Executive Branch & Bureaucracy

Learning Objectives

  • What are the roles of the President?
  • What are the formal and informal powers of the President?
  • Should our president be stronger or weaker than Congress?
  • Why was the Electoral College established?
  • Does the character of a president make a difference in how he does his job?
  • What are the main differences between the White House Staff and the Cabinet?
  • What factors have led to the expansion of Presidential power?
  • How does the President utilize executive orders and agreements to circumvent Congress?
  • What happened to make the bureaucracy a “fourth branch” of national government?
  • What is the role of the federal bureaucracy in implementing, managing, and evaluating federal policy?
  • What are the different types of bureaucratic institutions and how does their oversight reflect their function?​
  • What efforts have been made to reform the bureaucracy?

Vocabulary
Legislative veto
Line-item veto
Impeachment
Impoundment
Bureaucracy
Regulatory Commissions
Executive orders
Executive agreements
Executive privilege
Take Care Clause
Merit system
Standard operating procedures
White House Staff
Cabinet
Iron Triangle
iron triangles
patronage
civil service
merit principle
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
GS (General Scheduling) rating
Issue Network
Revolving door
Executive Office of the President
Independent Agencies
Government Corporations
Senior Executive Service (SES)
independent regulatory commission
government corporations
independent executive agency
policy implementation
administrative discretion
discretionary authority

 
​Janda Text Reading & Guides 
​15/16 Reading Guide Pages 360-365, 
17/18 Reading Guide Pages 366-370
22/23 Reading Guide Pages 371-380
24/25 Reading Guide Pages 381-390
28/29 Reading Guide Pages 394-401 
30/31  Reading for Socratic Seminar Discussion
1/4 Reading Guide Pages 402-407 
19/20 Reading Guide Pages 407-412 
21/22 Reading Guide Pages 413-418
​
Assignments & Handouts
bamarump **
Unit 5 Reading Guide doc
Presidential Powers & Roles doc
POTUS Roles activity doc & answer doc
POTUS Roles Funko Pop Instructions doc
Funko Pop Template doc
Checks & Expansion of POTUS disc
Executive Organization of WH disc
Organization of the Bureaucracy doc
Presidential Power Neustadt doc
Presidential Power Socratic Prep doc
** Other articles of Presidential Power re: Obama & Trump **
     Obama A and B
     Trump
Bureaucracy Webquest doc
State Dinner West Wing Questions doc
Bureaucracy: A Controversial Necessity video
Bureaucracy: A Controversial Necessity doc
Bureaucratic Pizza links
Bureaucratic Pizza Handout doc
Save My Agency doc
Bureaucratic Pathologies doc
Executive Branch Roundup doc 
Watch the first video below for homework in addition to the assigned readings for homework Jan 15-18. Notes may be helpful for class on January 22/23!

Supplemental Videos & Misc