AT START OF CLASS ON MARCH 2.

March 2. Reagan through GHW Bush

Week 10

March 9.  Bush and Beyond

FINAL EXAM

FRIDAY MARCH 20, 12:00 NOON - 3:00PM  

OTHER READINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE

General

Chwieroth, "Counterfactuals and the Study of the American Presidency" Presidential Studies Quarterly March 2002 [pdf online]

Excerpt from Clinton's Speech at Hofstra Conference (quicktime streaming) (dead link)

Federalist Papers Online (especially read:  Federalist #51)

Lebow, "What's So Different About a Counterfactual?" World Politics 2000, pp: 550-558, 574-585. [pdf online NOTE: Entire article is online ]

Moe. Terry, “Presidents, Institutions and Theory," in Edwards et al, Researching the Presidency 1993 pp. 337-347, 352-362 [ pdf online   ] (balance of this article recommended)

Skowronek, Stephen, “Presidential Leadership in Political Time”   from Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System   [pdf online]  

Whittington and Carpenter, "Executive Power in American Institutional Development," Perspectives on Politics September 2003   [pdf online]

Wood, "Democracy and the Constitution" from How Democratic is the Constitution Goldwin and Schambra eds 1980 [pdf online]

Woolley, " Drawing Lines or Defining Variables,"  [pdf online]

Presidents and the Public; Rhetoric

Clark, T.N., "The Presidency and the New Political Culture," American Behavioral Scientist December 2002 [pdf online]

Jacobs and Burns, "The Second Face of the Public Presidency," Presidential Studies Quarterly September 2004. [pdf online]

Jacobson, "Partisan Polarization in Presidential Support," from Edwards, ed., Readings in Presidential Politics [pdf online]

Kernell “The Truman Doctrine Speech,”   Social Science History   Fall 1976 [pdf online]   

Langston, "America the Redeemer," With Reverence and Contempt: How Americans Think about Their President Johns Hopkins 1995 [pdf online]

Lim, "Five Trends in Presidential Rhetoric:   An Analysis of Rhetoric from George Washington to Bill Clinton,"   Presidential Studies Quarterly June 2002.   [pdf online]

Martin Medhurst, "Text and Context in the 1952 Presidential Campaign:   Eisenhower's "I Shall Go to Korea" Speech.   Presidential Studies Quarterly September 2000.[pdf online]

Truman Doctrine Speech

Presidential Elections

Abramson et al, “Progressive Ambition,” Journal of Politics February 1987, [pdf ONLINE]

Aldrich Before the Convention chapter 1, chapter 4, chapter 5

Bryce , “Why Great Men are Not Chosen President,”   From The American Commonwealth [html online]

Dahl, "Myth of the Mandate" Political Science Quarterly Autumn 1990   [pdf online]

Election TV Advertisement Historical Collection

Erikson, Robert, “The 2000 Presidential Election in Historical Perspective,”   Political Science Quarterly 2001 #1 [pdf online]

Gregg, Three-Part Defense of the Electoral College [here], [here], and [here]

Gurian and Haynes, "Presidential Nomination Campaigns: Toward 2005," PS: Political Science and Politics April 2003 [pdf online]

Mann, "An Agenda for Election Reform," Brookings Policy Brief #82, June 2001 [pdf online]

Noah, "America's Worst College," Slate [online] ; "America's Worst College Part 3, " September 2004 [online] ; "America's Worst College Part 4" October 2004 [online]

Retrospective on 2004 Election Forecasts in PS: Political Science and Politics January 2005 [online--this link works only on campus! ]

The Best Electoral College Website: http://www.electoral-vote.com/

Data on Campaign Finance and contributions from Open Secrets.Com

Official vote totals and electoral college results

President and Congress

Bond, Fleisher and Krutz, “An Overview of the Empirical Findings on Presidential-Congressional Relations,” from Thurber, ed, Rivals for Power  CQ Press, 1996.   [pdf online] 

Clinton, et al., "The Most LIberal Senator?" PS Political Science and Politics October 2004. [pdf file]

Cohen, "The Impact of the Modern Presidency on Presidential Success in the U.S. Congress,"   Legislative Studies Quarterly November 1982. [pdf online]

Data for the 107 Congress, Senate from Keith Poole's Data Bank showing Kerry is about 16th most liberal.  Get more data from Keith right HERE.

