Dr. Ian Gordon

ASC

NUS

Course Description:
This module focuses on the process of decision-making and policy formation in America, its relationship to politics, and its impact on society.  The major focus of the course will be on the role of the American President in this process during the twentieth century.  Students will examine the sources of Presidential power, the limits placed on that power, and the interaction between foreign and domestic policy.  In Semester 1 2000-2001 the module will give due attention to the US Presidential election.

Teaching Format
A weekly two hour lecture and one hour tutorial. E-mail addresses: Ian Gordon ascilg@nus.edu.sg
Daniel Jew ascjewd@nus.edu.sg

Assessment
Students are expected to attend lectures and tutorial in accordance with university policy and to actively participate in tutorials. Assessment is (40%) continuous assessment -- based on class participation, a mid-term test, tutorial presentation, and a 3,000 word essay -- and (60%) a final exam (open book).  The essay is due at 5pm on Friday September 15. Students may use the subject of their tutorial presentation as the basis for their essay. Students must consult my essay guide page.

Text
Michael Schaller, Virginia Scharff, and Robert Schulzinger, Coming of Age: America in the Twentieth Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. NUS Library Holdings. The textbook will be supplemented by other readings.

A useful resource is the Encyclopedia of the American Presidency. Leonard W. Levy and Louis Fisher,  editors. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. NUS Library Holdings

Students are expected to keep up with American affairs through reading magazines such as Time and Newsweek, newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, and using other internet web resources. I recommend students listen to National Public Radio (NPR) reports. The home page for NPR is http://www.npr.org/. Other newspapers on the web can be accessed through http://ajr.newslink.org/news.html.

Lecture 1 (July 19)
The Constitution and The Presidency

Lecture 2 (July 26)
Electing the President

Lecture 3 (August 2)
The Early Twentieth Century: Theodore Roosevelt to Woodrow Wilson

Lecture 4 Note this lecture will be held on Saturday August 12 from 12 noon in AS7/01-19
The 1920s: Warren Harding to Herbert Hoover

Lecture 5 (August 16)
The 1930s: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Part 1

Lecture 6 (August 23)
World War II: FDR Part II

Lecture 7 (August 30)
Midterm Exam

Lecture 8 (September 13)
1945 to 1960: Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower

Lecture 9 (September 20)
The 1960s: John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson

Lecture 10 (September 27)
1968-1975: Richard Nixon

Lecture 11 (October 4)
1975-1988 Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan

Lecture 12 (October 11)
1988-2000: George Bush and Bill Clinton

Lecture 13 (October 18)
The 2000 Election

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