Lecture 1 — Overview and Introduction:

I IntroductionFounding generation had a strong sense of serving posterityExtant models: loose federations (Greek city states), Rome’s slide into corruption, hereditary monarchies, general theme of a strong reaction against executive power (Thomas Paine)

II The American Revolution, State Experience, and the Articles of ConfederationState Constitutions: PA no governor, 1 term executive councilArticles of Confederation (1781): unicameral legislation, no executiveProblems: little common defense, limited capacity to control domestic insurrections (Shay’s Rebellion), barriers to commerce between states, varying currency between states

III The Constitutional Convention 1787Long hot summer of 1787Young, but experienced (Declaration of Independence, state constitutions) delegatesImportant Decisions:

1. Singular or Plural Executivea. Efficiency, effectiveness, dispatch v. potential for abuse of concentrated

powers2. Method of Selection

a. Legislative selectionb. Electoral college with legislative tie-break (committee on unfinished

business)3. Powers

a. Deliberately vague – recognition of George Washington as first executiveb. Formal power, checks and balances, appointments, negotiate treaties

Themes: the desire for efficiency, energy, effectiveness; the fear of despotism and concentrated power; the symbol and role of G. Washington

IV George WashingtonEschewing monarchical precedents, reluctant candidate without any sonsPrecedents and Traditions:Cabinet meetings, appear before Senate on foreign policy issues, Whiskey Rebellion, declining to run for 3rd term

V The President in the Nineteenth CenturyForeign policy: Louisiana PurchaseCrises to preserve the nation and the Constitution, Civil War

VI Early Twentieth Century DevelopmentsTeddy Roosevelt: foreign policy action outside of national interest (Spanish-American War), world leadership, bust trusts, conservation, food & drug laws, “steward of the people”

Woodrow Wilson: six months in Europe, League of Nations, power and authority directly from people

VII Franklin Roosevelt and the Modern PresidencyArchitect of nation’s foreign policy, world leaders, entangling alliancesSetting national agenda, legislative program (FDR’s New Deal)Institutional Presidency, huge staff resources

Federalist No. 47 by James MadisonStructure of the government and distribution of powerSeparate and distinct legislative, executive and judiciary branchesDistributed and blended powerThere can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body of magistrates.Comparison to state constitutions in which departments of powers have not been kept absolutely separate and distinct shared power!

Federalist No. 70 by Alexander HamiltonEnergy in the executive!Protection of the community against foreign attacks, steady administration of the laws, security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, faction, and anarchyA feeble executive = feeble execution of governmentIngredients for energy in the executive: unity, duration, adequate provision for its support, competent powersLegislation = deliberation and wisdom, but executive needs decision, activity, secrecy and dispatchA plurality in the executive would lessen the respectability, weaken the authority and lower accountabilityThe UNITY of the executive of this State was one of the best of the distinguishing features of our Constitution

The Constitution of the United StatesArticle IIOffice of the PresidentElection of the PresidentRequirements of the PresidentPay of the PresidentPowers of the President

1. Commander in Chief 2. Grant pardons and reprieves for offenses against the United States3. Make treaties (with the advice and consent of the Senate)4. Nominate appointments for Ambassadors, Public Ministers and Consuls, Judges

of the Supreme Court, etc (with the advice and consent of the Senate)5. Give State of the Union to Congress6. Recommendations to Congress7. Receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers

8. Take care that the laws be faithfully executedNote that Congress has the power to Declare War

Eddie Lee

Lecture 2 : Perspectives on the Presidency [ Matthew Dickensen ]September 22, 2005

Neustadt - originally created this course His book, pres powers, presents tools to analyzing whats at the heart of this

course, what is it, how do you keep it, how do you lose it? His father was a new deal democrat He served in the Navy Truman - worked for the budget - during its golden age He was event drafted into the administration - Then decided to go into academia, while serving as a consultant Wrote pres powers - there is a good chance that times have passed

 1. Neustadt's argument

a. You have to take yourself back in time to the time he wrote the bookb. Legal formalism - c. Some may study different hats that pres wears d. But Neustadt had no background in academiae. He said these perspectives do not capture the essence of he

presidency as it was with Trumanf. He wanted a class that was as if you were in the preseident's office,

looking over his shoulderi. He was there when McCarther made the decision to go to Korea

g. The firing of MacArthur - h. Exercise of formal power, doesn't capture the essence of poweri. He defines presidential power : a president's effective influence on

outcomes i. The grants of authorityii. Powers do not translate into power

j. His analysis is in strategies of power, not tactics [ of getting something through congress ]

