THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE
PLSC 305
ESSENTIAL INFORMATION:
Instructor: Dr. Karen M. Kedrowski
Office: 328 Bancroft Hall
Phone: 803-323-4662
Office Hours: Monday and Friday, 8:30-9:30 a.m. and by appointment
E-mail: kedrowskik@winthrop.edu
COURSE OBJECTIVES AND GENERAL EDUCATION GOALS:
The purpose of this course is to analyze the presidential selection process, the history and development of the institution, and to understand the institution’s powers and limitations.
This course fulfills a Social Science requirement in the General Education program, and addresses the following General Education goals: 1.1, 3.3, 3.5, 4.2, 4.3, 7.2 and 7.4.
REQUIRED TEXTS: The following texts are available at the Bookworm bookstore, Books That Matter, and various web sites.
Pfiffner, James. 2008. Modern Presidency. Fifth Edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth. Required.
Wayne, Steven J. 2008. The Road to the White House 2008: The Politics of Presidential Elections. Eighth edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth. Required.
Han, Lori Cox and Caroline Heldman, editors. 2007. Rethinking Madam President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House? Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Optional (copy on reserve).
Note: Other required readings are available on reserve or on the Internet.
PRE-REQUISITE: PLSC 201 or 201H (American Government) with a grade of C or better.
ASSIGNMENTS: Your course grade will be based on the following assignments:
Exams: Three exams will be given during the course of the term. Two will be administered during the semester on the dates published below. The third will be a comprehensive exam given during final exam week. All exams will be a combination of short answer and long essay questions.
Papers: Students must complete three papers over the course of the semester. All written assignments must adhere to the commonly accepted standards for formal college papers, including using correct grammar, being coherently organized and elegantly written, and citing sources properly. Students should use APSA, APA, or Chicago Manual of Style for citations.
Presidential Candidate Profile. Each student will write a brief (2-5 pages) biography of a current presidential candidate, and include key issues in the candidate’s campaign. Candidates will be assigned to students on the first day of class. Students may use web sites, news coverage, official biographies and/or personal interviews as sources for this assignment.
Analysis of Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Each student will read one week's worth of the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents for any week in 2007 or 2008. These papers should analyze these documents in terms of 1) what they say about the President's various roles and responsibilities, and 2) how they shed light on the President's themes and priorities. This paper should be five-to-eight pages long. The weekly compilation is available in the government documents section of the library.
Research Paper: Each student will investigate and analyze some question about the nature of the institution of the Presidency, such as Founders’ intentions, campaign reform, Electoral College, managing the bureaucracy, presidential war powers, congressional leadership, etc. The purpose of this paper is to get you to explore an issue in depth from the perspective of political science scholars. This paper should be eight-to-ten pages long. An incomplete list of possible topics is attached.
Class Participation, Presentations and Readings: Class participation is important; regular, informed participation is part of your final course grade. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the readings assigned for the day, and to talk in class. In addition, the following will be incorporated into the class participation grade.
Brief Presentations of Papers: Students are expected to make brief, five-minute presentations on the topics of their papers.
Readings Quizzes: I reserve the right to give unannounced readings quizzes as needed throughout the semester. Quizzes, if given, will be incorporated into the class participation grade, and may not be made up if missed.
Periodic one-page writing assignments: To facilitate class participation, I may assign short writing assignments in class that are related to the reading material. These assignments will be part of the class participation grade. These assignments may not be made up if missed.
GRADES:
All grades will be assigned on a scale of "A" to "F," including all plus and minus options. The course grade will be calculated according to the following criteria:
Class Participation 10%
Candidate Profile 10%
Weekly Compilation paper 15%
Research paper 15%
Midterm Exams (15% each) 30%
Final Examination 20%
Total 100%
Course grades will be determined according to the following criteria: A = 93-100%; A- = 90-92%; B+= 87-89%; B= 83-86%; B-=82-80%; C+= 77-79%; C=73-76%; C-=70-72%; D+=67-69%; D=63-66%; D-=60-62% and F = <60%.
CLASS POLICIES:
Make Up Exams: Make-up exams will be given only to students who have a valid excuse and documentation.
