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AP United States Government and Politics
UNIT FOUR GUIDE: PRESIDENCY, BUREAUCRACY AND FOREIGN POLICY
UNIT READINGS: Chapter 12: The Presidency
Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy
Chapter 20: Foreign and Military Policy
QUIZ DATES:
Chapter 12 Part I: 3/16
Chapter 12 Part II: 3/22
Chapter 13: 3/28
Chapter 20: 4/13
EXAM DATES:
4/17 (100 points)
Key Topics
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The Imperial Congress vs. The Imperial Presidency
The Evolution of the Presidency
The Sources of Presidential Power
The Office of the President
Presidential Appointments and the Senate
The President and Public Opinion
The President and Agenda Setting
Issues of Presidential Succession
The Role of Bureaucracy in American Government
Political Control of the Bureaucracy
The Structure of the Bureaucracy
The Problems of Bureaucracy
The Making of Foreign Policy
The Constitutional Basis of Foreign and Defense Policy
Congress, the President, and Foreign and Defense Policy
Foreign Policy and Public Opinion
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and the Bureaucracy
Unit Assignments:
1. Due 3/30: ASSIGNMENT (15 points)
Read the “What Would You Do?” on page 581 of your text.. Based on your
understanding of the capabilities of the US military and the current
international environment, write a 1-2 page reaction paper in which you
explain which option you would pursue and why.
2. Due 4/19: UNIT ESSAY (20 points)
Choose one of the topics below and write a 2-3 page essay following the
standard format for this course. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR UNIT ESSAYS: If you
do not feel that you have enough information to adequately write the essay
that you choose, you should conduct some further research. All information
needs to be cited within your paper. Internal citations are sufficient if the
information has been provided by your instructor. However, if you use outside
research, you should include a works cited page as well.
a. Some have argued that Congress has attempted to reassert its power over the
past thirty years at the expense of the presidency. In the view of these scholars,
the so-called imperial presidency of Johnson and Nixon was eventually replaced
by an imperial Congress in more recent decades. However, the 9/11 terrorist
attacks seem to have set the stage for a return to the imperial presidency.
Evaluate the validity of the imperial Congress thesis and assess the extent to
which the changing political climate since September 11th has altered the
balance of power between Congress and the president.
b. "Presidential greatness, is to a large extent, determined as a result of a
president being in the right place at the right time." Assess the validity of this
statement. Be sure to define the criteria that you believe is necessary to
characterize a president as great, to include historical examples to support your
point, and to consider arguments for both sides of the question.
b. Taking into account both the national security and economic concerns of the
United States, defend one of the four worldviews (isolationism, containment,
disengagement, or human rights) as being the most desirable course for US
foreign policy in the 21st Century. Essays should reflect an understanding of the
worldviews, recent history, and current events. Clear arguments and examples
should be used to support your position. Essays should also reflect an awareness
of concerns raised by the other worldviews.
Chapter 12: The Presidency Part I (pp.333-353)
KEY TERMS (Define them and explain importance in relation to chapter)
Ad hoc structure
Executive Office of the
Office of Management and
Appointment powers
President
Budget
Article II
Executive Departments
Pardon
Cabinet
gridlock
Perks
Chief of Staff
“in and outers”
Prime minister
Circular structure
Imperial Congress
Pyramid structure
Commander-in-chief
Imperial Presidency
Treaty powers
Divided government
Independent agencies
Twenty-second Amendment
Electoral College
Independent commissions
Unified government
Jacksonian Politics
White House Office
REBUTTALS (Refute each statement below. Use information that was provided from reading the
chapter in your responses).
1. The official titles of Executive Office officials are an accurate reflection of their influence on the
president.
2. The president has clear cut authority over executive agencies and only needs to be urged to
exercise it.
REVIEW QUESTIONS (Answer each question fully and completely by pulling information from the
chapter).
1. Explain the difference between the positions of president and prime minister.
2. Discuss the approach of the Founders toward executive power.
3. Discuss the evolution of the presidency from 1789 to the present.
4. List and describe the various offices that make up the office of the president.
5. Discuss whether changes in the roles and responsibilities of the White House staff have led to
greater presidential accountability and effectiveness. Support your argument with examples from
two presidencies since 1961, making sure to define both presidential accountability and
effectiveness.