1. He argues that power is limiteda. Doesn't dismiss constitution, or vantage pointsa. But some one focuses on vantage points, do not have whole picture,

why not focus simply on the Pres powers?a. Why? Because power is shareda. We have separated institutions - sharing powersa. Each of these actors approach decision from diff perspectives - a. If pres wants to be more than chief clerk, they must bring to bear not

only their persp, they must understand othersa. Pres power becomes not the power of command

1. Bargaining of powera. Vantage points (formal powers) a. Professional reputation - perceptions that other washingtonians view

about the president's willingness and ability and skill to achieve his ends,

i. Over time, these become settled ii. The illustration he uses as someone not protecting his rep was

eisenhower 

a. In Addition, president's public prestige - public opinion, it is nuanced, rather than national

i. Standing in constituency that he is interested in

i. Why pres is tailoring speech towards the group from which he may need support at a particular time

a. Think of it as a stool - 3 - legsi. They need formal powers, reputation, and support amongst

those he is bargaining1. Out side of that , the president is weak - most outcomes are driven by things

outside of the pres controla. Every pres then must undertake office with one thing in mind, how

does my decision affect longterm ability to achieve in end1. Analysis and critiques of neustadt's argument from three perspectives:

conceptual, empirical, normative orientation1. Conceptual - logical argument - Presidential power isn't what Neustadt says it

isa. The pres has a lot of power, sometimes they have enough power to do

what is necessary - ignores formal powers (Tulis)b. Pres bush didn't bargain to hold people in guat bay - he just said that

he'd do ita. So N underestimates the ability to rely on pres power to make

decisions Yet N would say, that this weakens power later on down the road We now know that in Gbay - the Court has stated that you can not do

that , thus eroding the president's power Truman made great use of pres power - he fired MacArthur - in the

immediate sense this is power, but for N , that is not enough - this undercut Truman, and weakened him

Critique of bargaining - i. N bargaining ability puts them into pres overload - i. Must delegate Response: those people who are delegated share different

points from the pres Thus you are risking when you delegate, there is ways to minimize that - have more than one individual

- in the case of Reagan - delegating came and bit him in the rear

Critique 3: Going public has replaced bargaining (cornell) A breakdown of protocoalitions - now everything is much more

fragmented and public When N wrote, hearings were outside of public, but now they

are more public Media - Reagan - passed bill only after making appeal to write to

congressmen Response: not enough evidence that this arg is right

Approval rating not related to outcome Also, those who oppose the pres can also go public

Many different forms of public - though people may say he had ability to go public, there is an argument made that it is much

Rather than going public, N would say r's success has to do with bargaining

In order to get congress to pass things, reagan had to bargain

Institutionalized Presidency - administrative influence/unilateral action If you rely on your staff, you can get a lot of good things done

N's response: Those who you delegate to, don't know your interest - pres decision has to be viewed as a whole

In Iran's issue, R's staff, thought that he was doing R's work - but undermined president

N recognizes that the staff are overzealous , and do more than what the president should do - no matter what you do, the actions are always traced back to the president, whether he knows about it or not

It provides a source of excellence , but risky Skowronek - modern and premodern presidents - N is looking at pres

through secular time, but should be through political time - he says that presidents take place when the existing

Reagan has more in common with , than with Carter or HW Bush

It doesn't capture what we want to know about this president N says despite what kind of pres you are or what time the pres

is in, the pres still must have bargaining7. Empirical Critiques

There is nothing to test - You cant test N's argument There is a difficulty measuring "bargaining skill" N says bar skills is exercized at margins - so , that presidents are

weak, Decision are determined by partisanship of congress

So, bargaining is weighted down SO it's difficult to measure because there are other factors Case studies - he illustrated his point with case studies - tried to

measure out when they wanted to bargain, and determine whether they won

Say how many times the president was able to pass legislation (legilative box scores)

We find that bargaining matters, but def not only thing that matters - and this is only in congress, there are other times he has to bargain

Are there particular people who make most impact in advising? We also have to take in particular

