Spring 2008 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 noted at the bottom of this page to assist you in knowing which changes have been made. 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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Part I: Historical Development of the Presidency and the Role of Individual Presidents

During this first part of the quarter, our classes will be split roughly in half. The first 35 minutes or so will be devoted to highlighting important issues relating specifically to the historical period you are reading about in the text. The second 35 minutes or so will focus on some cross-cutting theme that spans the presidency beyond that specific historical period.

Week1

Milkis and Nelson 1&2 plus appendix on Constitution (67 pp. plus appendix).  

March 31 .   Introduction and overview:  Individual Presidents, Institutions and a Changing Economic, Technological, and Political Environment

Sample Constitution Quiz

Class Powerpoint from 3/31/08

April 2 . Institutions of the Presidency;   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 CLASS. .

Greenstein “Toward a Modern Presidency” in Pfiffner and Davidson, Understanding the Presidency [pdf online]

The US Constitution

Class Powerpoint from 4/2/08

Week 2

Milkis and Nelson Chapters 3, 4, 5 (Washington through Jackson, 83 pp)

April 7. Washington the Innovator. When do individual characteristics matter? What do we need to know?

Greenstein, "The Qualities of Effective Presidents," Presidential Studies Quarterly Spring 2000 [pdf online]
(r)Neustadt “The Power to Persuade” from Presidential Power chapter 3.   [ pdf online]
(r)Schlesinger:   Rating the Presidents   [pdf online]

Class powerpoint 4/7/08

"Presidential Greatness" Rankings [new window]

April 9. Jefferson, Jackson et al. Presidents and Political Party

Skowronek, “Structure and Action,” Chapter 3 from The Politics Presidents Make Harvard1997 (pp 33-58.) [pdf online]

Class powerpoint 4/9/08 (corrected for Van Buren/Taylor; Excludes slides not discussed in class)

Week 3.

Milkis and Nelson   Chapters 6, 7 8 (Lincoln to TR 86 pp)

April 14. Lincoln the Savior. Presidential Power in War-time

Gienapp, “Abraham Lincoln and Presidential Leadership,” from McPherson, ed., We Cannot Escape History: Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of Earth, pp 63-85 [pdf online]

Class Powerpoint 4/14/08

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)

April 16. The Rise of Congress and Presidents Fight Back. Presidential Leadership of the Executive Branch

Class Powerpoint 4/16/08

In re Neagle [links to another site]

Week 4

Milkis and Nelson, Chapter 9, 10, 11 (Wilson through Eisenhower 86 pp)

April 21. Wilson through Hoover. The “Public” Presidency in a Changing Media Environment

Dodds and Rozell, “The Press and the Presidency: Then and Now,” from Henderson, ed., The Presidency: Then and Now pp 139-160. [pdf online]

Class Powerpoint 4/21/08

Wilson's Precedent-Setting 1913 Speech

NYT Coverage of Wilson's Speech

April 23. FDR through Ike. Presidents and Presidential Staff; the Presidential Institution  

FDR's First Inaugural Address (click on link partway down the page on the right)

Class Powerpoint 4/23/08

Cornell page on contemporary reaction to Gettysburg Address

Week 5.

Milkis and Nelson, Chapters 11-14  (JFK through Clinton 100 pp) [corrected 4/28/08 to indicate chapter 14 instead of 12]

April 28. Kennedy to Carter Presidential Legislative Leadership. Are you a Whig?

Spitzer, “Is the Separation of Powers Obsolete? The Congressional-Presidential Balance of Power,” from Pfiffner and Davidson, eds., Understanding the Presidency, 313-327 [pdf online]

Class Powerpoint 4/28/08

MIDTERM EXAM REVIEW SHEET

(Part II of exam revised to be 45% from 40% on copy distributed in class)

April 30. Reagan to Clinton. Presidential selection;   How could this process be improved?

Class Powerpoint 4/30/08

Data on Campaign Finance

Official vote totals and electoral college results

RR 1984 Signing Statement on Deficit Reduction Act

Week 6

May 5. Midterm Exam. (Know the Presidents by today!)

PART II: The Tumultuous Presidency of George W. Bush: Themes in Presidential Leadership

May 7.  Introduction to George W. Bush

Milkis and Nelson, chapter 15, CRR Chapter 1

Brookhiser, "The Mind of George W. Bush" Atlantic Monthly April 2003, 55-70   [html 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)James Fallows "When George Meets John," The Atlantic [opens new window; fascinating analysis of the effectiveness of Bush's debate style]

ESSAY ASSIGNMENT OPTIONS

STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS TO ESSAY TOPICS updated May 13, 2:00p

Week 7.

May 12. Elections.

CRR, chapter 2 (pp 21-44)
Hillygus and Shields, "Moral Issues and Voter Decision-Making in the 2004 Presidential Election, PS: Political Science and Politics April 2005. [pdf online]

Class Powerpoint 5/12/08

May 14. Leading the Public:

CRR chapters 4, 5 (pp. 62-111)
(r)Greenstein, "George W. Bush and the Politics of Agenda Control" from The Presidential Difference [link to Princeton University Press pdf file]

Class Powerpoint 5/14/08

Week 8.

May 19. Congress.

CRR Chapter 3, 8 (pp 21-44; pp. 164-187)

Class Powerpoint 5/19/08

May 21. Running the White House; Mr. Cheney

CRR, chapter 7 (pp. 135-163)
M&N, chapter 16 (pp. 451-478)

Class Powerpoint 5/21/08

PBS Frontline Show Cheney's Law (The first and penultimate sections were played in class. It's all very interesting)

Week 9

May 26. No Class, Memorial Day

May 28. The War Presidency

CRR Chapters 10-11 (p 213-264)
(r)Wayne, "The Influence of Personality on George W. Bush's Decisions to Go to War," From Readings in Presidential Politics [pdf online]

There is no separate class powerpoint for this date.

Week 10

June 2. Dealing with the Judiciary.

CRR Chapter 9 (188-212)

Class powerpoint for 6/2/08 (which is an extended verision of class notes for 5/28)

FINAL EXAM DRAFT. This is the REVISED draft of 6/8/08. This includes several corrections to questions (II(2), 44, 48, 67, 68, 73) as noted on the draft but no new questions. After this point we will still try to address errors or confusions.

June 4. Domestic Policy.

CRR chapter 12 (288-324)

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/

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 ]

Humor

Bush's Presentation at White House Correspondent's Dinner (dead link)

Colbert's Presentation at White House Correspondent's Dinner (apologies for the other trash posted at this link) dead link)

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)

Presidents and the Courts

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

Flemming and Wood, "The Public and the Supreme Court," American Journal of Political Science April 1997 [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]

(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)