Wrap-up Last time: Presidentialism vs. Parliamentarism Today: overview of the course Next time: review session for monday’s exam

Presidentialism vs Parliamentarism What is the better way to organize a representative democracy? –presidentialism: “chief executive” not elected by legislators, and terms of office for both are fixed –parliamentarism: everything else, although emphasis on legislative selection/retention of the chief executive (e.g., prime minister) and endogenous terms of office Where does legitimacy lie? Can it be divided? How responsive is the political system? Can holders identify responsibility for outcomes? How tolerant is the system of policy disagreement?

Mainwaring and Shugart how much initiative power does the president have? how internally cohesive are legislative parties? how many effective parties are represented?

Overview: Traditional Presidency nominations dominated by party elites patronage (distributive benefits) used to seal deals elections dominated by state/local party organizations –national communications were expensive, slow, dominated by partisan newspapers –marketing of candidates? Heroic types easiest to sell Few delegated responsibilities –“chief clerk” on a short leash with limited outreach capacity congress tended to delegate to cabinet ministers, who were often key faction leaders small standing army communications technology limited “going public”

Overview: the transition Size of federal gov’t grows dramatically with major wars –new role for prez with 1921 Budget Act advent of radio in the 1920s dramatically increases the potential reach of politicians “going public” Great Depression crisis plus WWII change public view of prez –Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934; large standing armies; Wagner Act

Overview: the modern prez The national government now is a major player in the U.S. economy and is the international military superpower Presidential ability to communicate to a mass audience directly via TV, radio Growing perception of division of labor between prez and congress –Voters hold the president personally accountable for macro-economic outcomes (growth, inflation, unemployment) –Voters hold the president personally accountable for national security

Overview: Learning and Persuasion Most people exhibit little encyclopedic knowledge of politics –low-information rationality and learning from signals –on-line processing Experimental evidence on priming and framing –Who is most affected by news coverage? –Effects of competing sources?

Overview: Presidents and legislation Veto power –asymmetric strategic effects –package veto; “bargaining before an audience” Shaping the legislative agenda –priming the public; framing? –tools for “insider lobbying”? –entrepreneurial services to congress

Overview: Presidents and Implementation Shaping bureaucratic behavior –appointments: singletons vs boards; presidential discretion vs senate confirmation direct effects (shaping goals of bureaucrats) and indirect effects (selecting judges) –monitoring and reporting requirements: prez’s budget & oversight functions –institutional checks: executive orders; central clearance of regulatory proposals