POLSC232: American Government

Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

• explain the roles, duties, structure, and functions of the US Congress;
• compare and contrast the differences between the Senate and the House of Representatives;
• outline the powers of the legislative branch of government;
• explain the impact of changing demographics and sociological influences on the evolution of the US Congress over time;
• compare and contrast the modern Congress with its previous historical incarnations;
• explain the process of how a bill becomes a law;
• analyze the role of congressional committees in the lawmaking process;
• analyze the role - their duties and responsibilities - of party leaders in Congress;
• explain the role and constitutional powers of the presidency;
• discuss the limits of presidential power in a constitutional system of checks and balances;
• compare and contrast both the formal and informal powers of the presidency;
• explain how the modern presidency has evolved over time;
• discuss the complicated nature that exists between the president and the media;
• describe the role of the vice president;
• explain the organization of the Executive Office of the President;
• discuss the origins of the modern cabinet;
• analyze the role of the bureaucracy as the implementation arm of the executive branch;
• explain the role of congressional oversight of the bureaucracy;
• discuss the constitutional origins of the judicial branch;
• analyze how the US Supreme Court interprets the law, paying particular attention to the competing judicial philosophies of judicial restraint and judicial activism;
• explain the origin and importance of judicial review; and
• explain the politics of the judicial selection process.