Missed Assignments: Students who fail to take any one of the exams, or do not complete all three papers will fail the course, even if they are passing the course based on their scores on the remaining assignments.
Class Listserv: I make liberal use of the class listserv constructed by IT personnel, and you are responsible for all information distributed through this medium. This listserv uses Winthrop University Email accounts. If you do not have a WU email account, please sign up for one immediately. If you have one and check it only infrequently, please make sure that you either check this account regularly, or have the messages forward to an account that you check regularly.
Attendance policy: I do not require attendance (other than on dates of major assignments) and I will not regularly take attendance. However, I will use notes on class participation, quizzes and one page writing assignments as a surrogate for attendance. Systematic absences without a valid excuse will result in a grade penalty.
Late Papers: All assignments are due at the start of class. Late papers will be penalized at a rate of one full letter grades per calendar day. Papers turned in on the due date, but after the start of class, will be docked one-half letter grade. Students turning in late papers because of a valid excuse and documentation will not be penalized.
Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct: Please see attached Departmental Statement.
Plagiarism Detection: Students must submit all papers to the plagiarism detection Web site www.turnitin.com. Failure to submit papers to turnitin.com will result in an automatic grade of F. Late submission to turnitin will be penalized at the same rates as late in-class submissions. The course name and password will be distributed on Email.
Students with Disabilities: Winthrop University is committed to equal access to education for all students. Students with disabilities need to contact Gena Smith, Coordinator, Office for Students with Disabilities to acquire your professor notification form. Students are responsible for meeting with me before the first major assignment to discuss appropriate accommodations.
Cell Phones and Electronic Devices: Please turn off and put away all cell phones, iPODs, PDAs and other personal electronic devices before the start of class. Students may tape record lectures and class discussions, and may take notes on laptop computers. Use of a laptop, unless it is an accommodation required for a disability, is a privilege that I will revoke if I discover that students are engaged in activities, such as answering Email, that are irrelevant to the course or disruptive to other students.
CLASS SCHEDULE
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Section 1: INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL |
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Week 1 January 15 |
Administrative details Problems studying the Presidency Profiles assigned Han and Heldman, Chapter 1 |
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Section 2: PRESIDENTIAL SELECTION PROCESS |
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Week 1 January 17 |
Why is South Carolina Important? Wayne, Chapters 4 and 5
Saturday, January 19, South Carolina Republican Primary |
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Week 2 January 22, 24 |
Discussing the South Carolina Republican Primary Candidate Profile due, January 22
Selecting the President –Constitutional Bases. Hamilton, “Federalist 68” (Available at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html). Madison et al., U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 1 and Amendment 12 (in Pfiffner, Appendices A and B)
Saturday, January 26, South Carolina Democratic Primary |
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Week 3 January 29, 31 |
Discussing the South Carolina Democratic Primary Evolution of the Modern Campaign Wayne, Chapter 1, pp. 2-13
Issues in Modern Campaigns: Money and Politics Wayne, Chapter 2
Monday, January 28: last day to choose S/U option. |
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Week 4 February 5, 7 |
Issues in Modern Campaigns: Coping with the Calendar and the Media Wayne, Chapters 6 and 8
Sex, Gender and Presidential Campaigns Han and Heldman, Chapters 2-3 |
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Week 5 February 12, 14 |
The General Election Campaign, the Electoral College and the Election of 2000 Wayne, Chapter 1, pp 17-end; Chapter 9 |
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Week 6 February 19, 21 |
Is America Ready for a {fill in the Blank} President? Gallup Poll: Analysis: Impact of Personal Characteristics on Candidate Support (distributed via Email) Han and Heldman, Chapter 2
Catch up and Review (Time permitting) |
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Week 7 February 26 |
Midterm Examination 1: Tuesday, February 26 |
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Section 3: HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESIDENCY |
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Week 7 February 28 |
Creating the National Executive Articles of Confederation (Available, http://www.usconstitution.net/articles.html). Pfiffner, Chapter 1, Appendices B (Article 2) and C (except amendment 12) Hamilton’s plan and speech (Available: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/debates/618.htm.) |
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Week 8 March 4, 6 |
Debating the National Executive Hamilton, Federalists 69-73 (Available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html). Anti-Federalist Papers 67, 70, 72, 73 (Available at: http://www.constitution.org/afp/borden00.htm). |
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Week 9 March 11, 13 |
The Consolidation of Power and the Textbook Presidency Pfiffner, Chapter 3 Savage, “Bush signings called effort to expand power.” Boston Globe. 2006.