FREE REPSONSE QUESTIONS: (These questions are very similar to questions that appear on the AP
Exam. Answer each question fully and thoroughly using complete sentences. It may require the use of
outside information.)
1.
The concept of “divided government” in the United States means that one political party can
control the executive branch while another controls the legislative branch. This poses problems for
the president in making appointments to federal offices.
a. Describe two problems that divided government poses for the President in making federal
appointments.
b. Identify and explain two ways Presidents try to overcome the problems described in (a).
Chapter 12: The Presidency Part II
KEY TERMS (Define them and explain importance in relation to chapter)
Budget Reform Act
Legislative veto
Bully pulpit
Line-item veto
Crisis leadership
Mandate
Executive privilege
Midterm elections
Honeymoon
Moral authority
Impeachment
Pocket veto
Impoundment of funds
Presidential Character
Lame duck
Presidential Coattails
Presidential Popularity
Public Persuasion
Succession Act
Twenty-fifth Amendment
United States v. Nixon
Veto message
REBUTTALS (Refute each statement below. Use information that was provided from reading the
chapter in your responses).
1. Presidents are constitutionally required to share all their information with Congress.
2. Presidential powers under the Constitution are complete.
CHECKING DATA (Use the information provided in charts, graphs, or maps in your text book to provide
a thorough answer to the following questions.
Using Table 12.3:
1. What hypothesis underlies the table?
2. What does the 1956 election suggest about the popularity of Eisenhower the individual and the
popularity of the Republican party as an institution?
3. What other data would you like to have before concluding that there is or is not a presidential
coattails effect?
Using Table 12.4 and Figure 12.2:
1. What does Table 12.4 tell us? Keep in mind that Senate seats up for reelection are not evenly
distributed between the two parties.
2. Compare the gains and losses in Table 12.4 with the level of presidential popularity in Figure 12. 4
form the same years. In how many midterm elections was there a decline in presidential
popularity?
3. According to Figure 12.4, have presidents since 1964 been as consistently popular as those who
served before 1964?
REVIEW QUESTIONS (Answer each question fully and completely using information from the chapter).
1. Discuss presidential character and how these relate to the achievements in office of various
presidents.
2. Discuss the various facets-formal and informal-of presidential power.
3. Discuss the factors that lead to conflict in executive-legislative relations. Can they be neatly placed
in constitutionally and political categories?
4. If you were asked by the Founders to make recommendations on the presidency, what would you
suggest, on the basis of 200 years of experience?
FREE REPSONSE QUESTIONS: (These questions are very similar to questions that appear on the AP
Exam. Answer each question fully and thoroughly using complete sentences. It may require the use of
outside information.)
1.
Presidential approval ratings fluctuate over the course of each presidential administration.
a. Identify two factors that decrease presidential approval ratings, and explain why each
factor has that effect.
b. Identify two factors that tend to increase presidential approval ratings, and explain why
each factor has that effect.
Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy
KEY TERMS (Define them and explain importance in relation to chapter)
Agency culture
Annual authorization
Appropriations
Authorization
Buddy System
Bureaucracy
Committee clearance
Competitive service
Congressional
investigations/oversight
Discretionary authority
Expected service
expenditures
Iron triangle
Issue networks
Legislative veto
Merit System
Name-request job
National Performance
Review
Office of personnel
management
Patronage
Pendelton Act
Red tape
Regulatory rule
Schedule C
Senior Executive Service
Spoils system
Trust funds
REBUTTALS (Refute each statement below. Use information that was provided from reading
the chapter in your responses).
1.
It does not matter who is hired as a civil servant so long as he or she has the requisite
education.
2. Most bureaucrats are appointed by the president in power.
3. The federal bureaucracy operates essentially like a very large corporation.
4. Once an agency has accomplished its original tasks, it begins to decline in size and
influence.
CHECKING DATA (Use the information provided in charts, graphs, or maps in your text book to
provide a thorough answer to the following questions.
Using Figure 13.2:
1. What correlation do you see between expenditures and employment? Between
regulations and employment?
2. Can you think of any reason that expenditures shot up suddenly in 1964-1966 period?
3. Can you think of any events in the 1070-1973 period that might explain the sharp increase
in regulations?
4. What effects did the Reagan years (1980 – 1988) have on expenditures, regulations, and
employment?
