AP U.S. Government & Politics 2017-18 Unit 4: Institutions of National Government: The Presidency Calendar Monday 11.13 Due: Assignment 1 In Class: Introduction to the Executive Branch and the Presidency Homework: Assignment 2 Wednesday 11.15 Due: Assignment 2 In Class: The President as an Institution Homework: Assignment 3 Friday 11.17 Due: Assignment 3 In Class: Quiz over readings - Quiz will be multiple choice over all readings In Class: Contemporary rise of presidential power Homework: Assignment 4 Tuesday 11.21 Due: Assignment 4 In Class: Quiz over readings In Class: War Powers Act Homework: Assignment 5 Tuesday 11.28 Due: Assignment 5 In Class: The President and Congress Homework: Assignment 6 Thursday 11.30 Due: Assignment 6 In Class: Presidential signing papers Homework: Study for Unit 4 Test Monday 12.4 In Class: Unit 4 Test Homework: Unit 5: National Institutions: The Judiciary Second Quarter: Due to the number of late assignments from the first quarter, all work is due when it is due. Any late work will be assessed and given a grade no higher than 80. Please use the syllabus as it was intended. Any work that has not been edited for grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and format will not receive a grade higher than 80. Please include your name, the name of the assignment, date, and class on the document. FYI: What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings? International Comparisons Suggest An Answer. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/americas/mass-shootings-usinternational.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=homepage&clicksource=story-heading&module=photo-spotregion®ion=top-news&wt.nav=top-news&_r=1 1
Assignment 2: Due: Wednesday 11.15 Reading, notes and WORK TO HAND IN FOR CREDIT 1. Textbook, Chapter 12, pages 323-329 and take notes from textbook, perhaps using outline given. 2. Please read the following articles found in nixonland74 and answer questions below. You will hand in your responses for credit. a. "Presidential Power and the Modern President," Richard Neustadt ~ Read and take notes on the presidential power as "the power to persuade," noting how Neustadt analyses the different presidents' character. (You need to know how the presidency has changed over time for the test, so you need to use these readings to begin to understand the evolution of presidential power.) TO DO: Please compose responses to the following questions, following the rules of grammar and editing. 1. What is Neustadt s take on the concept of separation of powers? What evidence does he give? Do you agree with him? 2. Distinguish between command and persuade. How does this relate to presidential power? Think about but don t write a response to: Assess Neustadt s conclusions on nuclear proliferation. Do you agree with him? Explain. b. "The Imperial Presidency," Arthur Schlesinger ~ Read and take notes on the excerpt from this classic book on the "imperial presidency," from Washington to Nixon. Use these two readings as point/counterpoint on contrasting sources of presidential power. Think about President Trump's presidency - is it an imperial one? Evidence? Be prepared to answer in class. This website contains an outline of Schlesinger s work, so may be handy in your analysis. https://apgovernmentchs.wikispaces.com/imperial+presidency TO DO: Please compose responses to the following questions, following the rules of grammar and editing. 3. Define imperial presidency, according to Schlesinger, and its connection to secrecy. 4. Schlesinger wrote the imperial presidency initially evolved for a clear and identifiable reason; it then grew due to other secondary factors. Please LIST the factors for the following presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon. 3. Read Article II of the Constitution, and take notes on the specific constitutional powers of the presidency. Know the following powers and current specific examples of each: 1. Military 2. Diplomatic 3. Judicial 4. Executive 5. Legislative Be sure to understand the differences between military powers and diplomatic powers. Specific examples from President Trump? Legislative power? 4. Be able to answer this question: To what extent does the presidency as described in Article II of the Constitution serve to explain how the presidency currently functions? 5. Presidential Historians Survey, CSPAN. https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2017/?page=methodology Crash Course youtube videos: Presidential Powers: Crash Course Government and Politics #11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l02sk5lovi&t=260s U.S. Electoral College, National Archives and Records Administration, (Accessed 11.12.17). https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2016/index.html 2
Assignment 3: Due: Friday, 11.17- Reading and note-taking and a CHART TO CREATE 1. Textbook, pages 329-337 and take notes from the textbook. 2. Please read the following articles found in nixonland74. a. "The 'Imperial Presidency' Triumphant," Michael Cairo ~ Read and take notes on Cairo's work that builds upon the "imperial presidency" themes with Clinton and Bush foreign policies. refer back to your notes on readings from Assignment 2 to put this analysis in context. Think about President Trump s foreign policy decisions, you do not know them? Visit the White House web site or research what our president has been doing in foreign policy for the past year. Think about Obama's foreign policy; is Trump s a continuation or a diversion? b. "From The Paradoxes of the American Presidency," Thomas Cronin and Michael Genovese ~ Read and take notes on Cronin's and Genovese's work that looks at the expectations for the presidency. As you read the references about historical and past presidents, be able to compare this work with Schlesinger's piece. Current president? 