POLS 307, The
Fall 2009
Professor Mikel Wyckoff
Office:
Zulauf 403
Hours:
Tuesday,
815-753-7056 mwyckoff@niu.edu
INTRODUCTION
This course focuses on the U.S. Congress and on the
larger question of how the President and Congress interact to make public
policy in the American political system.
We will start by taking a quick look at the historical origins and
development of the Congress and the Presidency, and by considering the origins
and peculiar nature of the American “separation of powers” system. With that general background in hand, we will
then consider how both branches organize, following an election, to do
business, and we will look at factors at play in the legislative process in
Congress. Finally, we will analyze
factors that influence Presidential-Congressional relations in the policy
making arena.
REQUIRED READINGS
The following textbooks are required and should be
available for purchase at both campus book stores:
James
P. Pfiffner, The Modern Presidency (Thomson-Wadsworth
Press, 5th ed., 2008).
Roger H. Davidson and Walter J. Oleszek, Congress and its Members (CQ Press, 12th ed., 2010).
Other
readings in the form of online articles, some of which I will add to the
syllabus as time goes on, will also be assigned. Please consult Blackboard regularly to note
occasional additions to the weekly reading assignments. I hope everyone will also try to follow the
news as President Obama continues his efforts to persuade Congress to pass
health care reform legislation and other programs he wishes to see adopted.
Good online sources of
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS AND RULES OF THE GAME
Cell
Phones and Classroom Decorum. Please silence and refrain from using your
cell phone and other electronic devices during class. Also please be civil, use
common sense, and respect the needs of your fellow students, not to mention the needs of the rapidly aging and
potentially grouchy old professor (“you kids get off my lawn!”) who is trying
to offer you a decent lecture each day.
Grades. Grades for most
POLS 307 students will be determined by their performances on two exams, a
midterm and a final. For these students the midterm will be weighted at 40% and
the final will be weighted at 60%.
However, students who prefer not to have their final grades based
entirely on examinations have the option of writing a term paper. Grades for those students will be based on
the following weights: midterm exam
(35%); final exam (40%); term paper (25%).
If you choose to write a term paper, I urge you to begin working on it
immediately. Papers prepared in a panic
at the last minute are unlikely to be of much help to you.
The exams will include some multiple choice or matching
items but will emphasize essay questions.
If you choose to write a term paper it should analyze
one of President Obama’s major legislative initiatives (for example, his
economic recovery plan, his attempt to reform the nation’s health care system,
or his energy policy reforms). Your goal is not to assess the merits or
demerits of the policy in question.
Rather, the paper should examine the background of the proposal, the
team of people President Obama assembles to work on the project, the President’s
strategy for gaining Congressional and public approval for the legislation,
organized groups working for and against the proposal, and key elements of
Congress (for example, party leaders and committees) that will help determine
the success or failure of the proposal.
The paper should be approximately 10 pages long (typed and
double-spaced) and is due on December 3, should you choose to write one. Late papers will not be accepted.
SafeAssign. Students who choose to write a term paper must submit an electronic copy of their
term papers (in addition to a hard copy) on Blackboard where the paper will be
processed by Safe-Assign, a computer program that checks documents for
instances of plagiarism. If you choose
to write a paper, please do your own
work and write in your own voice. For
more information on plagiarism see my additional comments below.
Attendance
is not formally computed into your grade but I expect you to come to class
regularly, to be on time when at all possible, and to do the assigned readings
on schedule. To encourage you in this
regard I reserve the right to increase a final course grade by up to one-third
of a letter as a reward for good class participation (coming to class and
participating, in an informed way, in class discussions. To help me learn your names I will be setting
up a seating chart about one week from today, and from then on will keep a
daily record of attendance.
Extra Credit. Sorry, but none is allowed. No exceptions.
Makeup Exams
and grades of incomplete will be provided only for extraordinary reasons
(such as serious illness) and documentary evidence is required. Makeup exams may consist solely of essay
questions.
Academic Integrity and
Plagiarism: Plagiarism and other forms of academic
dishonesty are serious offenses that can and do result in serious
penalties. Regarding plagiarism, the NIU
Undergraduate Catalog states: "Students are guilty of plagiarism,
intentional or not, if they copy material from books, magazines, or other
sources (including the Internet) without identifying and acknowledging them.
Students guilty of, or assisting others in, either cheating or plagiarism on an
assignment, quiz, or examination may receive a grade of F for the course
involved and may be suspended or dismissed from the university." The above
statement encompasses a paper written in whole or in part by another; a paper
copied word-for-word or with only minor changes from another source; a paper
copied in part from one or more sources without proper identification and
acknowledgment of the sources; a paper that is merely a paraphrase of one or
more sources, using ideas and/or logic without credit even though the actual
words may be changed; and a paper that quotes, summarizes or paraphrases, or
cuts and pastes words, phrases, or images from an Internet source without
identification and the address of the web site.
