Davis
The American Presidency
First Hour Exam
Your answers to the questions below should be written on this exam sheet in the appropriate space. Partial credit may be given for incomplete answers. Put down what you know. Read questions carefully.
1. In her essay on studying the presidency, Lynn Ragsdale has written, "Presidents could benefit from studying the presidency." Based on what you have learned so far what might a president or presidential candidate learn from a course like this on the presidency? (15pt) Having a positive image is important. International crises and short conflicts
push up public support; long conflicts and economic recession drive down support. Support declines over eight years. A chief if staff is necessary and cabinet government is unworkable. Setting the agenda early improves the chance of success, but the more legislation attempted the lower the success rate. Public approval improves success in Congress while success in Congress imkproves opinion. (Familiarity with Ragsdale essential. At least 5 items (3 pts each) necessary for full credit.
2. Which article of the Constiution describes the powers of the President? (1pt) II
How does this article compare with the article that describes the powers of the
Congress? (2pt) Article II is much less specific and considerably shorter than Article I which is devoted to Congress and its powers.
3. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 had to provide answers to
several questions as they shaped a new position, President of the United States.
Mention three questions, and indicate how each was answered. (6 pt)
How would the president be elected? By an Electoral College.
What should the qualifications be? 35 yars old and natural born citizen.
Term? 4 years. How many terms? Originally no limit.
How can a president be removed? By impeachment? Can the president’s veto of legislation be overridden?Yes, by a 2/3 vote in both houses. Only three questions required. These questions are
Illustrative.
4.Since the Presidency was first designed in the 18th century it has changed so much that it is plausible to speak of its "reinvention." What means have been used to "reinvent" the American Presidency? (4pt) Constitutional amendments have been used, as have legislation, executive orders, and presidential action and precedent.
5. The American presidency does not exist in a vacuum, but must be understood in context—more precisely in contexts. Mention three of these contexts and suggest how each may help us understand the presidency. (3pts) Historical context—shows trends, provides precedents and models. Constitutional context—structures the government, describes powers and sets limits. Political context—reflects distribution of interests, influence, and power. Econonomic context—determines material resources at disposal of president and may affect expectations and demands. Also might mention international context (allies, opponents, challenges, crises). Social context, demographic context, and legal contexts with appropriate comment are also possibilities.
6. The president of the United States is both Chief of State and head of his administration. Distinguish between these two roles. (2pt) The Chief of State represents the whole nation; he is the symbolic leader of all the people. The chief of government or head of the administration is chosen from a particular political party, chooses other leaders largely from his party and tries to carry out particular policies consistent with the party platform.
7. What President established the precedent of not seeking Senate advice for treaties, just their consent?(1pt) Washington How many Senators (assuming all 100 are present and voting )must vote favorably for a treaty to be approved?(1pt) 67 2/3 is NOT the answer. The answer is 2/3 of 100 which is 67. (Yes, I know. 2/3 of 100 is 66 and 2/3 but no one has found a way to divide a Senator. You have to found up to the nearest whole Senator.)
8. The Executive Office of the President and the Executive Branch are confusable, but they should not be confused. Distinguish between them.(2pt) The Executive Branch includes all 14 Cabinet Departments (State, Defense, Treasury, etc plus all the independent agencies and offices. The Executive Office of the President is of course part of the Executive Branch, but the EOP exists primarily to directly serve the president in his various roles. The largest unit of the EOP is the Office of Management and Budget.
9 Now distinguish between the White House Office, and the Executive Office of the President.(2pt) The White House Office is part of the Executive Office but is the unit that is closest to the President and serves him most directly. The President’s Chief of Staff is a senior member of the White House Office, are the National Security Assistant, the Press Secretary, the White House Counsel, and other special assistants to the President.
