POLS 319: Course Schedule, Spring 2008

Week	Topic	Text*	Chapter(s)	Video/Web Links/Other**
1/15	Introduction ("Hello, my name is...")	------	------
1/17	How to Study the Presidency	Begin to get ahead on readings		Presidency Research Group ; The American Presidency Project
1/22	The Presidency and the Constitution	Cohen/Nice	1	Liberty! The American Revolution, Episode VI ; Federalist ; Web Resource Chapter 1 ; Web Resource Chapter 2 ; www.usconstitution.net/const.html
1/29	The Presidency and the Constitution (continued)	Cohen/Nice	2	Federalist ; Web Resource Chapter 2
2/5	The Evolution of the Presidency	Cohen/Nice Ellis and Nelson	3 1	Debate Topic 1 ; Web Resource Chapter 3 ; Evolution of the Cabinet ; Papers of the Presidents
2/12	The Presidential Selection Process	Cohen/Nice Edwards Ellis and Nelson	4 1, 2 2	Debate Topic 2 ; Web Resource Chapter 4 ; FEC Campaign Finance ; Hoover Campaign Finance Reform Site ; Political Money Line
2/19	Presidents, Political Parties, and Interest Groups	Cohen/Nice Edwards Ellis and Nelson	6 3 3	Debate Topic 3 ; Web Resource Chapter 6 ; Republican National Committee ; Democratic National Committee
2/26	The Mass Media and the Presidency	Cohen/Nice Edwards Ellis and Nelson	7 8, 9 5	Debate Topic 5; Web Resource Chapter 7 ; Public Agenda Online; Center for Media and Public Affairs; ; White House Briefing Room
3/4	Questions given for Exam 1; No class, work on Exam.
3/6	Public Opinion and the Presidency	Cohen/Nice Edwards	8 6, 7	Web Resource Chapter 8 ; Gallup ; Roper
3/6	—Exam #1 Due Date—
3/11	—Spring Break—
3/18	The Person in the Office	Cohen/Nice Edwards Ellis and Nelson	5 5 11	Debate Topic 11; Web Resource Chapter 5 ; Center for the Study of Political Psychology ; White House ; Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents
3/25	The Presidency as an Institution	Cohen/Nice Edwards Ellis and Nelson	9 4 4	Debate Topic 4; Web Resource Chapter 9 ; Executive Organization
4/1	The President and Congress	Cohen/Nice Edwards Ellis and Nelson	10 10, 11 5	Debate Topic 6; Web Resource Chapter 10 ; Track Congressional Activity ; First Draft of Annotated Bibliography Due
4/8	The President and the Bureaucracy	Cohen/Nice Edwards Ellis and Nelson	11 12 10	Debate Topic 10; Web Resources Chapter 11  ; Agencies of the Federal Government ; Executive Orders of Presidents ; U.S. Government Manual
4/15	The President and the Judicial System	Cohen/Nice Edwards Ellis and Nelson	12 13 8	Debate Topic 8; Web Resources Chapter 12 ; Oyez Supreme Court Project ; Selected Historic Supreme Court Decisions ; Federal Judiciary
4/22	Presidential Policy Choice	Cohen/Nice Ellis and Nelson	13 9	Debate Topic 9; Web Resources Chapter 13 ; Public Agenda Online ; Brookings Institution ; Cato Institute ; American Enterprise Institute;
4/24				Completed Annotated Bibliography Due ; Questions given for Exam 2

First Draft of Bibliography Due in Class on Tuesday, April 1^st
Final Bibliography Due by 5:00 p.m., Thursday, April 24^th
Final Exam: 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Tuesday, May 6^th

**Items in italics are videotapes; those in bold type are assignments or activities.

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