N would urge caution , and if you make mistake, don't fight, let it all hang out1. Normative Orientation

a. "Democratic" president - activist president - some one who does some thing

b. Does he focus on a n active presidency? Noa. N says they can be powerful without doing anything or passing

anythinga. Ie. Clinton after OK bombinga. Another critique is that it's machiavellian - ethical standards ( water

gate ) - is N responsible for Watergate?a. N worked wit hthe assumption that people who read his book would be

experienceda. You bargain, because the formal system around you forces you to

bargain1. N is the dominant work in the American presidency

a. Power is weak , because the president's system of sharing power - a. In doing so it is important that the pres learn of other points - why so

they can know his vantage pointa. In the end, there is a normative componenta. The pursue of power is good - why because N is hamiltonian

i. "pursuit of power rightly conditioned in limits , is good because it adds energy to the system"

ii. No other actor is better situated to focus enrgy of people to serve broader good

i. In this sense , power serves all of us

Lecture 3:

LECTURE: GETTING ELECTED

1) Lord Bryce: Why great men aren’t elected Pres.a) Great men are not elected as Pres. Because they are more into the biz. Of

developing resources than politicsb) Party system also rules out great men

2) 3 Pts to lecturea) What do we want in the electoral process?b) The evolution of the processc) Look at the elements that shape electoral outcomes

3) 4 Criteria in evaluatinga) Does our electoral process inhibit or encourage talented people from running?b) Does our e. process provide voters w/ info they need to make informed and wise

decisions?c) Does the outcome have legitimacy?d) Does our system reinforce both the skills and the commitments necessary to

govern while in office?4) Our nomination system has become more democratic

a) 1830s/40s: Convention system emerged, emphasizing ability to build and hold together coalitions

b) Hunt Commission transformed our nominating process so that primary voters selected the pres.

c) Parties play much less signif. role in their selection of candidatesd) Have changes made a difference?

i) Grtr voter independence, tv more importantii) Selection process not determinant but rather that the candidates are

professional politicians (many former office holders)(1) In last 140 years, only 2 people who have run have not held high civil

office (Eisenhower, Wilke)iii) 1860: Stephen Douglas tours country speaking on slaveryiv) 1912: Exciting election between Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson

(1) Roos. Gave speech despite being shot, but Wilson won 40 state landslide and Roos. Came in 2nd

v) 1920: Harding gets nomination (handsome but dumb)vi) 1932: FDR used whistle stop train in ’32 to spread and the words and speak in

32 statesvii)TV has transformed Pres. Election and campaign since ’52 when Eisenhower

spent millions on adsviii) Tech and mktng have played huge pt (esp in key electoral states)

e) Alternating Party Theoryi) In US, we are reluctant to give one party too much power for too long

(1) Pendelum shifts every 8-12 years(2) Only during ’44, ’48 did party have 4 elections

(a) Carter held as dem for only 1 election

(3) Last 13 elections have involved either incumbent pres or incumbent VP(a) 9 of 13 times, incumb. Won presidency. Of that 9, 5 won, 3 lost, 1 still

undecided(4) Why did these 5 (Eisen, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton) win?

(a) None of these were challenged with the party nomination(b) Of 3 who lost (Ford, Carter, Bush), each was challenged for nom. By

party(5) 1980: Carter was challenged by Kennedy and barely selected the

nomination(6) 1992: Pat Buchanan challenged Bush

(a) BUT, incumb. Pres in all 3 cases secured his party’s nomination (this is almost always the case)

(7) Incumbs who win v. those who lose(a) State of the economy plays a huge part(b) How you well you do wrt to the econ(c) Debates matter

(i) Lincoln declined debating because he felt it was wrong to campaign for pres.

(ii) Debates were first televised in ’60 (Nixon, Kennedy)1. Radio thought Nixon won but those on TV thought Kennedy

won (looks matter)2. Debates declined from then until ’76 (Nixon declined several)

when Ford debated Carter3. Reagan challenged Carter in 80, along w/ Repub Anderson

who ran as indep. Carter refused to show up to 1st deb. Cuz Anderson was there. a. Reagan and Carter later debated aloneb. Reagan kept saying “there he goes again” and was

remembered for this…he wonc. Reagan prepped w/ briefing books when he debated

Mondale but lost because people thought he was being uncharacteristic by spitting out facts

4. 1988: Bush and Dukakis held 3 pres. Debatesa. Bush looked at watch and was caught on TVb. Now, supposed to be no cutaways to either candidate

Lecture 4: Presidential Selection: nominations 9/29/2005 Criteria for evaluating the nomination process: 1. Does the system motivate

talented people to run for office? 2. Does the system give adequate time and info for voters to make informed decisions? 3. Does the system have legitimacy consistent with democratic norms? 4. Does the system select for skill needed to govern effectively?

