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.
Offered
Spring, even years
Outcomes
- Students will gain an understanding of the history and structure of the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government.
- 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.
- 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.
- Students will gain an appreciation of the challenges of policy-making in the constitutional order.
- 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.