Fisher, "A Dose of Law and Realism for Presidential Studies," Presidential Studies Quarterly Dec 2002 [pdf online]

Gregg, “Whiggism and Presidentialism:  American Ambivalence toward Executive Power,” from Henderson, ed., The Presidency:  Then and Now pp.69-94

Wikipedia Article on "Signing Statements" with some useful links

Presidents and the Media

Cohen and Nice, “The Evolution of Presidential-News Media Relations” from The Presidency pp 178-195   [ pdf online]

The White House and Executive Office of the President/Advisors

Burke, “From President to Presidency,” in The Institutional Presidency 2 nd edition, Johns Hopkins Press, 2000, chapter 1.   [pdf online] 

Dilulio, "A View from Within," from Greenstein, ed, The George W. Bush Presidency. [pdf online]

Hult, "The Bush White House in Comparative Perspective," from Greenstein, ed., The George W. Bush Presidency pp 51-77 [pdf online]

Kernell, Sam, “The Evolution of the White House Staff,” from Pfiffner, ed., The Managerial Presidency   Brooks Cole 1991.   [pdf online]

Perry, Steve, "Karl Rove's Moment" from bushwarsblog.com. [html online]

Pfiffner, "Can the President Manage the Government?" from Pfiffner and Davidson, Understanding the Presidency [online]

Ragsdale and Theis, "The Institutionalization of the American Presidency, 1924-92" American Journal of Political Science pp. 1280-1287. [pdf online]

Suskind "Why are These Men Laughing?" Esquire   January 2003 [html online]

Suskind, "Without a Doubt" NYT Magazine 10/17/04

The 9/11 Commission Staff Summary pp 20-29  [pdf, full section online ]

Presidential Unilateral Powers

Deering and Maltzman, “Politics of Executive Orders” Political Research Quarterly  December 1999   [pdf online]

Howell, "Power without Persuasion," from Edwards, ed., Readings in Presidential Politics, pp109-133 [online].

Pullman Case   (19 pp (Link to Pullman Case)

RR 1984 Signing Statement on Deficit Reduction Act

Presidents and the Courts

Dudley , "Judicial Control of the Presidency: Stability and change," from Pfiffner and Davidson, Understanding the Presidency [pdf online]

Mishler and Sheehan, "Supreme Court as Countermajoritiarian Institution," American Political Science Review March 1993 [pdf online]

Segal et al, "Buyer Beware?" Political Research Quarterly, September 2000. [pdf online]

Yates and Whitford, "Presidential Power and the U.S. Supreme Court," Political Research Quarterly June 1998 [pdf online]

Presidents and Public Policy

Mallaby, Sebastian, “The Irrelevant Election”   Foreign Policy Sept-Oct 2000.   [pdf online]

Soros, George:   "The Bubble of American Supremacy"   Atlantic Monthly  December 2003 [html online]

WRITINGS ON WAR POWERS

Adler, "The Constitution and Presidential Warmaking," Pol Sci Quarterly, Spr 1988, pp 29-36. [link]
"Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. 2340-2340A. 2002

"Authorization for Use of Military Force," Public Law 107-40 (Sept. 18, 2001) [link online]

Blanton, "The President's Daily Brief " [link online only] f

(Department of Justice "Terror Memo"; subsequently withdrawn. ), pp. 1-2, (intro) and pp. 31-39 (Commander-in-chief powers) skim remainder as interested[pdf download]

Fisher, "The Korean War: On What Legal Basis did Truman Act?" Am. Jnl of Intl Law Jan. 1995.

Fisher and Adler, "The War Powers Resolution: Time to Say Goodbye," Pol Sci Quarterly Spr 1998 [link online]

Prakash and Ramsey, "The Executive Power over Foreign Affairs," Yale Law Journal Nov 2001 [link online]

Yoo 2001 memo on President's War Powers. [online link]

Yoo, "War and the Constitutional Text," University of Chicago Law Review 2002, pp 1-4, 32-41 (note the link is to the entire article) [pdf online]

Yoo and Ho, "The Status of Terrorists," Va. Jnl. Intl. Law August 2003 [pdf online] (Yoo was author of administration memos that seemed to justify extraconstitutional processing of "unlawful combatants" and held that they were not covered by the Geneva Conventions--including provisions prohibiting subjecting captives to harsh interrogation techniques.)

The Conflict over National Security Wiretapping

George Washington University National Security Archive Collection
DoJ Letter to Senators Roberts, Hoekstra, Rockefeller, and Harman (Department of Justice memo defending the wiretapping program), December 22, 2005
Law Professors Memo Attacking DOJ Memo, January 9, 2006
"Legal Authorities Supporting the Activities of the National Security Agency Described by the President," DoJ more detailed memo defending the wiretapping program, January 19, 2006
Law Professors Rebuttal to DOJ detailed memo, February 2, 2006

Some of the key court cases:

The Prize Cases, 67 US 635 (1862)

United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp., 299 U.S. 304 (1936)

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer 343 U.S. 579 (1952) (there were 7 separate opinions on this case including one dissent.)

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004)

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld 000 U.S. 05-184 (2006)

UPDATES

1-4-09: added references to counterfactuals for first class.