History of the nomination: Framers feared direct democracy. Compromised on Electoral College scheme, with each state having 1 elector for each senator and representative in Congress. Each elector casts 2 ballots, one of which must be for someone from a different state. Majority of college vote goes to President, second most votes go to Vice President. If no majority, then the House decides among the top 5 vote-getters. Did not foresee campaigns or parties.

King caucus: 1800 – 1824. Congressional party leaders met in closed sessions to nominate their party’s candidate after the Congressional session was over. Domination of party and government insider candidates like Secretary of State. System fell apart after 1824 election of J. Q. Adams who had not received majority of popular votes.

National Conventions: 1831 Anti-Freemason Society held the first national party convention to choose a presidential candidate. State parties send delegates who vote on platforms and candidates. Favored party insiders, dark horse candidates, and back-room dealing. Reflected power of political parties.

Unimportance of Primaries: TR beat Taft in most primaries in 1912, but only 42% of convention delegates were chosen by primary, so Taft won anyway. Primaries became less prevalent after WWI because people said they were too expensive.

1968: Humphrey won nomination at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago without having entered a single primary. Protests and fights on the convention hall floor on national television prompted the McGovern-Frasier reform commission to examine reform options. By 1972 every state had to choose delegates by primary or open caucus systems. New rules were also forced on Republican Party by Democratically controlled state legislatures.

Today’s campaigns: all delegates except a few Democratic Super Delegates are chosen by primary, and the winner is known well in advance of the convention, which has become a media-orchestrated coronation. Today there are really 2 contests: who can raise enough funds to stay in the game, and who can win enough votes. Candidates must endure a very long and expensive process, appeal to a national audience, advocate a coherent set of ideas, and handle themselves well in debates. Favors well-known and well-financed Washington outsiders with executive

Lord Bryce in 1888

Great Men do not become president because

o Great men drawn to other things

o Voters don’t mind mediocrity

o Parties prevent the best men from becoming president

I. Criteria for Selection – Important questions for consideration

Does our system motivate or inhibit talented people from seekeing the

Presidency? Does it tend to produce individuals with the requisite abilities to

succeed once in office?

Does our electoral process give voters good data on which to make an intelligent

and informed decision?

Does the process have legitimacy?? Is it consistent with our democratic norms?

Does our system of nominating and electing Presidents reinforce the skills and

commitments needed to govern effectively?

II. The Constitutional System: The Framers’ Intentions

Potential selection methods

o Legislature

o Popular Vote

o Indirect means

Committee on Unfinished business settled on Electoral College

chosen by the state.

Framers envisioned EC as system of elite choosing by ability among themselves.

2 initial concerns

o Thomas Jefferson – Re-election for life.

o That president would be chosen by Congress most of the time.

o Neither ended up as major concern in long run.

III. Caucus System (1800-1824)

King Caucus originated as a system in which Congress deteremined nominees.

Against constitution.

Virginia Dynasty was product of King Caucus system.

Downfall was in 1824 when Crawford not strong enough health to run and Mass

Legislature pushed John Quincy Adams.

o Emergence of a state-based party system.

IV. The Party National Convention System (1832-1912)

Origins of the system

o Were concerned about Congressional involvement in choosing process.

Anti-Masonic party held first convention in Maryland.

System was challenged with 9 million signatures.

o People wanted more say in choosing presidents.

V. The Mixed System: Conventions and Primaries (1912-1968)

The Progressive era

o 1912 split between Taft and TR helped lead toward direct election.

Argumetns against party controlling decisions

o Expensive

o Low voter turnout

o Not many major candidates

1952 last election that went beyond first ballot.

VI. The Primary/Media Dominated System (1972-Present)

1968 Democratic National Convention

o President Johnson backed Humphrey over McGovern and McCarthy

though he didn’t win a primary.

o Riots inside and outside of Convention in Chicago.

McGovern-Fraser Commission and Hunt Commission Reforms

o Nationally based and media based elections.

o Evolving still. Very different even from 1976.

2 Contests: Financial and Electoral

o A very long process.

o Many drop out for lack of funds.

