American National Government	Dr. Triebwasser

The Presidency

• The President vs. Congress
• War Powers
• Treaties
• Secrecy
• Impoundment
• The Six Roles of the President
  The various powers relating to each role
• Constitutional Amendments Relating to the Presidency
  Major purposes of each amendment
• Presidential Leadership:
  Extraconstitutional Powers and Relationships
• Congress
• The Bureaucracy
• The People (Television)
• The Press
• Large Corporations
• The Institutionalized Presidency
• The Executive Office of the President
  The makeup and role of each element
• White House Office
• Office of Management and Budget
• National Security Council
• Council of Economic Advisers
• Other Elements
• Cabinet Secretaries
• Dual Loyalty

The Judiciary

• The Marbury vs. Madison Decision
  Importance and historical background
• Review of State and Local Actions
• The Fourteenth Amendment
  Function, importance, relation to
  other reconstruction amendments
• Structure of the Court Systems
• The State Court Systems (A generic model)
• The Federal Court System
• Judicial Courts
  Structure, examples and function of each court
• Special Judicial Courts
  Structure, examples and function of each court
• Administrative Courts
  Examples and functions of each
• Difference between Judicial and Administrative Courts
  Constitutional authority, function, advisory opinions, tenure, examples
• Judicial Activism vs. Judicial Restraint
• Loose Constructionism vs. Strict Constructionism
• Terminology
• Common Law vs. Roman Law
• State law vs. federal law
• Crime vs. tort
• Original jurisdiction vs. appellate jurisdiction
• Stare Decisis
• Writ of Certiorari
• Amicus Curiae briefs

The Bureaucracy

• Weber's Definition
• Historical Development of Cabinet Departments
• The Representative Function of Bureaucratic Units
• Functional vs. Geographic Representation
• Bureaucratic Units
  General description and role, examples, functions;
  leadership, appointment, term of office, and removal of each respectively
• Cabinet Departments
• Independent Executive Agencies
• Independent Regulatory Commissions
• Government Corporations
• Civil Service
• The Pendleton Act
  Historical background and purpose
• The Spoils System vs. the Merit System
• Positive and negative effects of Civil Service
• Political Implications: Subgovernments and The Washington Triangles
        (Iron Trangles)
  Symbiotic relationship, the players and how each
  element (side) helps the other
• Limitations and Influences on the Bureaucracy
• Governmental
• The President
• Congress
• The Courts
• Extragovernmental
• Interest Groups
• Internal
• Specialization
• Hierarchical Inefficiency
• Institutional Loyalty

Rev.: 1/06
HTML: 1/06