Political Science 408, Fall, 2007 Office Hours: T+Th, 1-2 p.m., and by appointment
The American Presidency Telephone: 263-2283, email: dcanon@polisci.wisc.edu
Professor David Canon Office: 413 North Hall
T+Th, 2:30-3:45, 22 Ingraham Teaching Assistant: Adam Kradel, office hours TBA
Course Description
Defining presidential power and understanding the process of presidential policy-making has been a mystifying task for students of the presidency as well as its practitioners. Many tools of social science have been applied to the study of the presidency, including psychological theories, rational choice theory, sophisticated econometric techniques, historical analysis, and survey research. In this course we will survey some of this work in an attempt to understand the role of the president in the political system. We will examine the various approaches to studying the presidency, presidential selection, presidential power, interbranch relations, the role of the public, interest groups, and the media, and presidential policy-making in foreign and domestic policy. I will also provide a historical perspective, emphasizing changes in the nature of the presidency in the history of our nation. We will focus on the presidential election, given the interest in the 2008 campaign. Overall then, the goals of this class are both theoretical and practical: I aim to give you a general basis for understanding the presidency and a greater awareness of the events and institutions.
Course Format
This course will be primarily a lecture class given its size. Yet, I encourage class participation. I often will begin class with a discussion of current events, especially as they relate to the presidency. I encourage you to bring questions to class and to respond to issues I may raise. I also encourage you (and this should be a life-time habit rather than a course assignment) to read a good daily newspaper, or a least a news weekly. The New York Times is available at 60% off the cover price to all UW students (I will hand out subscription forms on the first day of class). I encourage you to subscribe if you do not already have access to high quality national news. This will enhance your understanding of the material presented in class and will make you better able to participate in class discussion.
Readings for the Course
The following books are required for the course and are available for purchase at the University of Wisconsin Bookstore on State Street, the Underground Textbook Exchange, and a Room of One’s Own. There also is a set of readings that is available for purchase at Bob’s Copy Shop in the purple building at 1401 University Ave. These readings are required and will be important in the course. I also will probably email you a few articles throughout the semester on important, fast-evolving issues (such as the presidential campaign):
Michael Nelson, editor. The Presidency and the Political System, Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2006, 8th edition.
George C. Edwards, Governing by Campaigning: The Politics of the Bush Presidency, New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008.
Stephen J. Wayne, The Road to the White House 2008: The Politics of Presidential Elections, Wadsworth Publishing, 2008.
Political Science 408 reading packet, Bob’s Copy Shop.
Student Responsibilities
This will not be new advice, but it is essential to read the assigned readings each week before coming to class and discussion section. It is not possible to put off the reading until just before the exams and expect to do well in the class. Some of the reading will be discussed in class, but others will be points of departure for class discussion and material that I will present in lecture. I expect a critical reading of the material. Do not accept everything you read – you certainly will not agree with everything you are presented with in this class. You will gain much more from class meetings and discussion section if you come prepared. The course outline will be followed as closely as possible; any major departures from the schedule will be noted.
Course Evaluation
There will be a midterm that counts for 30% of your grade, a research paper that is 25%, attendance and participation in section is 10%, and a final exam that is 35%. The format of the exams will be a combination of multiple choice, identification, and essay. The final exam will only be partially comprehensive (75% will be on material since the midterm and 25% will be comprehensive). All reading material and lectures will be fair game on the exams. In calculating the final grade, number grades rather than letter grades will be averaged. I will give you more details about the paper assignment in a few weeks. Briefly, the paper will be a 10-12 page paper that will analyze the presidential candidate of your choice using the various approaches to studying the presidency that we cover in this class. The central purpose of the paper is for you to assess the qualities of the candidate you choose: would he or she be a successful president?
Course Outline
I. Approaches to Studying the Presidency
A. Overviews – September 4
Lyn Ragsdale, “Studying the Presidency: Why Presidents Need Political Scientists,” from The Presidency and the Political System, 6th edition, 2000, in readings packet.
Bert Rockman, "The American Presidency in Comparative Perspective: Systems, Situations, and Leaders," in Nelson, 28-56.
George Edwards, Governing by Campaigning, Chapter 1.
Carl Cannon, “Untruth and Consequences,” Atlantic Monthly, Jan/Feb, 2007, 56-67, in readings packet.
B. Evaluating Presidents – September 4-6
Michael Nelson, "Evaluating the Presidency," in Nelson, 1-27.
James Bryce, “Why Great Men Are Not Chosen President,” in readings packet.
Arthur M. Schlesinger, “Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton,” in readings packet.
C. Psychological Approach – September 6
Michael Nelson, "The Psychological Presidency," in Nelson, 170-194.
