Summer 2003

GOV f330K • The American President

Course Description

This course is organized into the following three parts and associated lecture topics. A. Development of the Presidency: What role has the presidential leadership played in finding solutions to national problems, and how does historical precedent affect current presidential performance. B. Current Presidential Operations: What are the possibilities of the institution, and what resources are available to meet them? What are the state of the art strategies for deploying resources to achieve a president's political and policy objectives? How can the quality of a president's performance in office be reasonable measured? C. Evaluating Presidential Candidates: What are the grounds for choice among candidates for president? How important should character be in appraising the qualifications of presidential candidates, compared to stands on issues and records of political experience and competence? How well does the system for presidential selection work?

Grading Policy

One mid-term One final exam

Texts

To be determined

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