2302+Fall+Week+Ten

Week Ten Readings, Notes, and Assignment**
 * GOVT 2302


 * The Executive: The Rise of Executive Power and the Imperial Presidency**

Readings:

- Wikipedia: [|The Imperial Presidency] - About.com: [|Imperial Presidency 101]. - Findlaw.com: [|The U.S. Supreme Court and the Imperial President]. - Wikipedia: [|Department of Defense] - Wikipedia: [|Bureaucracy] - NYT Opinion Piece: [|Just What the Founders Feared].

Using last week's readings as well as the links above, I want to call attention to concerns that the power and influence of the presidency has increased far beyond what was originally intended by the founders. The term "Imperial Presidency" was coined to describe the (alleged) excesses of the Johnson and Nixon presidency. It has been revived to describe further (again alleged) excesses of the Bush presidency. Some argue that the increased powers have been necessary in order for the United States to effectively and efficiently deal with the additional complex issues the country faces. Critics argue that the increases in power simply lead us further down the road to tyranny.

Assignments and test material:

Internet Students: Write 250 words on the conflicts associated with expanded executive power. Find an example of a recent expansion of executive power, detail how it arose, and evaluate whether it was neccesary. While we may wish to have a stronger executive branch that can solve certain problems that might emerge, we do so at a cost. The loss of individual freedom and the ability of the legislature to guard those freedoms. There is also the very real possibility, justified by history, that crises are sometimes manufactured in order to scare citizens into supporting efforts to expand executive power. Some make that very argument now for the bailout recently passed by Congress.

Lecture Students: Be prepared for a multiple choice test on a handful of the following terms:


 * [|Unitary Executive Theory.]
 * [|Inherent Powers]
 * [|Commander in Chief Powers]
 * [|Plenary Powers]
 * [|Independent Counsel Act]. ([|Morrison v. Olson)].
 * [|Line Item Veto] ([|Clinton v. City of New York)].
 * [|Presidential Signing Statements.]
 * [|Torture.]
 * [|Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.]
 * [|New Deal.]
 * [|National Security Act]
 * [|Great Society]
 * [|White House Chief of Staff]
 * [|bureaucracy.]
 * [|executive privilege.]
 * [|United States v. Nixon]
 * [|Federal Advisory Committee Act]
 * [|Habeas Corpus]

Be able to answer questions about the following topics:
 * What is the basis of unitary executive theory? What are the arguments against it?
 * What constitutional issues were raised by the Independent Counsel Act and the Line Item Veto?
 * What is the controversy associated with presidential signing statements, tortore, and the oreign Intelligence Surveillance Act?
 * How did the New Deal, the National Security Act and the Great Society contribute to the increase of executive power?
 * What does the White house Chief of Staff do, and how does the office contribute to rise of presidential power?
 * What is executive privilege? How did the United States v. Nixon help clarify it?
 * Describe the controversy associated with Habeas Corpus.