Using Table 13.2:
1. On the basis of the table, what obvious conclusion can be drawn regarding the
employment of minorities in the federal bureaucracy?
REVIEW QUESTIONS (Answer each question fully and completely by pulling information from
the chapter).
1. Discuss the history of the growth of bureaucracy in this country and the different uses to
which it has been put.
2. Discus the recruitment, retention, and personal characteristics of federal bureaucrats.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of congressional measures to control the bureaucracy.
4. Discuss why it is so difficult to control the bureaucracy.
5. Discuss the four factors that help explain the behavior of appointed officials. Which do you
think is the most important?
6. What are some examples of bureaucratic pathologies? Why do each of them exist? Can
they be corrected? Why or why not?
FREE REPSONSE QUESTIONS: (These questions are very similar to questions that appear on
the AP Exam. Answer each question fully and thoroughly using complete sentences. It may
require the use of outside information.)
1.
Is Congress effective in exercising legislative oversight of the federal bureaucracy? Provide
a clear answer to the question with supporting detail but in doing so, be sure to do both of
the following:
a. Explain two specific methods Congress uses to exercise effective oversight of the
federal bureaucracy.
b. Give two specific explanations for the failure of Congress to exercise effective
oversight of the federal bureaucracy.
Chapter 20: Foreign and Military Policy
KEY TERMS (Define them and explain importance in relation to chapter)
Appeasement
Armed Services Committee
Client foreign policy
Cold war
Containment
Cost overruns
Council on Foreign
Relations
Defense Reorganization
Plan
Disengagement view
Domino Theory
“gold plating”
Human rights
Interest group foreign
policy
Internationalism
Interservice Rivalry
Iron curtain
Isolationism
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Majoritarian foreign policy
Military-industrial complex
NAFTA
Multinational Corporation
Multilateralism
National Security Act
NSC
Peace dividend
“sole sourcing”
State Department
Strategic Defense Initiative
Third World
Unilateralism
War Powers Act
REBUTTALS (Refute each statement below. Use information that was provided from reading
the chapter in your responses).
1. Because the public always rallies around the flag in crises, the president has great freedom
of action to whatever he wants in international affairs.
2. The Joint Chiefs of Staff command a unified defense establishment.
3. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, military power has
become less important.
CHECKING DATA (Use the information provided in charts, graphs, or maps in your text book to
provide a thorough answer to the following questions.
Using Table 20.1:
1. What conclusion can be drawn regarding the effect of a foreign policy crisis on the
president’s approval rating?
Using Table 20.3:
1. On what two issues did Regan administration officials disagree most sharply with other
foreign policy leaders?
2. On what issues were the opinions of Reagan administration officials most closely in
accordance with the opinion of other foreign policy officials?
Using Figure 20.1:
1. Which presidents noticeably increased or decreased military spending after taking office?
REVIEW QUESTIONS (Answer each question fully and completely by pulling information from
the chapter).
1. Compare the powers of U.S. presidents with those of heads of states in other Western
governments with respect to the making of foreign policy.
2. Discuss the provisions of the War Powers Act and the effects that those provisions seem like
to have on presidential war-making abilities.
3. Compare and contrast these worldwide views: isolation, containment, disengagement,
and human rights.
4. Discuss the drawbacks and the advantages of interservice rivalries.
5. Discuss the bureaucratic factors that tend to create the cost-overrun problem, and
describe a solution you think might work.
6. Using specific examples, discuss the relationship between public opinion and foreign and
defense policy. In doing so, be sure to consider the effects that public opinion has on
foreign and defense policy, the effects that foreign and defense policy have on public
opinion, and cleavages within public opinion with regard to foreign and defense policy.
FREE REPSONSE QUESTIONS: (These questions are very similar to questions that appear on
the AP Exam. Answer each question fully and thoroughly using complete sentences. It may
require the use of outside information.)
1. Presidents are generally thought to have advantages over Congress in conducting foreign
policy because of the formal and informal powers of the presidency.
a. Identify two formal constitutional powers of the President in making foreign
policy.
b. Identify two formal constitutional powers of the Congress in making foreign policy.
c. Identify two informal powers of the President that contribute to the power of the
President over Congress in conducting foreign policy.
d. Explain how each of the informal powers identified in (C) contributes to the
President’s advantage over Congress in conducting foreign policy.