VII. Conclusions and Evaluation

The trend has been a movement toward greater democracy.

Qualities now needed

o They can run a campaign

o They have ideas.

Differing qualities in a President over time.

o 1800-1824 – cabinet members and diplomats.

o 1824-1892 – almost exclusively generals.

o 1900- Present – 16 govs, 12 senators, 12 representatives, 3 judges, 2

cabinet members, 2 non-professional politicians.

Conclusion: We now turn to people with government experience!

Care&Feeding Correspondence ------------------------|-------------------------Leg. Affairs Scheduling NSC, NEC, DPC, HSC Press Staff Secretary Communications Speechwriting & research Public Liaison Advance Intergovernmental Affairs Counsel’s Office Political Affairs Personnel Global Communications Cabinet Liaison Mil affairs Clerk’s office If asked, White House employees likely state office of employment rather than

simply “the White House” – arrived sometime between 6 & 6:15 am, always after reading President’s daily news summary & NY Times, Washington Post (poss WSJ), etc.

o Thus most activities would relate to your specific office. Three great groupings of offices –

o Porter’s nomenclature still used in White Houseo 1. Care and Feeding offices (handout) –

Correspondence – largest office. Single largest job, opening, reading, and deciding how it should be responded to. Today – over 11 million/year.

People expect responses from letters. Thus presidents and staff put energy into corresponding. Substantive – likely to policy office.

One of the least known, or appreciated, yet one of the most important office.

Scheduling office – now, weekly requests = 350 outside requests Office of staff secretary – similar role to director of presidential

scheduling; in coordination with COS – determines who gets to the president on paper, i.e. memoranda during the night – usu. 2-3 hours of paperwork after evening meal. Disperses to other members of staff who needs to know about which memos, etc. Thus, instead of the President having to ask others their opinions on memos, opinions of other staffers are already commented on. Very efficient.

Powerful because he controls perspectives on memos. Podesta was Clinton’s first staff secretary.

Speechwriting and research – Obv., large quantity of speeches. Also, in lieu of speeches by president, greetings are sent for

regrets. Yearly – over 4,000 sent.

Advance – whenever President leaves 18.5-acre White house complex.

Small type – briefing book for all staffers.

Challenging, time-consuming. Works with communications and secret service.

Always sets up secure lines in case of emergency. Counsel’s Office

Ensures not only legality of POTUS’s actions, but also that his prerogatives are being protected. (e.g. – if a bill contains language that circumscribes previous priorities – provides counsel to veto, amend, or implement signing provisions – to establish POTUS’ rights on paper) based on interpretations of Constitutionality.

90% rule – no effort unless 90% confidence (?) also advise on district and appellate court justices.

Personnel 5,500 appointment possibilities – thus, during one term,

likely around 8,000 appointments. Actions, gather information, interview. Seek advice from

experts on staff. Asst’t to POTUS for Pres. Personnel met at least weekly

with COS to hire. Cabinet liaison

Relatively small, non policy related matters, personnel matters – to help get hiring through

Military aides office 5 – army, navy, coast guard…. Removes seal from podium after POTUS speaks (NOT

ADVANCE?) o Hires have to pass horseriding tests?

Clerks office??o 2. Policy Formulation Offices

Presidents are expected to be able to answer any and all questions – never delegates questions from public. Policies for 275-300 issues constantly formulated for POTUS.

Who organizes? The following four channels (National Security Council, National Economic Council, Domestic Policy Council staff, Homeland Security Council staff).

Yet simply deciding policy is not final step; one needs also to get other people to agree and go along, so a third set of offices exist – the offices of packaging and selling:

o Policy implementation offices – deal with entities outside of POTUS’ control

Leg affairs (deals with Congress) Press (Media) - 1800 people staff Communication (non white house press corps entities) – over

5,000 organizations not represented at WHPC Public Liaison (over 7,000 nat’l ass’ns hq’ed in DC)

1977 DC more national ass’ns hq’ed.

Plus corporations and other organized groups. Intergovernmental affairs (80,000 governments in US) – NGA,

Nat’l league of cities, na of state legislators, all governors, mayors, etc) – principal point of contact.

Political Affairs – Strategery in GWB WH Global Communications – sends overall message

Myth that WH staff has grown quite large and huge.o In 1960, after election, JFK sent Ted Sorenson and Mike Feldman to

Eisenhower WH to scout – and concluded that they could do it with half as many people.