David Maraniss, The Clinton Enigma, pp. 27-29, 44-61, readings packet.
D. Historical Approach– September 11-13
Stephen Skowronek, "Presidential Leadership in Political Time," in Nelson, 89-135.
Stephen Wayne, Road to the White House, Chapters 1 and 3.
E. Constitutional Approach– September 18-20
Gordon Wood, review of Bruce Ackerman’s The Failure of the Founding Fathers: Jefferson, Marshall, and the Rise of Presidential Democracy, in The New Republic, November 7, 2005, 32-37, readings packet.
Jeffrey K. Tulis, "The Two Constitutional Presidencies," in Nelson, 57-88.
William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, “Assessing the Constitutional Presidency,” in Readings packet.
F. Power Approach–September 25-27
Richard Neustadt, “The Power to Persuade,” Presidential Power, 1960, from readings packet.
George C. Edwards, “Neustadt’s Power Approach to the Presidency,” in Presidential Power: Forging the Presidency for the 21st Century, edited by Robert Shapiro, Martha Joynt Kumar, and Lawrence Jacobs, 2000, 9-15, in readings packet.
George Edwards, Governing by Campaigning, Chapters 5 and 6.
G. Institutional/Rational Choice Approach–September 27
Terry Moe, "Presidents, Institutions and Theory,” in Researching the Presidency, edited by George Edwards, John Kessel, and Bert Rockman, 1993, in readings packet.
II. Getting Elected
A. The Context: Campaign Finance, The Nomination Process, and election technology – October 2-4
Stephen Wayne, Road to the White House, Chapters 2 and 4.
Richard Pious, "The Presidency and the Nominating Process," in Nelson, 195-218. (You may skim this chapter because much of the material is presented in Wayne’s book).
“Debatable,” The New Republic, June 18, 2007, p.3, in readings packet.
Tova Andrea Wang, “The Presidential Primary System’s Democracy Problems,” The Century Foundation, 3/13/2007, www.tcf.org, readings packet.
Henry Brady, et al., “Law and Data: The Butterfly Ballot Episode,” PS, March, 2001, in readings packet.
B. General Elections – October 9
Stephen Wayne, Road to the White House, Chapters 5 and 6.
John Aldrich, John Griffin, and Jill Rickershauser, “The Presidency and the Election Campaign: Altering Voters’ Priorities in the 2004 Election,” in Nelson, 251-70.
“Debatable,” The New Republic, June 18, 2007, p.3-4., in readings packet.
B. Interpreting presidential elections and presidential mandates – October 11
Robert Dahl, “The Myth of the Presidential Mandate” in Readings packet, 139-56.
Stephen Wayne, Road to the White House, Chapter 8.
C. Reforming the electoral process and the Electoral College – October 16
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.,“Not the People’s Choice: How to Democratize America,” American Prospect, October 25, 2002, in readings packet.
Norman Ornstein, “No Need to Repeal the Electoral College,” State Legislatures, Feb. 2001, in readings packet.
“In Defense of Constitutional Democracy,” Human Events, December 1, 2002, in readings packet.
Stephen Wayne, Road to the White House, Chapter 9.
III. Constraints--Outside the Beltway
A. Public Opinion– October 16-18
George Edwards, Governing by Campaigning, Chapters 3-4.
Marc Hetherington and Suzanne Globetti, “The Presidency and Political Trust,” in Nelson, 235-54.
Bruce Miroff, "The Presidential Spectacle," in Nelson, 255-82.
Jacobson, A Divider, Not a Uniter, chapter 1, in readings packet.
B. Interest Groups – October 18
Daniel Tichenor, “The Presidency and Interest Groups,” in Nelson, 311-40.
Esther Kaplan, “Follow the Money,” The Nation. Nov 1, 2004. Vol. 279:14, pp. 20-23, readings packet.
“Special Report: You ain't seen nothing yet - America's religious right,” The Economist. London: Jun 25, 2005. Vol. 375, Iss. 8432; pp. 30-33, readings packet.
Jonathan Chait, “Special K: Why the Bush Administration is Worse than DiIulio Said,” The New Republic, December 30, 2002 & September 6, 2003, in readings packet.
*********** In Class Midterm Exam on Tuesday, October 23rd ***********
(exam will cover readings through October 18th)
C. Political Parties – October 25th
Sidney M. Milkis, "The Presidency and Political Parties," in Nelson, 341-82.
Jonathan Chait, “The Man Who Gave us Bush,” American Prospect, November 4, 2002, in readings packet.
Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, “The Center No Longer Holds: Why bad times for the Republicans do not mean good times for the Democrats,” New York Times Magazine, November 20, 2005, readings packet.
