Third Examination
Instructions: The final exam will be given Monday, December 22nd, 11:30 AM-1:30 PM in the lecture hall, 714 HW. At the time of the exam, you will be given two questions from the following list. You will then choose one of these two for your essay. All rules for the earlier exams continue to apply. Remember that you will have two hours for this exam.
1. Collective Action and the Development of Interest Groups. Explain the collective action (“free rider”) problem interest groups must overcome to attract members and how groups might deal with this problem, trace the historical development of interest groups and interest group “systems” up to the 1960s, and then identify the factors that contributed to the interest group “explosion” that began in the 1960s. In what way are interest groups different today from the groups that existed a generation ago?
2. The Constitution and the “Unexpected” Development of National Institutions. The framers of the Constitution had certain ideas about how Congress and the presidency would operate. Yet both institutions have developed in ways the framers could not anticipate and might not applaud. For each institution (Congress and the presidency), discuss the role the framers envisioned for it, how its historical development deviates from the constitutional design, and the factors that have led it to depart from what the framers intended. Then explain why the framers might be displeased with each institution as it stands today.
3. Frameworks for Understanding the Presidency. Three frameworks – constitutional, modern, and regime – can be used to illuminate the presidency in historical perspective, and to account for the obstacles presidents face as they try to achieve their goals and the resources at their disposal. Discuss carefully how each framework explains presidential power (including changes or variations in power) and how each one suggests limits on what presidents can do.
4. The Presidency at War. Explain why presidential power to make war has increased and why Congress fails to serve as an effective check on that power.