If you need more
information about plagiarism, please consult the “Statement on Plagiarism,”
prepared by NIU’s English Department, that I have posted on Blackboard. It may also be informative to do the online
tutorial available on NIU’s Academic Integrity webpage at http://www.ai.niu.edu/ai/. It is your responsibility to educate yourself
with regard to these issues. Ignorance
is not an acceptable excuse for breaking the rules.
Students with Disabilities. NIU abides by Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which mandates reasonable accommodations
be provided for qualified students with disabilities. If you have a disability and may require some
type of instructional and/or examination accommodation, please contact me early
in the semester so that I can provide or facilitate in providing accommodations
you may need. If you have not already done so, you will need to register with
the Center for Access-Ability Resources (CAAR), the designated office on campus
to provide services and administer exams with accommodations for students with
disabilities. The CAAR office is located
on the 4th floor of the University Health Services building (815-753-1303). I look forward to working with you to enhance
your academic success in this course.
Note: I
will do my best to adhere to the following schedule, but I reserve the right to
delay a particular exam or modify a reading assignment if I find it necessary
or useful to do so.
A. Introduction and Overview (September 10)
Read: Davidson
and
B. Presidency and Congress: Nature and Origins of the American
“Separation of Powers” System
(September 17)
Read: Davidson and
Federalist
47 (1st three paragraphs only); Federalist 48 (1st three
paragraphs only);
Federalist
51 (1st five paragraphs only); Federalist 69 (all)
locate all Federalist Papers at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
Articles
I and II of the Constitution (Pfiffner, Appendix B; see esp. sections 1 and 7-9
of Article I.
Question:
Why are the so-called “vesting clauses” of Articles I and II worded
differently? Does
it really matter?
II. THE
MODERN PRESIDENCY
A. Staffing the White House and the Bureaucracy (September
24)
Read: Pfiffner, Ch. 3-5 (skim some of the history
of the Chief of Staff in Ch. 3).
Hendrix
and Shear, “The Chief’s Chief” (Rahm Emanuel)
(Blackboard)
Simendinger, “Cabinet Faces Challenges both Inside and Out”
(Blackboard)
Cohen,
“Frances Perkins: Brief Life for an Ardent New Dealer”
locate at: http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/01/frances-perkins
Baker,
“Obama’s Team is Lacking Most of its Top Players”
(Blackboard)
Edney, “After Months of Talks, Grassley Won’t Sign on with
Baucus” (Blackboard)
B. The President as Legislative Leader (October 1)
Read: Pfiffner,
Ch. 6 and pp. 45-54 in Ch. 2.
Barnes, “In Approval Ratings,
Obama’s Like Ike” (Blackboard)
Krauthammer,
“Obama the Mortal” (Blackboard)
Suggested: I located these long after it was reasonable
to require them, but they are interesting and useful …
Schaller,
“Is Obama Spending His Capital, Wasting it … or Wuz
He Robbed?”
www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/08/is-obama-spending-his-political-capital.html
Dan Balz,
“Health-
voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/08/11/health-care_town_hall_a_platfo.html?hpid=topnews
III. CONGRESS AND ITS
MEMBERS
A. The Electoral Connection: Getting elected (October 8)
Read: Davidson and Oleszek, Ch. 3 (all) and Ch.
pp. 104-118 in Ch. 4.
locate at: http://www.slate.com/id/2208216/
Brownstein,
“What Steele Left Out,” find among documents on Blackboard.
B. Hill Styles and Home Styles: Doing the job in
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 5 (all) and pp. 207-216 in Ch. 7.
Midterm
Exam: Thursday, October 22.
C. Congressional Committees (October 29)
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 7.
Kane,
“Rep. Dingell Loses Energy Post” (Blackboard)
Cohen
and Friel, “Chairmen Rising in Democratic Congress” (Blackboard)
Thumbnail
descriptions of House and Senate Committee Chairs (Blackboard)
D. Party Leadership and Organization in Congress (November 5)
Read: Davidson and
Ota,
“House Rules Package Could Curb Minority’s Power …” (Blackboard)
E. Legislative Process: Rules and Procedures (November 12)
Read: Davidson
and
F. Congress, the President and the Budget Process (November 19)
Read: Davidson
and
relating to budget
proposals.
Thanksgiving
G. Interest Group Politics; Congressional
Decision Making (December
3)
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 9 (esp. pp. 284-end) and Ch. 13.
Final
Exam: Thursday, December 10 during the
normal class period.