Thus JFK staff was leaner than usual. LBJ started growth of WH (and programs – Great Society)

Though not necessarily shown on WH payrolls – bc of detailing, through other departments/agencies. i.e. may be employed by OMB, but comes to work in WH.

Many didn’t want to so many employees to show up on rolls.

Looks like LBJ white house on 350 less (because 250 on detail, 90 on special projects)

Ashe report (Nixon commissioned to study this) – lets count accurately.

When WH pressured to reduce staff, merely moved 30% to an office with a different title, though jobs stayed the same.

o The size of staff is difficult to measure over time is difficult because of DETAILING

o AND interns! (new development) Clinton wanted to cut by 25%

Porter – “take out of nat’l drug control policy, 200, but 25 needed”

They reported that they took out of white house staff…were they really eliminated?

Porter did a literal visit of every office to count desks, and found there was actually a 30% increase. (Not one person questioned why he came in!)

Answer? INTERNS! Don’t show up on payroll yet still do work! With such large staff, coordination must be difficult.

o Vertical coordinationo The danger for a packaging and selling office is that they are captured by

their constituents – meaning??o Horizontal coordination is most difficult acc. to Porter.

LECTURE NOTES 10/13The President’s Domain II: The Executive Office of the President

I. Introduction - During Depression, FDR created Brownlow Commission – 3-man

commission – to assess how/if president needed help- “the president needs help” was the conclusion

i. Needs help producing unified budgetii. Needs administrative help

iii. Needs planning officeiv. Needs office to assist him with personnel

- (Brownlow suggested these offices be staffed by career civil servants)- FDR did not want his staff to have public profile – “passion for

anonymity”- 1921 – Budget and Accounting Act- 1939 – Congress passed bill creating EOP

i. Brownlow sought BOB in EOPii. EOP in 1939

1. budget2. administration3. personnel4. planning

Offices left today

EOP currentlyWHO OMB NSC CEA

OPD USTR OSTP CEQ

PFIAB ONDLP OA OFBCIUSFC

- WHO = White House Office (1939)- OMB = Office of Mgmnt & Budget (formerly BOB) (1939)

i. Budget (Federal budget has 10 k line items!! He needs help)ii. Legislative Reference Department reviews proposed leg.

1. comes up with unified executive positioniii. Reviewing regulations that will be issued by dept.

- CEA = Council of Economic Advisors (1946)– 3-person council advises pres.

- NSC = National Security Council (1947)- USTR = Chief negotiator in trade agreements (1962)- OSTP = Office of Science and Technology (1962)- CEQ = Council on Environmental Quality (1969)

- Also part of executive office – Office of Policy Development, Office of Administration (1977), Office of National Drug Control Policy (1988)

II. Origins and Evolution - In the very beginning, the president had very little staff, also he had to pay

the staff from his own budget. Therefore, presidents would appoint/hire relatives. As a result of this there was very little spending: In 1930, the Federal Budget was less than 3% on GNP

A. FDR coordinates Brownlow Committee- the goal is to look at what staff needs in respect to the president and what

president needs in respect to Congress- Main thing committee reports”

1) In the White House president needs 6 personal assistants/advisors with “passion for anonymity”

2) Pres needs more than just the WHO, he needs an executive office:i. WHO

ii. OMBiii. PLANNINGiv. PERSONELL

3) These four offices should be staffed by civil servants (“careerists”), because they known what they have knowledge/experience/institutional memory

(Background about the Budget Office: The Budget Office had been in the dept of the Treasury. Only one person in the office was a political appointee and the others were civil servants. There was also a General Accounting Office that made sure that the money appropriated to X,Y,Z was in fact being given to the proper sources. The Brownlow Committee lifted the Budget Office out of the Treasury to bring it closer to the president.)

III. How the Executive Office of the President Grew - High turnover rate of units in the EXOP- Congressional interest in creating new units in EXOP

i. End of WWII – high unemployment. Congress passes the Full Employment Act: 1) Gives the president the responsibility to ensure full employment and price stability, 2) Forms a Council of Economic Advisors (same thing as the Joint economic Committee).

1. Criticism of CEA: The Secretary of the Treasury can advise the president on economic issues, so there is no need for outside advisors.