10. Provide the names of the current Chief of Staff and the National
Security Advisor. (2pt) Chief of Statt is John Podesta
National Security Advisor is Sandy Berger
11. Mention at least three responsibilities of the Office of Management and Budget (3pt)
To prepare the annual budget of the United States
To review legislation proposed by executive agencies and official testimony to ensure consistency with
the program of the President. To review enrolled b ills (legislation that has been passed by Congress) recommend to the President that it be signed or vetoes To review regulations being proposed by administrative agencies before they are finally issued. To review forms used by government agencies (for example census forms and tax forms) to ensure compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act.
12. Assume that one of the presidential candidates asks you while he is here on campus for thedebate two questions. First, do you think he needs a Chief of Staff? And second, if so, what sort of person should he try to find for that position? (6pt) There is absolutely no doubt that the President needs a Chief of Staff. The early days of both the Carter and Clinton administrations show that. The person selected should have the complete confidence of the President, understand political and policy processes, and have good organizational and communication skills. He should be able to absorb criticism and make decisions. He should complement not duplicate the strengths and weakness of the President.
13.How has the Office of the Vice President been transformed in the last 40-50 years.(4pt) The Vice President has been transformed from a relatively invisible non entity into a serious policy partner of the President. Since l947 when the VP was made a member of the National SecurityCouncil the responsibilities of the Vice President have grown intermittently but steadily. The grew markedly when President Ford selected Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice President and have reached a high point in the Clinton-Gore administration.
14. Although Paul Quirk briefly describes both self reliant and mimimalist approaches to the presidency, it is clear that that he prefers an approach to the office that he describes as "strategic competence." After clearly indicating what Quirk means by this term, assess the strategic competence (in its various aspects) of President Clinton. (15pt)__________
Strategic competence involves policy decisions, policy
processes, and policy promotion. The strategically competent president
focuses his time and energy, and makes choices about what he will do, know,
and decide. And he chooses what he will delegate. Clinton has clearly had
strong command of policy issues, but the first part of his administration
was marred by a weak grasp of policy processes—as illustrated by his health
care fiasco. Decisions were at first made haphazardly. In the second term
decision making has become more adept (experienced) and Clinton has also
been successful as a policy advocate.
15. If you wrote an op-ed piece on a policy issue that you hoped the President would see,which two newspapers would you try to get it published in –and why? (2pt)____
The two best and most appropriate newspaper are the New
York Times and the Washington Post. Both are serious well edited papers
with a reputation for thorough coverage of policy and politics. The Times
has wide national readership of opinion leaders, and the Post is widely
read in the nation’s capital.
16. Although the relationship between the press and the President is commonly described as adversarial, it can also be described as symbiotic. Why? Explain why symbiotic may be an accurate descriptor.(2pt) Although their goals are surely different and the President and the press need each other, and benefit from each other. The President needs the media to go public, to get his image and his message(s) out to the people and indeed to officials. The press needs news, stories—and the President makes news.
17.According to Bruce Miroff, "One of the most distinctive features of the modern presidency is its constant cultivation of popular support." Assuming that this feature of the presidency continues for the foreseeable future, what activities would you expect to see the next president engaging in—with the goal of achieving and maintaining public support." (10pt)The next president is likely to continue the weekly radio talk and might try a regular TV talk on perhaps CNN. Contnued enhancement of the White House web site and e mail system is certain. The President will hold some news conferences—but will give frequent talks to groups of significant supports across the country. Of course there will be special messages to Congress, but the President will focus much of his attention on the public and particular
Of course there is no "right" answer here, but there are more plausible and less plausible responses. Gore should try to work in the areas where the Texas record is weak, but continue on the high road. He should moderate the aggressiveness he displayed in the first debate. Bush should drop "fuzzy math" and work harder to describe clearly his tax health care and tax proposals.
20. (A Polling Question) So far this semester, about how many times have you used the course syllabus on line to get to other on line sites. (1pt) (Circle one) One pt for circling anything.
0 times 3-5 5-10 more than 10