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Department of Politics

364. Congress &
the Presidency

October 2003

Dr. Craig W. Allin, Instructor
Amanda Swygart-Hobaugh,
Consulting Librarian
 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2003

The following Supplements to this Course Description can be found on the Web:

Calendar & Assignments Legal Resources of Russell Cole Library Research Strategies
Rules & Regulations Internet Research Links Academic Integrity
Grades Documenting Electronic Sources Good Advice

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Synopsis: This is a course about Congress and the presidency, the central policymaking institutions of the American Republic. These two institutions are engaged in a permanent struggle for control of American public policy and the bureaucrats who carry it out. The struggle may be moderated when Congress and the presidency are controlled by the same party, but the constitutional division of power assures us that the executive and legislative branches will always be rivals for power. Congressional supremacy is a written into the Constitution, but modern technology and the nation-state system may demand presidential supremacy. It's not always clear who's on top. In recent decades some scholars have worried about an "imperial" presidency; others have worried about an "imperiled" presidency. The relative powers of Congress and the presidency have waxed and waned with events and circumstances, sometimes on an almost daily basis. Indeed the very best and very most recent textbooks -- the ones we are reading for this course -- are already out of date. The details change, but the struggle for supremacy continues unabated. Together we will assess the tools and resources that each institution brings to this struggle and look for insights in case studies of legislative/executive conflict.

Feedback: Whether or not you are asked to complete a standardized course evaluation, I am interested in your comments and suggestions for improvement of the course, the readings, the assignments and this course description. Feel free to send comments as you think of them. E-mail: callin@cornellcollege.edu.

Instructor: Craig W. Allin, Room 307, South Hall. Telephone: Office, (895-) 4278; Home, 895-8103. Phone messages may be left with faculty secretary Cheryl Dake (895-) 4283 or in her voice mail box or on the answering machine at my home. I do not check my office voice mail. If I do not answer the phone, I recommend contacting me by e-mail: callin@cornellcollege.edu.

"Normal conditions should be restored in two or three months."
-- Herbert Hoover (May 1930)

Office Hours: If I'm not in class with you, you can probably find me in my office. Feel free to make an appointment or just show up. To help you find me, schedule is available for your electronic inspection over the campus network if you are using Microsoft Outlook.

  1. On the File menu, point to Open, and then click Other User's Folder.

  2. In the Open Other User's Folder box, click Name and select Craig Allin from the list.

  3. In the Folder box, select Calendar from the pull-down menu.

E-Mail: In order to provide quick and legible feedback on your work, please deliver your papers, paper-preparatory submissions, and take-home quizzes (if any) by means of e-mail attachments. Please save your papers and other submissions in WordPerfect (*.wpd) or Word (*.doc) or Rich Text (*.rtf) formats. Please use your name for the file name. E.g., craig-allin.doc. It doesn't help me find what I need if I have 25 files all named "paper." Attach your file to an e-mail addressed to callin@cornellcollege.edu. If you have not sent e-mail attachments before, check here for instructions.

Class Meetings: Generally 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in Room 302, South Hall. For details and irregularities check Course Calendar & Assignments.

Books: The following are available at the bookstore. Things change rapidly in the world of Congress and the Presidency. Please don't try to muddle through with older editions of the books.

  • George C. Edwards III & Stephen J.Wayne: Presidential Leadership: Politics & Policy Making (6th edition, 2003)

  • Roger H. Davidson & Walter J. Oleszek: Congress & Its Members (9th edition, 2004)

Internet Resources: The Home Page for the Politics Department is at http://www.cornellcollege.edu/politics/. It contains a wealth of valuable information including programs and requirements of the Department of Politics, information about Politics Courses, and research links for politics, government, and law.

"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you.
Fool me—you can't get fooled again."
— George W. Bush (Nashville, September 17, 2002)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

  1. Attendance: Students are expected to attend all classes and to complete all assignments prior to class time on the day for which they are assigned. You should read carefully and be prepared to discuss the assignments intelligently. To protect your right to make up any missed work, even officially excused absences must be communicated to me in advance. No specific portion of the course grade is assigned to attendance per se, but attendance is the minimum condition related to your participation grade.

  2. Mini-Reports: On two days you will be responsible for a five-ten minute report to the class. Each report will count for 10 percent of the final course grade, and reporting dates will be assigned the first day of class. Reports are of two kinds, and you are to do one of each:

    1. Web Exercise: Your presidential text includes a number of "web exercises." Click here for the list of approved exercises. Each is an opportunity briefly to explore an issue related to the chapter in which it appears by analyzing recent information on the Internet. You are to complete the web exercise for which you signed up according to the instructions in the text and report what you did and what you learned to the class. Because you research will be web-based, I would encourage you to use the web to illustrate your report to the class. For example, consider doing a PowerPoint outline of your report with embedded web links. Submit a 500-word synopsis of your report by e-mail attachment prior to the class for which the report is scheduled.

    2. Independent Reading: The description of this assignment and advice as to how to proceed appear in a separate section below. Click here for the list of available topics.