2. Regardless of criticisms, act is passed and under Truman, there is a CEA – unclear what role is – To advise the president or to support any policies he comes up with??

ii. National Security Council Staff (1947)Created in reaction to FDR’s mismanagement and skepticism over Truman’s becoming president

iii. US Trade Representative

Congress influential in creating this when called for it in 1962 Trade Expansion Act to develop this office

- Special Interest groups also influential in setting up executive officesi. Office of Science and Technology Policy

For many of the decisions that the pres makes, he must rely on scientific experts

ii. Council on Environmental QualityWashington Senator Jackson is the driving force behind this office

IV. Elements in the Executive Office of the President - Office of Management and Budget

i. This is the largest and most important office because the first thing the president does is propose his federal budget to disperse across agencies – needs this office for advice

- Main functions- 1) OMB helps pres produce “Unified Federal Budget”- 2) The OMB includes the Legislative References Division that receives

and decides on proposals before they are sent to the house(Example: The National Park Services asks to increase the entrance fees at parks, which would decrease the amount of money put into the Internal Revenue. So, the Leg Ref Div. must decide which departments this proposal will be sent to, so that the representatives from these offices can speak before Congress about what they think of the proposal. The department reps send drafts of their testimonies to the Leg Ref Div which will make sure that all of the testimonies are in sync so that there is a unified administration decision, which is a main goal of the president.)

- 3) Regulations (OIRA): This section scrutinizes the regulations issues by departments and agencies – the departments and agencies must do cost-benefit analyses and of their proposed regulations and send to OIRA where it is decided if the analyses are correct and if the regulations will be optimal

(Note; Because of these 3 functions, the OMB has “chokeholds” on other departments and agencies. Essentially, the OMB coordinates everything that is going on).

V. Relationships- So what would we imagine the relationship between members of

departments/agencies and the OMB to be like??- Because the OMB is likely to say “no” to money requests, people in

depts/agencies must seek alliances at Office of Policy Development, because these people are in the business of generating new ideas – not in the business of saying “no” and will likely join forces with dept/agency reps.

Things to think about:- Is all this development in staff resources an asset or a deficit to the

president- In what ways does it help to president meet objectives

- What are the downsides given the huge staff and its power. If the staff is very large isn’t there the possibility that staff members “will go into business for themselves,” will cease to be “team players.”

Lecture 8Super Brief summary – Bold terms are possible ID’s

-In this lecture we discuss the Staff secretary – very important determines who gets to

see the president- Goes into detail regarding the care and feeding offices related to the president. - There is a third set of offices known as packaging and selling.- The myth regarding WH staff is that it has grown too much – myth is far from

reality. - He then ends the lecture discussing vertical coordination w/in the offices and

concludes that horizontal coordination is far more difficult.

Lecture #9 – The Executive Office of the President

This lecture has a really extensive outline that gives a pretty comprehensive idea of the subject- I am only going to include the extra notes I took

- The executive office today is very different than the founding fathers envisioned it- The government consumes about 1/5 of our GDP, which is a phenomenon that

took hold after the FDR era- FDR created the Bronlow Committee

o They decided to adopt the British modelo Recommended that the president should be staffed

- FDR wanted his staff to be “behind the scences”- not outspoken and in the public eye. He wanted them to have a “passion for anonymity”

- Until 1921 there was no unified Federal Budget o This was changed by the Federal Budget and Accounting Act of 1921

- Roughly ¾ of the entities that have been part of the executive have left- very high turn-over

- Parts of the executiveo Office of Management and Budget: help president put budget together and

push it through congresso Council of Economic Advisors: Advise the president on economic datao National Security Council Staff: Advise on national security issues:

comprised of the President, VP, Sec of State and the Sec of Defenseo Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board: counter to the CIAo Office of the U.S. Trade Representative: Important because of the WHO

and GATT which were ratified in the 1970’so Office of Science and Technologyo Council on environmental qualityo Office of Policy Developmento Office of Administrationo Office of National Drug Control Policyo Office of faith-based and community initiativeso USA Freedom Corps

- All these offices have their own “ethos” or cultureo i.e.- OMB tries to do things efficiently and with the least amount of

expenditureo CEA- very academic and professional; most economically efficient wayo Office of Policy Development: aggressively pushing the President’s

agenda

- The executive if full of people who have extensive expertise and institutions that are delineated specific tasks; this helps the President fulfill his various roles