Weekly Compilation Papers Assigned, March 11
The Consolidation of Power: The Presidential War Power Pfiffner, Chapter 7 Han and Heldman, Chapter 9
Wednesday, March 12, 2008: Last day to withdraw with an automatic “N,” and last day to rescind S/U option. |
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Week 10 March 18, 20 |
Spring Break, No classes |
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Section 4: THE PLURAL PRESIDENCY AND INTERBRANCH RELATIONS |
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Week 11 March 25,27 |
Weekly Compilation Papers Due: Thursday, March 27
The Plural Presidency: Vice Presidents Bauman, Richard. “The Best Worst Job in the United States” American History August 2004. (Available on Academic Search Premier). Washington Post series on Dick Cheney (distributed on Email).
The Plural Presidency: First Ladies Wekkin, Gary D. “Role Constraints and First Ladies.” The Social Science Journal. October 2000. (Available on Infotrak Academic). |
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Week 12 April 1 |
Tuesday, April 1: Midterm Examination 2 |
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Week 12 April 3 |
The Plural Presidency: The Bureaucracy and the White House Staff Pfiffner, Chapters 4-5 |
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Week 13 April 8, 10 |
Interbranch Relations: President and Congress Pfiffner, Chapter 6 Interbranch Relations: President and the Courts |
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Section 6: LEADERSHIP, CHARACTER AND SCANDAL |
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Week 14 April 15, 17 |
Scandals, Abuse of Power and Impeachment Pfiffner, Chapter 8, pp. 255-274
Presidents and Their Place in History Pfiffner, Chapter 8 pp. 274-284. Gallup Poll, “Lincoln Resumes Position as Americans’ Top-Rated President.” |
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Week 16 April 22 |
Research papers due. In class discussion of papers |
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Week 16 April 24 |
Student course evaluations, semester wrap up |
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Week 17 Finals Week |
Thursday, May 1, 2008, 8:00 a.m. FINAL EXAMINATION |
Political Science Department Statement on Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct
The Winthrop University Political Science department abhors all forms of academic misconduct, and faculty members aggressively investigate all incidents of suspected cheating. This includes, but is not limited to, using turnitin.com.
Plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional, is by far the most common form of academic misconduct observed in the Political Science department. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:
· Using the words or ideas of others as one’s own;
· Reproducing, in whole or in part, principal ideas from a fellow student’s work;
· Granting a fellow student permission to copy one’s paper, or to reproduce some or all of its principal ideas;
· Quoting or paraphrasing material from sources without any citation;
· Quoting or paraphrasing material without sufficient and/or proper citation;
· Omitting some or all sources used in a paper; and
· Submitting a paper written for one course -- whether in Political Science or another discipline -- to meet a course requirement in a second course, without the express permission of all instructors involved. This is the case even though many paper topics may be relevant to several different courses.
All incidents of suspected academic misconduct are investigated with equal vigor.
When a faculty member suspects that a student engaged in academic misconduct, the faculty member will follow the appropriate procedures outlined in the Student Handbook. The faculty member will apply whatever sanctions s/he deems appropriate. Possible sanctions include, but are not limited to:
· Failing the assignment;
· Requiring a student to repeat an assignment for reduced credit;
· Requiring a student to repeat an assignment for no credit; or
· Failing the course.
Academic misconduct applies equally to required assignments and extra credit assignments.
All incidents of academic misconduct will be reported to the Department Chair, the Dean of Students, the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the student’s academic advisor. The University may impose its own sanctions in addition to sanctions imposed by the faculty member or the department. The University may impose sanctions even after a student has graduated, and may include revoking a student’s diploma.
In addition, students who engage in more than one incident of academic misconduct may be declared ineligible for departmental awards, ineligible for employment in the department or its affiliated programs, and ineligible to volunteer as a peer advisor.
Adopted August 14, 2007.