  3. Quizzes: There will be three quizzes covering the assigned reading and discussion. Each quiz will count for 8.333 percent of the course grade, but since I can't cope with that number either, I'll grade them on a 100-point scale and let the computer do the math. Quizzes may or may not be announced in advance, but don't be shocked if they happen on the last business day of each week. You may use your notes, but not your text books for quizzes completed in class. You may use your notes and your texts for take-home quizzes, if any. Quizzes are conducted on an honor system. In each instance, you will be required to certify that you have not accepted aid from another student, given aid to another student, or used notes or materials except those explicitly permitted. Study groups and group preparation for exams and quizzes are encouraged, but duplicated "group notes" may not be used during quizzes.

  4. Individual Project: Each student will complete a research paper and seminar report on an approved topic. This assignment is described in detail in a separate section below. This component will count for 50 percent of the final course grade.

  5. Class Participation and Fudge Factor: The final 5 percent of the course grade will reflect my assessment of your contribution to the success of the class.

"Reader suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
-- Mark Twain (Manuscript note, c.1882)


INDEPENDENT READING AND REPORTING ASSIGNMENT

As is the custom in many graduate seminars, you have reading and reporting responsibilities that go beyond the assigned texts. The Course Calendar & Assignments lists discussion topics for each day of the class beginning on Day #2 and concluding on Day #13. When the responsibility has been assigned to you, you are obligated to locate, read, analyze, and share additional material relevant to the day's discussion topic. Your independent reading assignment for any given day is one chapter in a scholarly book or one article in a scholarly journal. Each selection must be within the scope of the day's discussion topic and should bear some relationship to the topics covered in the assigned texts.

Your grade for this portion of the course will depend upon both what you contribute to the seminar discussion and what you submit in writing.

For the class discussion your job is:

  1. to provide the basic bibliograpohical information on your source

  2. to summarize the hypothesis, research methods, and conclusions or other major points,

  3. to relate your selection to the assigned readings we have all done, and

  4. to share the lessons you learned from the selection, and

  5. to answer questions from the other participants in the seminar.

Your written assignment is a formal abstract of the selection you read. Your abstract should contain the complete bibliographical entry in an approved format followed by an accurate synopsis of the selection in proper English. It should be typed, single-spaced, and limited to 500 words. The abstract should be submitted by e-mail attachment prior to the class period for which your selection was prepared. Note: Your abstract synopsizes only the contents of your selection. It does not include the analyses (parts 3 through 5 above) that are part of your oral report. For further information consult How to Write an Abstract. For an example click here.

It is my hope that this form of assignment will have at least three benefits:

  1. the opportunity to learn from fellow students,

  2. the opportunity to evaluate and select from among a wide range of appropriate reading, and

  3. the opportunity to enhance your research, analytical and presentation skills.

Here are some hints to get you started:

  1. Make use of Cole On-Line and the various on-line indexes available through Cole Library.

  2. Search out recently edited volumes that print or reprint significant articles in areas of interest to our course.

  3. Search out relevant texts which contain notes and/or bibliographies which can help you find relevant reading. Don't ignore the possibilities raised by the citations in our own text books.

  4. Select recent articles and books unless the specific discussion topic is historical.

  5. Consult A Guide to Accessing and Evaluating Scholarly Resources to make sure you know scholarship when you see it.

"It is gratifying to see at this table tonight the most superbly educated men in the world, for in this room there are three Rhodes scholars, four graduates of Harvard, three of Yale, and one from Southwest Texas State Teachers College."
-- Lyndon Johnson


INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ASSIGNMENT

Learning Objectives:

  1. To enhance knowledge of the complex interactions of Congress, the President, and other players as they engage over a specific area of public policy.

  2. To improve knowledge of research methods and materials including scholarly articles and books, government documents, Internet resources, and specialized indexes.

  3. To emphasize the role of grammar, punctuation, spelling, mechanics, usage, and documentation in effective expository prose.

  4. To master the use of a recognized style sheet.

  5. To use critical comment effectively as a means of improving your writing.

  6. To communicate your expertise orally.

  7. To use presentation software effectively.

ASSIGNMENT: Surprise! Your assignment is NOT a policy paper. I have described the interaction of Congress and the Presidency as a struggle for supremacy over American public policy. You are to prepare case study of that struggle and to present it in a paper and in an oral report to the class. As you prepare your case you should attempt to answer the following questions:

  1. What happened in this case?

  2. Why did it happen in this case?

  3. What are the broader lessons, conclusions, generalizations, or hypotheses that arise from this case?

Samples of case studies done for this class on the Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Panama Canal Treaty, the 1996 Clinton-Gingrich Budget Showdown, and the Partial Birth Abortion Debate are available for your examination.

The assignment has six distinct procedural phases.

