Political Science 355: The American Presidency
Scott Lemieux
Gowen 114
Email: slemieux@uw.edu
Office hours: M 2:30-3:30 in person, online T 1-2 or by appointment
TAs:
Levi Jaeger, AA & AB , Office Hours: R: 10 am - 12 pm (GWN 28). Email: ljaeger1@uw.edu
Yi Zhang, AC (F 11:30-12: 20 LOW 222) & AD (F 12:30-1: 20 LOW 222), Office Hours: M 2:25-4:25 pm (GWN 32), yiz42@uw.edu
Course description: This course will examine the development of the American presidency. We will start by examining the formal powers of the presidency and then examine how the power of the president has changed over time (even as the formal powers of the office remain largely unchanged). We will examine such issues as the presidential nomination and election process, how leadership patterns recur throughout history, how the presidency has influenced civil rights, how the president works with other branches, and the foreign policy powers of the presidency.
Other Class Policies:
- Online interactions should follow the UW’s "netiquette" guidelines. Always treat your peers and instructors respectfully in online as well as in-person interactions.
- Please notify your instructors in advance if you need an extension for submitting an exam. If you have an illness or family emergency that makes completing an exam on time impossible, please notify the instructors as soon as possible.
- Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty. will result in a grade of “0” for the given exam/assignment, and students will also be subject to the UW’s disciplinary procedures. All material submitted online may be subject to Turnitin or other plagiarism detection software. The use of ChatGBT is an act of academic dishonesty and will be subject to the same sanctions.
- Please inform an instructor if you have a disability that will require accommodation. You will be provided with any accommodation mandated by the Americans With Disabilities Act, state and local regulations, and university policy.
- Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Links to an external site.Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Links to an external site.Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/)
- Grade appeals process:
- If you would like to appeal your grade, please wait 24 hours after receiving your assignment. After 24 hours have elapsed, submit a typed and printed appeal and that explains why you deserve a better grade and the graded assignment to the TA. Please note that your entire assignment will be regraded.
- Once the TA has reviewed your appeal, he or she will set up a virtual "appointment" to discuss your appeal.
- If you are still unsatisfied with your grade, the TA will take your assignment and appeal to the professor. Please note that the professor will not review your appeal until the TA has made an assessment of your appeal.
- Note that if you request a re-grade by the professor your grade may be lowered, raised, or left unchanged once you have submitted your grade appeal.
- All grade appeals must be submitted within one week of the graded assignment being handed back.
Course books
The books for the course are available for purchase at the University Bookstore and all major online booksellers:
Stephen Skowronek, Presidential Leadership in Political Time: Reprise and Reappraisal, 3nd ed.
Rebecca Thorpe, The American Warfare State: The Domestic Politics of Military Spending
Exams, assignments and grading:
There will be three non-cumulative virtual "take-home" exams. Each will constitute 25% of the grade. See the class schedule for when these exams will be posted and when they must be completed. The due date is the only deadline -- you are not required to complete the exam in one particular time window within the exam period. The remaining 25% of the grade will be based on section participation and assignments, based on the criteria established by your TA.
Class schedule
Readings marked with an asterisk (*) will be available under the “Files” tab on the course Canvas page. The other readings are either from the assigned textbooks or available via hyperlink. Make sure to check back every week: some readings may be subject to change based on current events, etc.
Classes are in-person (subject to changes in university policy) unless otherwise noted.
9/24 Class Introduction
The Constitutional and Institutional Presidency
9/29 U.S. Constitution, Article II (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 69-71 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
10/1 Jamelle Bouie, "Andrew Johnson's Violent Language
Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak, "How Roberts Shaped Trump's Supreme Court Winning Streak" [Gift link]
Emily Bazelon, "Can He Do That?" [Gift link]
10/6 Trump v. US (2024)[Excerpts available on Canvas]
Presidents, Elections, and the Politics of Racial Identity
10/8 Jesse Wegman, "Joe Biden Won the Most Votes. It Doesn't Matter."
Seymour Spilerman, “The Case for the Electoral College.".
Nate Cohn, "Republicans'' Electoral College Edge, Once Seen as Ironclad, Looks to be Fading" [gift link]
10/13-15 Megan Ming Francis, “Black Lives Matter From Wilson to Trump: Social Movements in APD,” from Callen and Rocco, eds., American Political Development and the Trump Presidency.*
Sides et. al., Identity Crisis, Ch. 1,4,8,9.*
Hannah Hartig et. al., "Behind Trump’s 2024 Victory, a More Racially and Ethnically Diverse Voter Coalition."
10/17 First midterm posted on Canvas after the last section. The exam must be submitted through the link on the course Canvas page by Tuesday, October 21 at 5 PM. No class meeting October 20.
10/22-27 Presidential Leadership, Communication and Reputation
Maltese et al., Ch. 3.*
Edwards, On Deaf Ears, Ch. 1-3*
Ezra Klein, “The Unpersuaded,” The New Yorker
10/29-11/5 Presidential Leadership and the Presidency in "Political Time"
Maltese et al., Ch. 4. (*)
Skowronek, Presidential Leadership in Political Time Ch 1-3; 6-7.
Julia Azari, "Scrambled Cycle: Realignment, Political Time, and the Trump Presidency,” from Callen and Rocco, eds., American Political Development and the Trump Presidency.* *
Scott Lemieux, “Is Donald Trump the Next Jimmy Carter?,” The New Republic January 23, 2017.
Thomas Edsall, "The Fight Over How Trump Fits in With the Other 44 Presidents".
11/10-17 The Executive branch and the Judiciary
Maltese et al., Ch. 6-7.(*)
Glenn Thrush, "The Lure of Executive Orders: Easy to Implement, but Just as Easy to Cancel"
Kate Sullivan, "Here are the Executive Orders Biden has signed in his first 100 days"
Rebecca Ruiz and Robert Gebeloff, "As Trump Leaves the White House, His Impact on the Federal Judiciary Deepens."
Elena Mejia and Amelia Thompson-DeVeaux, “How Biden is Re-Shaping the Courts.”
NFIB v. OHSA and Biden v. Nebraska [excerpts]
Second midterm posted on Canvas November 18. The exam must be submitted through the link on the course Canvas page by Friday, November 21. No class meeting November 19 or section meeting November 21.
The Presidency and Foreign Policy
11/24 Rebecca Thorpe, The American Warfare State: The Domestic Politics of Military Spending, Ch. 1-3
11/26 Thorpe, Ch. 4-5
12/1 Thorpe, Ch. 7-9.
12/3 Mark Graber, “Counter-stories: Maintaining and Expanding Civil Liberties in Wartime.”*
United States v..Zubaydah (2022)
Final exam (non-cumulative) posted on Friday, December 5 and due Wednesday, December 10 by 6 PM on the course Canvas page.