POLS 312 Congress and the Presidency

An examination of the political power, roles, and interaction of the U.S. Congress and the President in the federal policy-making process. Required for Political Science majors. A research paper is optional.

Credits

3

Offered

Spring, even years

Outcomes

1. Students will gain an understanding of the history and structure of the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government.
2. Students will gain an understanding of how policy-making in the U.S. is structured by both the discrete and the combined authority of and the interaction between these branches.
3. Students will gain an understanding of how the shared authority of the political branches over policy-making reflects the design of the Constitution and the intentions of its framers.
4. Students will gain an appreciation of the challenges of policy-making in the constitutional order.
5. If the research paper option is chosen, students will develop research, writing, and critical thinking skills through an in-depth exploration of an issue of contemporary U.S. politics concern.