3. Compare the president's roles as head of government and head of state. Look at Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, and Trump. Create a chart and bring to class. Assignment 4: Due: Tuesday, 11.21 - Reading, notes, and WORK TO HAND IN FOR CREDIT 1. Textbook, pages 337-339 and take notes on the reading. 2. Please review the article, Going Public and the Problem of Avoiding Presidential/Congressional Compromise, by Lydia Andrade, found in nixonland74. TO DO: Compose responses to the following questions to hand in for credit. 1. Define going public. 2. Discuss one reason that presidents might go public and identify one risk associated with that strategy. 3. Define what is meant by cross-pressured members of Congress. 4. Explain how the president might use techniques as photo ops and pressure on crosspressured members of Congress to achieve his goals. 5. Analyze how and if President Trump is using his twitter account to go public. (Think about what kind of information he includes in his tweets; do they represent the same process that Andrade writes of?) 3. Readings on the War Power Act of 1973 (Handout) 1. "War Powers, International Alliances, the President, and Congress," Adam Schiffer and Carrie Lu Currier. 2. The War Powers Act of 1973 3. Might need to refresh your memory as to the historical context in which this act was written and passed. Feel free to research and know the circumstances behind this congressional act. TO DO: Compose responses to the following questions to hand in for credit. 1. What social and political forces brought the War Powers Act of 1973 into being? 2. How does this act change the institutional power relationship between the presidency and Congress? 3. What powers does it take from the president? What powers does it give Congress? (List all) 4. Try to answer: Every president since Richard Nixon has argued or suggested that the War Powers Act (or resolution) is unconstitutional. Is it? Why or why not? Can it work? 3
Assignment 5: Due: Tuesday, 11.28 Read and take notes and analysis to be handed in for credit 1. Textbook, pages 339-349 2. U.S. Supreme Court cases and Executive Power: a. Read all of these cases and b. Take notes on how each one expands the power of the presidency. 3. Include the specific historical events that took place when this power was extended...or not? 4. Include a brief analysis of the impact of these cases on the powers of the president. Will be handed in for credit. Assignment 6: Due: Thursday, 11.30- Reading and handing in notes for credit 1. Presidential signing papers: Please read the articles on the use of presidential signing papers by president George W. Bush. Research signing papers to see what other presidents have used these. Take notes. What is the constitutional basis of presidential signing papers? Are they constitutional? In what ways do they expand the power of the presidency? 2. Go to The Miller Center web page: www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/policy CHAPTER 12 LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After studying this chapter, students should be able to: 1. Explain how the personality of the individual who serves as president makes a difference. 2. Describe the constitutional process of impeachment and explain why it is so difficult to remove a discredited president before the end of his term. 3. Outline the procedures established in the Twenty-fifth Amendment to deal with presidential succession and presidential disability. 4. Trace the evolution of the presidency from the limited office envisioned by the framers to the more powerful contemporary office. 5. Identify the major offices and positions that serve as key aides and advisors to the president. 6. Examine the ways in which the American system of separation of powers is actually one of shared powers. 7. Identify the powers that lead us to refer to the president as chief legislator. 8. Review methods by which presidents may improve their chances of obtaining party support in Congress. 9. Summarize the constitutional powers that are allocated to the president in the realm of national security. 10. Identify and review major roles and functions of the president such as chief executive, chief legislator, commander in chief, and crisis manager. 11. Determine the role that public opinion plays in setting and implementing the president's agenda. 12. Describe the methods used by presidents and their advisors to encourage the media to project a positive image of the president's activities and policies. 13. Examine the impact that changing world events (such as the transition from the 1950s and 1960s to the era of Vietnam and Watergate) have had on public debate over whether a "strong" president is a threat or a support to democratic government. Terms: All of the terms used in the textbook as well as... Caucus Expressed powers of the executive branch Delegated powers of the executive branch Inherent powers of the executive branch Commander-in-chief powers War Powers Resolution of 1973 4
Executive agreement Executive privilege Veto Pocket veto Line item veto Legislative initiative Executive orders Veto Pocket veto Line item veto Legislative initiative Executive orders National Security Council (NSC) White House Staff Cabinet departments and jurisdiction White House staff Kitchen cabinet Executive Office of the President (EOP) Mandate Permanent campaign Office of Management & Budget White House Communications Office Congressional Review Act (CRA 2000) Council of Economic Advisors Impeachment National Security Council Office of Management and Budget Presidential coattails Twenty-fifth Amendment Twenty-second Amendment General Accounting Office Executive Agencies 5
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