POLS 307, The
Spring 2009
Professor Mikel Wyckoff
Office:
Zulauf 403
Hours: W 2:00
– 5:00 and by appointment
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 original logic 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 examine
important internal organizational elements of each institution. 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, 11th ed., 2008).
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 from time to time. 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 enters the White House and attempts to persuade
Congress to pass laws to implement the programs he wishes to see adopted. Good online sources of Washington news
include washingtonpost.com, nytimes.com.,
and nationaljournal.com. The
latter is a specialty publication that is available free if you have an NIU
account. Please take advantage of one or
more of these news sources as you take this course.
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 POLS 307 students will be determined by your performance on two exams
(a midterm and a final), and a term paper.
The weights assigned to each element are as follows:
Midterm 35%
Final
Exam 40
Term
Paper 25
100%
The exams will include some multiple choice or matching
items but will emphasize essay questions.
The term paper will focus on one of President Obama’s major legislative initiatives (for example, his
economic recovery plan, or his proposals to reform the nation’s health care
system or its energy policies). 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. Additional
guidelines will be provided in class.
The paper should be approximately 10 pages long (typed and
double-spaced) and is due on April 27.
Late papers will be penalized at the rate of 1/3 of a letter grade per
day.
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.
SafeAssign. All students 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. Therefore, please do your own work and write in your own voice.
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 (January 12)
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 1 and the preface in the Pfiffner book.
Knowlton, “Obama Presses for Action on the Economy”
(Blackboard)
Cohn and Sanchez,
“Senate Dems Give Axelrod,
Summers An Earful About Obama's
Tax Provisions (Blackboard)
Cohn,
“House Democrats Warm To Credit for Workers, Families” (Blackboard)
Chapman, “False Cures
for the Recession” http://www.reason.com/news/show/130398.html
Krugman, “Fighting off
Depression” http://nytimes.com/2009/01/05/opinion/05krugman.html
B. Presidency and Congress: origins, evolution and powers (January 26)
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 2 and Pfiffner, Ch. 1 and Appendix B.
Federalist
47 (1st three paragraphs only); Federalist 48 (1st three
paragraphs only);
Federalist
51 (1st five paragraphs only); Federalist 69 (all)
locate 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.
II. THE
MODERN PRESIDENCY
A. The White House Staff and the Executive Office
of the President (February 2)
Read: Pfiffner, Ch. 2-3.
Hendrix
and Shear, “The Chief’s Chief” (Rahm Emanuel) (Blackboard)
B. The Bureaucracy: Staffing and controlling the administrative
agencies and departments (February 9)
Read: Pfiffner,
Ch. 4. Davidson and
Oleszek, Ch. 11.
MacGillis, “For Obama Cabinet a Team of Moderates”
(Blackboard)
Cohen,
“Frances Perkins: Brief Life for an Ardent New Dealer” http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/01/frances-perkins
C. The President as Legislative Leader I
(February 16)
Read: Pfiffner,
Ch. 6 and pp. 45-54 in Ch. 2.
Barnes, “In Approval Ratings, Obama’s Like Ike” (Blackboard)
III. CONGRESS AND ITS MEMBERS
A. The Electoral Connection: Getting elected (February 23)
Read: Davidson and Oleszek, Ch. 3 (all) and Ch.
pp. 104-118 in Ch. 4.
Midterm
Exam: Monday, March 2.
Spring
Break: Week of March 9
B. Hill Styles and Home Styles: Doing the job in Washington and staying
elected (March 16)
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 5 (all) and pp. 207-216 in Ch. 7.
C. Party Leadership and Organization in
Congress (March 23)
Read: Davidson and Oleszek, Ch. 6.
Ota,
“House Rules Package Could Curb Minority’s Power …” (Blackboard)
D. Congressional Committees (March 30)
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 7.
Kane,
“Rep. Dingell Loses Energy Post” (Blackboard)
E. Legislative Process: Rules and Procedures (April 6)
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 8.
F. Interest Group Politics; Congressional
Decision Making (April 13)
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 9 (esp. pp. 284-end) and Ch. 13.
G. The President as Legislative Leader II (April 20)
Read: Davidson
and Oleszek, Ch. 10 and pp. 428-445 in Ch. 14.
H. Congress, the Presidency and National
Security (April 27)
Read: Pfiffner,
Ch. 7
Final
Exam: Monday, May 4 from 4:00 to
4:50