GOV 276 CC: THE U.S. PRESIDENCY

U.S. presidents are often portrayed as singular heads of state and of the government.  Yet presidents do not govern alone.  To study the president is to study executive leadership in a complicated organizational, political, partisan context.  The questions we will ask and debate include:  Who is popularly perceived as “presidential”?  Who do presidents nominate and Senators confirm for elite posts in the executive branch?  What does this selectivity reveal about the workings of power in the U.S. society and political system?  How do presidents set their political agendas?  How do presidents make decisions?  What are the consequences of these agendas and decisions for voters and constituents?  When do presidents lobby Congress?  What role does the Supreme Court play in presidential politics?  How do presidential actions affect the constitutional system of checks-and-balances?