Lecture 10 (10/25) – The President and Economic and Domestic Policy

1 The President and the Economy: Expectations and the Ability to Deliver – A Mismatch?

            A The growth of expectations

         Promise of economics as a discipline and tool – Keynes: Govt should and could intervene to produce better economic outcomes

         Growth of government's role in economy – G to 33% of GDP

         Enshrinement of pres responsibility in statute – Federal Employment Act: 1946, Pres has responsibility to provide for full employment in context of low inflation. Rossiter: president "manager of prosperity"

         Role of presidential rhetoric – campaign promises increasingly specific so see pres as having responsibility – presidents contribute to increased expectations

B Limitations on president to deliver

         Difficult to forecast future with precision

         High degree of independence of Federal Reserve – impervious to change (only 5 chairmen since 1951) – fixed 14 year term for Board members; chair has 4 year term – FRB independent, not part of executive

         Long path to legislation – need support in both houses

         Lagged effects of fiscal levers – lag times

         National economic policies in integrated global economy – more factors which are out of US govt's control now

         Role of confidence and markets

2 Presidential Involvement in Shaping Economic Policy

            Presidential Interest in economics - No economist elected as President yet

         Truman and Eisenhower not too interested

         JFK and LBJ very interested, actively engaged with advisers

         Nixon wanted to focus on bigger picture not details and got bored of listening to arguments

         Ford very interested – ec major at college

         Carter, Reagan, Bush – all fairly interested

3 Sources of Advice

         Large community of US economic advisers (unlike foreign policy), many interested parties – multiple advocacy tends to work better

         Kitchen cabinets  - outsider advisers e.g. bipartisan group under Ford

         Pres reaches out to those inside and outside and engages individual discussions with advisers

         Formal rules v informal norms

4 Ford Battles Inflation and Recession

         Summit with Congressional leadership

         31 point plan – a little of this and a little of that – result of having so many people involved

         State of Union tax proposals succeeded – brought down inflation

5 Carter Battles Recession and Inflation

         Fought unemployment with stimulus package

         But prematurely declared victory over inflation

6 Reagan – Growth, taxes and Deficits

         4 points relating to growth of:

o        Decrease spending

o        Lower taxes

o        Reduce regulation

o        Slow money supply growth

         Optimistic assumptions for soft landing

         Brought inflation down too quickly and sent unemployment rocketing

         Tax reform – fewer brackets and brackets, standard deduction and personal exemption inflation indexed

         Result of plans – quicker money supply reduction, less government spending reductions and more tax cuts than wanted

7 GHWB – Read my Lips

         Flexible freeze to help deficit – if hold G constant and economy grows then additional growth will cure deficit

         Democrat dominated Congress

         Statutory caps on spending, pay-go neutral budgetary provisions

8 Clinton

         Surplus b/c Clinton wouldn't increase taxes and Republican Congress wouldn't increase government spending

9 GWB – coping with the unexpected

         Notion of returning surpluses to tax payers with rebates and lowering marginal rates but

         9/11 messed things up – sent government defense spending rocketing

Lecture 10/27/05Styles and Advisors~ Presidents are resistant to others mandating their decisions

- every President is different in their personal interests/desires regarding their advisors

I. Differences in Presidential StylesA. Reliance on formal and informal processes

i. Ensure that the President makes an informed decisionii. Decision-making: a picture that consists of 2 different types of

realities1. substantive reality: effects on inflation, employment, etc.

all which have costs and benefits – these must be clearly articulated for the President

2. political reality: in this world, the President can command little but must persuade a lot –must know who is supporting, how they feel, etc.

example: Clinton enjoyed both parts of the picture – he drew on a wide variety of sources

B. Willingness to delegatei. Some want to be heavily involved in policy, others delegate

C. Reliance on meetings vs. paperi. Varies between Presidents

1. either way, Presidents only want important information because they read every document they are sent

D. Use of staff and line officialsE. Level of detail – decisions large and small

II. Four tests: Focused, informed, coherent, united~ criteria in assessing how well the advising system works

A. Is the pattern of decisions consistent with the strategy?i. To what extent will this decision help or hinder our future goals?

ii. Must take the circumstances into account as they are coming in the context of the bigger picture

B. Does the process provide an informed decision?i. Draw an accurate and detailed map

ii. President must understand his real choicesC. Is the pattern of decisions coherent?

i. All pieces must fit together, cannot produce inconsistent policiesD. Does the process produce a united administration?

i. A challenging task

Missing Zachary Carpenter lecture 12