Study Guide: The Presidency and Bureaucracy
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Date Due |
Assignments
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Weds.,
Jan. 28 |
1.
Read p. 333 – 350 (to “The Office of the President”) Skip the green box on pp. 340-341 2. Answer questions 1 – 10 |
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Thurs.,
Jan. 29/Fri., Jan. 30 |
1. Read the green box on page
340-41 and make sure you understand how it works and the arguments for and
against it. 2. Go to my weblinks page to the links to arguments for and against
the Electoral College. tinyurl.com/86yb6o Pick
at least five articles for your assigned side of the debate. Come up with at least seven arguments for
your side. Be prepared for the debate 3.
Read p. 350 – 354 in the textbook.
Think about the generalizations that the book makes about the
leadership styles of the different presidents. 4.
Start learning the list of presidents and the handout on the Executive Office |
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Mon.,
Feb. 2 |
1.
Read p. 354 – 362 (to “The President’s Program”) 2.
Answer questions 11 - 13 3.
Read your assigned article and make summary or outline of the main points as
you prepare to explain the main points to your partner. a) Richard Neustadt
p. 199 OR b) Arthur Schlesinger p. 205 OR c) Kenneth Mayer p. 231 |
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Tues.,
Feb. 3 |
1.
Read p. 362 – 372 2.
Read the handout on the “Imperial Presidency” 3.
Answer questions 14 – 19 4.
Keep studying for the quiz |
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Weds.,
Feb. 4 |
1.
Quiz on presidents, elections, and cabinet offices 2.
Read “The Paradoxes of the American Presidency” p. 212 in the 3.
List the paradoxes the authors discuss and an example for each |
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Thurs.,
Feb. 5 |
1.
Read p. 375 – 389 (to “Constraints) 2.
Answer questions 1- 6 on The bureaucracy |
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Mon.,
Feb. 9 |
1.
Read p. 389 – 401 2.
Answer questions 7 – 11 |
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Tues.,
Feb. 10 |
1.
Read Hugh Helco on p. 249 in the 2.
Make a list of all the ways that the bureaucracy can sabotage the political
appointees and ways that the appointee can deal with such sabotage. 3.
Read the handout, “Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do
It” by James Q. Wilson 4.
Make a list of the reasons why the federal bureaucracy works the way it does
according to |
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Weds.,
Feb. 11 |
Study
for the test |
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Thurs.,
Feb. 12 |
Test |
Reading Questions
Chapter 12: The Presidency
1. List the differences between a president and a prime
minister.
2. What does it mean to have a divided or a unified
government? Why do we still have gridlock, even with a unified government?
3. What are the arguments for why we have gridlock?
4. How does the difference between representative and
direct democracy explain gridlock?
5. What concerns did the Founders have about the idea of
having of president? How did the
creation of the Electoral College allay those fears?
6. You don’t need to know the details of presidencies
before FDR, but the historical trends are important. The book talks about our
modern concept of the presidency. When
did that really begin and what counter-evidence is there to that concept?
7. Learn the list of presidential powers on p. 344. You should know all of them. Pay attention to which powers the Presidents
shares with the Senate or Congress as a whole or has sole power.
8. What are the
three structures for a president to organize his staff? What are the advantages and disadvantages of
each?
9. Explain how much influence the president has over his
cabinet officials and agency heads.
10. Why is there a tension between the White House staff
and cabinet secretaries?
11. Explain the differences in the three audiences that the
president speaks to. Think about how
Presidents Clinton and Bush have managed to address these three audiences.
12. Explain the reasons why the president’s popularity does
and does not have an effect on getting congressional support for his programs.
13. Give details about the following terms: veto message,
pocket veto, line-item veto, and executive privilege, and impoundment of funds
14. What are the four groups that the book talks about who
have input on a president’s program? Be familiar with the strengths and
weaknesses
15. What are the three constraints on the president’s
ability to plan a program?
16. What is the role of political polls in
decision-making? What are the two models
the book describes for using polls?
17. What is the present line of succession if the president
should die in office?
18. Summarize the conclusion the text makes about the power
of the president and the federal government.
19. After reading the handout on “Restraining the Imperial
Presidency,” make a list of the ways that the Congress tried to limit the
president’s powers in the past 30 years.
Make sure you understand all of these.
Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy
1. What makes American bureaucracy distinctive?
2. What controls does Congress have over the bureaucracy?
3. What concerns does the president have in choosing whom
to appoint? How have these concerns
changed since the 19th century?
4. How and why has the role of bureaucratic agencies
changed since the Civil War?
5. How does the manner in which officials are recruited and
rewarded explain their behavior?
6. How do the personal attributes and political attitudes
affect their behavior?
7. How can bureaucrats sabotage their political bosses?
8. What are the constraints on what an agency can do? Why do we have such constraints and what
effect do these constraints have on agency behavior?
9. Explain what iron triangles are and why they are less
common today.
10. How does
Congress exercise supervision over the bureaucracy? Explain all the different methods of
oversight.
11. What are the
five bureaucratic pathologies that the book identifies? Explain why each exists. Why is it so difficult to reform the
bureaucracy?
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1. |
Divided
government |
23. |
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45. |
Laissez-faire
economics |
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2. |
Unified
Government |
24. |
Congressional
Budget and Impoundment Act (1974) |
46. |
16th
Amendment |
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3. |
Representative
democracy |
25. |
Impoundment |
47. |
Discretionary
authority |
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4. |
Direct
democracy |
26. |
War Powers Act (1973) |
48. |
Competitive
service |
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5. |
Electoral
college |
27. |
Trustee approach and
Delegate model |
49. |
Office
of Personnel Management |
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6. |
Faithless
electors |
28. |
Independent Counsel law |
50. |
Excepted
service |
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7. |
Pyramid
structure |
29. |
Lame duck |
51. |
Merit
system |
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8. |
Circular
structure |
30. |
Presidential
Succession Act of 1947 |
52. |
Civil
Service Reform Act of 1978 |
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9. |
Ad
hoc structure |
31. |
12th Amendment |
53. |
Hatch
Act (1933 and 1993) |
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10. |
Cabinet |
32. |
22nd Amendment |
54. |
Whistle
Blower Protection Act (1989) |
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11. |
Executive
Office of the President |
33. |
25th Amendment |
55. |
Issues
network |
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12. |
Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) |
34. |
Impeachment |
56. |
Authorization
legislation |
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13. |
National
Security Council (NSC) |
35. |
Bully
Pulpit |
57. |
Appropriations |
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14. |
Council
of Economic Advisers (CEA) |
36. |
Inherent
power |
58. |
Committee
clearance |
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15. |
Executive
Agencies |
37. |
Executive
orders |
59. |
Legislative
veto |
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16. |
Independent
Agencies |
38. |
Approval
ratings |
60. |
INS v. Chadha 1983) |
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17. |
Acting
appointments |
39. |
Imperial
presidency |
61. |
Red
tape |
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18. |
Presidential
honeymoon |
40. |
Rule of propinquity |
62. |
National
Performance Review |
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19. |
Veto message and pocket
veto |
41. |
bureaucracy |
63. |
Going
native |
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20. |
Line-item veto |
42. |
patronage |
64. |
Freedom
of Information Act (1966) |
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21. |
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43. |
spoils
system |
65. |
National
Environmental Policy Act (1969) |
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22. |
Executive privilege |
44. |
Pendleton
Act (1883) |
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