WELCOME!

 

Political Science 408: The American Presidency

 

Professor David T. Canon

                                    T-TH,  2:30-3:45 T+TH,

22 Ingraham

 

 

INTRODUCTION

lNuts and Bolts        

–Email classlists. 

–My office hours:  T+TH, 1-2 pm (right before class) and by appointment.  413 North Hall.

–Adam’s office hours:

lT  9:45-10:45;  12:15-1:15 TH, and by appt.

–Sections meet this week:  read the article on presidential lying, (Carl Cannon, “Untruth and Consequences”). “For presidents, consequences matter more than the truth.”

 

Newspapers

Discount subscriptions available:

New York Times - sign up sheets distributed.  Also may sign up at Memorial Union or Union South.

 

Washington Post - use their home page

www. Washingtonpost.com

 

Course Policies

lNote the guidelines on pp. 1-2 of the syllabus

lBooks and readings

lDiscussion section

lClear your calendars for the exams

–Midterm: Tuesday, October 23rd

–Final: Friday, December 21st, 7:25-9:25 p.m., location TBA.

lNo make-up exams  (except for truly extraordinary circumstances).

 

Adding or Changing Sections

lCome up after class if you need to change sections because of a schedule conflict.

lDo Not try to change sections through web registration.

lIf you would like to add the class, you need to be on the waiting list class.

 

My Web Page

lAddress:

 http:// www.polisci.wisc.edu/~dcanon

 

Outlines of the lectures for each week will be available by Tuesday morning.  The page also has a copy of the syllabus and will have exam grades, the paper assignment, etc.

Bookmark the page, and feel free to check out the different links.  Let me know about broken links.

 

Survey

lMajor

lCareer choice

lPrevious American politics courses

lParty affiliation

lIdeology (7-point scale, 1 very liberal, 7 very conservative)

lWhich presidential candidate you will vote for in 2008.

lFirst political memory

 

Purposes of the Course

lGeneral versus specific knowledge

lEvaluate government

lTo help make you better citizens

 

 

Making better citizens (continued)

lThomas Jefferson on the importance of an educated citizenry

–“I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.”

 

Studying the Presidency:  Values and Bias

lBias in research:  What you think about a given president will influence your work.  George Edwards versus Stephen Wayne.

lBias in studying the presidency

–President versus the presidency

–Impact on research on the presidency

 

Approaches to studying the presidency

l Much work on the presidency attempts to describe and then evaluate presidents.  We start by looking at evaluations of presidents. 

lThese approaches attempt to explain presidential behavior and outcomes by looking at different aspects of the presidency:

–Historical

–Constitutional

–Psychological

–Power

–Institutional/rational choice

 

Methods

lTraditional, insider, qualitative.  Too close to power. 

lQuantitative.  N=1 problem, but look at presidential behavior within a presidency.  Examples?

lComparative study of the presidency (Rockman):  Systems, situations, leaders.

l Political Science and the presidency (Ragsdale):  generalizations about presidential imagery and as an institution.  Need “presidency advisors.”  Prevent them from making mistakes.

 

Evaluating Presidents

lNelson’s categories: Savior, Satan, Sampson.  Bias in assessing the presidency based on evaluation of presidents?

lCriteria for rating presidents.  How to distinguish between great, near-great, above average, average, below average, and failed presidents?

 

Evaluating presidents. Cont.

lBryce–why great men aren’t chosen president.  Top talent not drawn into politics.  Congress doesn’t breed greatness.  Eminent men make more enemies than obscure.  Gap between good candidate and president.  Regional background, military background, no Catholics or non-Christians. Method of selection. 

lStill true today?  Women, African-Americans, Latinos, and Mormons.

 

Evaluating Presidents, cont.

ltextbook presidency

lexpectations – the impossible presidency?

                        academics – high expectations.

                        public (Nelson)– we want strength but there are also contradictions; want conflicting things. Also, conflicting policy positions and general approval.  Current polls.

                        press – cynical.