Phase I -- TOPIC SELECTION & CONFIRMATION OF RESOURCES: I will post a roster. Register your case topic as soon as you have selected it. The topic is not yours until it is registered. You may not select a topic that has already been registered by another student. Your case study may be contemporary or historical, but it must involve both the Presidency and the Congress in some effort to make public policy. No later than the 6th day of the course you must submit a paragraph describing your case topic and an annotated bibliography sufficiently well developed to guarantee that you have the materials required for your project. Your bibliography must indicate with specificity which sources will provide the information you need concerning Congress and which the information you need about the Presidency. If there are other important players--interest groups, etc.--indicate which sources will provide information on them. Do not include any source in your bibliography that you have not actually consulted. The bibliography is to be a list of sources you have examined, not a list of sources that exist somewhere according to some index. Your submission must be in the form of a proper electronic manuscript with bibliographic entries in proper form according to one of the approved styles. Please consult "Common Sense for College Students: Papers," for the list of approved styles.

In most cases your bibliography should include some mix of scholarly books, articles in scholarly journals such as law reviews, and primary sources such as government documents. See Research in the Social Sciences: Politics and the linked Research Guides. A paper that is overly reliant on popular magazines and newspapers is not appropriate at the college level. If you are unable to find sufficient real scholarship or primary materials relevant to your proposed topic, you should interpret that as a bad omen and change topics.

The Internet is both a blessing and a curse. The Internet is exploding with information: there are more than 10,000 new web sites per day. Much of what is becoming available on line is exceptionally valuable and comes from reliable sources. Examples include Supreme Court decisions from the Supreme Court and Congressional documents from the Library of Congress. On the other hand, much of what is available is garbage. Consider that scholarly books and articles have been reviewed by experts prior to publication as well as by editors employed by the publisher. Even popular newspapers and magazines contain information that has been subjected to a modicum of checking for accuracy and balance. "Information" appears on the Internet without any guarantee of accuracy beyond the professional reputation of the individual or organization that posted it. This places an enhanced responsibility on you to determine the reliability of your sources. See Locating & Evaluating Internet Resources. Don't be duped into representing somebody's misinformation or propaganda as fact. Don't expect me to accept Internet sources that are not documented to a high standard as outlined in Documenting Electronic Sources.

Phase II -- RESEARCH: Give particular attention to the Congressional and Executive Branch documents that can provide data and insights relevant to writing your case history. A good primer for this kind of research is A Guide to Legislative History, Presidential and Executive Agency Documents,
and Advocacy Research. Explore for relevant scholarly articles and books. Contrary to popular belief, not everything is digital. Cases more than 10 years old will require the use of hard copy indexes. Remember the central questions are: (1) What happened in this case? (2) Why did it happen in this case? (3) What are the broader lessons, conclusions, generalizations, or hypotheses that arise from this case? Target your research to answer these questions.

Phase III -- OUTLINE or ABSTRACT: No later than the 11th day of the course you must submit an outline or abstract of your paper/presentation. Your outline or abstract should include the answers in brief to the key questions: (1) What happened in this case? (2) Why did it happen in this case? (3) What are the broader lessons, conclusions, generalizations, or hypotheses that arise from this case?

Phase IV -- PAPER: Your case history, analysis, and conclusions will be presented in a formal paper with appropriate manuscript format, proper citations, etc. It is quality, not quantity that counts, but case studies by definition require quite a lot of description. I would guess that many of you might end up in the range of 2500 to 3500 words exclusive of notes, illustrations, appendices, etc. Your work product in this form is worth 20% of the final course grade.

Phase V -- SEMINAR PRESENTATION: Your case history, analysis, and conclusions will also be shared with the class in the form of a seminar report. You will have 15 minutes to make your presentation. You will not have sufficient time to read your paper, nor would it be appropriate to do so. You will want to rework your material, including text and illustrations (if any), for the most effective possible oral presentation. Generally a good oral report will require you to simplify the presentation and to give even greater attention to organization and to communicating that organization to the listener. Effective oral presentation depends on your knowing your material well. Presentation from notes is preferred to reading from a text, but reading from a text is better than rambling and confusion. Visual aids often support, clarify, or add interest to oral presentations. We have the luxury of a classroom equipped for digital projection, so use it to good advantage. Clarity of organization is even more important in oral presentation than in prose. A listener can't go back and rehear what you just said the way a reader can go back and reread what you wrote. It's simple-minded and formulaic, but it's often wise to preview your presentation ("tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em") at the beginning and to review your presentation ("tell 'em what you told 'em") at the end. Oral presentations don't have formal notes or bibliographies, but it is still wise to communicate sources of specialized information to the listener. E.g., "A 1997 study by University of Michigan law professor Melissa James concluded that. . . ." Your instructor and selected classmates will provide you with critiques of your oral presentation, which is worth 20% of the final course grade.

Phase VI -- REWRITE: I will provide you with a written critique of your paper. You will utilize this feedback to rework and improve your paper. The rewrite is required and accounts for an additional 10% of your course grade. Making the obvious changes will preserve your original grade. Significant improvements in substance or presentation will increase your original grade.

Please consult "Common Sense for College Students: Papers," for information and suggestions pertinent to writing any paper, as well as requirements that apply to all papers written in courses I teach.
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