Dickinson College
Political Science
290AL
Spring 2004
The New Imperial Presidency?
Presidential Power in the World After Watergate
http://www.dickinson.edu/~rudaleva/290_imp.htm
Professor Andrew Rudalevige
Denny Hall 316 (245-1716; rudaleva@dickinson.edu)
Office Hours: Monday 3-5; Thursday 10-12; or by appointment
As the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal dominated American politics in the 1960s and early 1970s, many claimed that the U.S. presidency had become too powerful, even "imperial." As a result Congress (and sometimes the judiciary) reshaped the statutory relationship between the executive and legislative branches in areas ranging from budgetary policy to foreign affairs. But by the 1990s, many of these reforms were in disarray, unenforced or abandoned -- and the events of September 11 only amplified the trend towards enhanced presidential power. This class will review interbranch relations across American history and ask: Is there a "new imperial presidency" in the 21st century? More broadly, how powerful should the presidency be?
Required Books:
David Gray Adler and Michael Genovese, eds., The Presidency and the Law (2002)
Louis Fisher, Constitutional Conflicts Between Congress and the President (4th ed., rev., 1997)
New York Times, daily subscription through bookstore
Christopher Pyle and Richard Pious, eds., The President, Congress, and the Constitution (1984)
Melvin Small, The Presidency of Richard Nixon (1999)
Other readings will be available on-line, either through the course homepage or via on-line reserve using Blackboard. Readings may be adjusted to reflect current events.
Course Requirements and Grading:
Grading for this course will be based mainly on various types of writing
assignments, reflecting its status as a “W” course. Attendance and participation
are expected at each class and will constitute 15% of your grade.
Response Papers (25%). A one-page paper responding to the week’s readings
will be required most weeks. Due Friday afternoon, these papers will underlie
our discussion for the following week. You may choose to “pass” on two
weeks of your choosing.
Topic Papers (35%). You will be required to write two 1000 word (4 page)
papers. There will be three overall assignments: you must write on the
first topic, and then one of the following two (though you can write on
both if you wish; only your top two grades will count). You will be required
to revise the first assignment after discussing its feedback with me.
Final Paper (25%). This 8-10 page research paper will apply one of the
themes of the course to a current political debate of interest. Topics must
be discussed with me; we will spend time in class going over outlines and
drafts of thesis paragraphs.
Schedule of Readings and Assignments (subject to change, with appropriate notice)
(*) indicates an on-line reading
I. The Constitutional Balance of Power
Week of January 26
The Constitution of the United States [in Pyle/Pious, appendix]
(*) Federalist Papers, #51 (all)
Pyle/Pious, Ch. 1
Week of February 2
Adler/Genovese, Introduction
Pyle/Pious, Ch. 2 (pp. 47-76 only)
(*) Federalist Papers, #69-70
Week of February 9
Pyle/Pious, Ch. 2 (remainder)
II. The First “Imperial Presidency”: Vietnam and Watergate
Weeks of February 16, 23 [no class Feb. 18]
(*) Robert Dallek, Flawed Giant (Oxford, 1999), Ch. 5
Small, Ch. 2-3
(*) Barton Bernstein, “The Road to Watergate and Beyond: The Growth and Abuse of Executive Authority Since 1940,” Law and Contemporary Problems 40 (Spring 1976): 58-86.
Small, pp. 153-65, 236-303
III. The World After Watergate: The Resurgence and Decline of Congress
Weeks of March 1, 8
(*) John Burke, “The Institutional Presidency,” in Michael Nelson, ed., Presidency and the Political System (CQ Press, 2003)
Fisher, Ch. 3, 6
(*) U.S. v. Nixon (1974) [or see Pyle/Pious]
Adler/Genovese, Ch. 3
(*) Walker v. Cheney (U.S. District Court, 2002)
(*) Siobahn McDonough, “GAO: Cheney Denied Papers on Energy Panel,” Washington Post (August 26, 2003).
Week of March 15 - spring break
Week of March 22
review Pyle/Pious, pp. 106-138
(*) Adam Liptak, et al., “After September 11, A Battle Over Civil Liberties,” New York Times (August 4, 2002)
(*) President’s Military Order of November 13, 2001
(*) Alberto R. Gonzalez, “Martial Justice, Full and Fair,” The New York Times (November 30, 2001)
(*) Laurence H. Tribe, “Trial by Fury: Why Congress Must Curb Bush's Military Courts,” The New Republic (December 10, 2001)
(*) American Bar Association, “Report of the Task Force on Treatment of Enemy Combatants,” February 2003
(*) “White House to Appeal Terror Suspect Case,” Associated Press (January 16, 2004)Week of March 29
(*) Morrison v. Olson (1988)
Adler/Genovese, Ch. 5 and 7
Week of April 5
Fisher, Ch. 7
Pyle/Pious, pp. 223-230
(*) Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
(*) Dan Crippen, “Observations on the Current State of the Federal Budget Process” (2002)
Week of April 12
Pyle/Pious, Ch. 4
Fisher, Ch. 8
(*) Bruce Ackerman, “Treaties Don’t Belong to Presidents,” New York Times (August 29, 2001)
Weeks of April 19, 26
Pious/Pyle, Ch. 5
Fisher, Ch. 9
Adler/Genovese,
Ch. 2
(*) John C. Yoo, “Kosovo, War Powers, and the Multilateral
Future,”
University of Pennsylvania Law Review 148 (May 2000): 1673-.
[access through Lexis-Nexis]
(*) Public Law 107-40 (resolution of September 14, 2001)
(*) Public Law 107-243 (Iraq resolution of October 16, 2002)
IV. Assessing Presidential Power in the 21st Century
Weeks of April 26, May 3
(*) Anthony King, Running Scared (Free Press, 1996)
(*) Jeremiah Purdy, “Suspicious Minds,” The Atlantic (January/February 2003)
(*) Arthur Schlesinger, “The Runaway Presidency,” Atlantic Monthly (November 1973)
Adler/Genovese, epilogue
Other on-line resources:
From Steve Van Evera's Guide to Methods
for Students of Political Science
The Harvard Writing Center
Writing with Sources
University of Wisconsin writing center, providing American Political
Science Association citation format
Print resources:
Strunk and White, The Elements of Style
Hacker, A Writer's Reference
Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers...
The
Chicago Manual of Style (the new 15th edition)