PO 6220 - Governmental Policy Makers

The United States Congress both constitutionally and pragmatically, plays an indispensable role in the formulation of Public Policy. This course will examine the way in which this complex institution fulfills its essential role. Among the issues the course will deal with are the role of committees, lobbyists, the executive branch, constituency groups, and the media, and the way these groups help shape policy in local, regional, and federal government. This course will also explore current issues and trends in local and regional government. It will use a spectrum of issues to give students an understanding of the purpose of mixed levels of government, the relationship between governing elites and the people from whom their authority is theoretically derived, the differences between the theory of government operation and its practice, and the utility and organization of government from the executive to the local level. This course will also examine the growing role of the Executive Branch, not only in implementing the policies enacted by Congress, but in setting the policy agenda for the nation. Institutional tensions between the Executive and Legislative branches will be studied and the wartime powers of the Presidency will be considered. The Judiciary will be studied in light of recent challenges to its independence and differing conceptions of the activism versus conservatism of the bench. The evolution of the confirmation process will also be studied. (4 credits)