D. The Media– October 30
Lawrence Jacobs, “The Presidency and the Press,” in Nelson, 283-310.
Fred Barnes, “A War Without Heroes?” The Weekly Standard, December 26, 2005, readings packet.
Eric Alterman, “Fool Me Once . . .”, The Nation, September 23, 2006, readings packet.
Stephen Wayne, Road to the White House, Chapter 7.
IV. Constraints--Inside the Beltway
A. The Bureaucracy– November 1-6
David Lewis, “Presidents and the Bureaucracy," in Nelson, 410-29.
Colin Campbell, “Presidents, Prime Ministers, and the Civil Service, in Nelson, 430-54.
Eli Lake, “Need to Know: The Pentagon v. the CIA on Iraq,” The New Republic, September 23, 2002, in readings packet.
TRB, “Friends,” The New Republic, September 26, 2005, p.6, readings packet.
“Welcome to the Hackocracy,” The New Republic, October 17, 2005, pp.21-25, readings packet.
Mitch Albom, “Muzzling the nation's top doctor,” The Record. Bergen County, N.J.: Jul 17, 2007. p. L9, readings packet.
“A General We're Not Going to Salute,” The Weekly Standard. Washington: Jul 23, 2007. Vol. 12, Iss. 42; p. 4, readings packet.
B. The Courts– November 8-13
David Yalof, "The Presidency and the Judiciary," in Nelson, 481-507.
William Schneider, “The Bush Court,” National Journal, July 7, 2007, Vol. 39:27; p. 58.
“The Roberts Court and how it came to be,” by Terry Eastland, The Weekly Standard, March 12, 2007. Vol. 12:25; pg. 27-29, readings packet.
C. Congress–November 15-20
Matthew Dickinson, "The President and Congress," in Nelson, 455-80.
Charlie Savage, “Bush Challenges Hundreds of Laws ; President Cites Powers of His Office; Boston Globe, April 30, 2006. p. A1, in readings packet.
Charlie Savage, “U.S. Agencies Disobey 6 Laws that President Challenged: Officials Regarded Some as Advisory, Boston Globe, June 19, 2007, p. A1, in readings packet.
Craig Lerner, ABAndoining the Constitution,” National Review, August 10, 2006, in readings packet.
Robert Kuttner, “First Gonzales, Then Bush,” The American Prospect. Sep 2007. Vol. 18:9; pp. 13-14, in readings packet.
Cass Sunstein,“The I-word,” salon.com, June 9, 2005, in readings packet.
Harold Meyerson,“The Trouble With Impeachment,” The American Prospect. Princeton: Sep 2007, Vol. 18:9, pp. 12-3, readings packet.
***** Thanksgiving Break, November 22 *****
V. The Policy Making Process
A. Presidential Staff and Presidential Style – November 27-29
John Burke, “The Institutional Presidency,” in Nelson, 383-409.
Andrew Rudalevige, “The President and the Cabinet,” in Nelson, 533-56.
Richard Allen, “The Day Reagan Was Shot,” Atlantic Monthly, November 2001, in readings packet.
B. Foreign Policy Making Process– December 4-6
Irving Janis, Chapters 1 and 8, in Groupthink, 2-13, 174-97, in readings packet.
Andrew Polsky, “The Presidency at War,” in Nelson, 557-75.
Sen. Russell Feingold, speech on the Senate floor on the Patriot Act and domestic spying, December 16, 2005, readings packet.
Gary Schmitt, “Constitutional Spying,” The Weekly Standard, September 2, 2006, readings packet.
President George W. Bush, Speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention, Kansas City, Missouri, August 22, 2007, in readings packet.
Flynt Leverett, “To the Incoming President: On Iraq,” American Prospect, June, 2007, pp. 16-19, in readings packet.
Louis Fisher, “Judicial review of the War Power,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, September, 2005, pp.446-95, readings packet.
*** Paper due in class on December 6th ***
C. Domestic Policy Making Process and Issues– December 11-13
George Edwards, Governing by Campaigning, Chapters 2, 7-9.
Paul Quirk and Bruce Nesmith, “Divided Government and Policy Making: Negotiating the Laws,” in Nelson, 508-32.
Paul J. Quirk, "Presidential Competence," in Nelson, 158-89.
VI. The Future and Prospects for Change– December 13
Russell Riley, “The Limits of a Tranformational Presidency,” in Presidential Power: Forging the Presidency for the 21st Century, edited by Robert Shapiro, Martha Joynt Kumar, and Lawrence Jacobs, 2000, in readings packet.
***** Final Exam on Friday, December 21st, 7:25-9:25 p.m., location to be announced *****