American Government

Field Examination

Day One

May 2000

Part I - Required
Publius argues in the Federalist Papers that the American Constitution beholds a "republican", rather than a "pure," democracy. What are the essential differences between these two ideas of democracy? Did republican democracy become firmly established in the United States? Or have competing understandings and practices of constitutional government challenged it throughout American history? Your answer should be grounded in an understanding of the both institutions and political behavior.

Part II - Answer two

1.The American Constitution does not provide for a patty system. Yet a two-party system very quickly became part of the "living constitution." Has the two-party system changed fundamentally the working of American constitutional government? Or, is the party system better understood as a "creature" of the Constitution, as assuming a form that follows from the essential characteristics of constitutional government in the United States?

2. Most accounts of the presidency mark the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as the beginning of the "modern" presidency. Did FDR's presidency mark a fundamental transformation of the executive office? Or, did this transformation occur earlier? Is there compelling evidence that challenges the historical demarcation between traditional and modem presidencies?

3. For much of the past fifty years, the United States has had "divided government," in which one party controls the White House while the other controls the Congress. What are the major consequences of separate partisan realms for governing? Is divided government a routine feature of the American constitutional system? Or has it transformed in important ways how constitutional government works?

4. Political organizations called "interest groups" are said to play a significant role in American politics. What are these "interests," what are "interest groups," how are interest groups mobilized or activated, and how are their roles in American politics best characterized? Your answer should explicitly compare the approaches that would be grounded in the work of David B. Truman, of Javk Walker and associates, of at least two other contributors on the subject within the past decade.

5. Many scholars discern a more aggressive Congress since the late 1960s. Has there been a resurgence of Congressional power in the formulation and administration of public policy during the past three decades? Should this development merely be viewed as a renewal of the constitutional system of separated powers, after several years of expanded presidential influence? Or has Congressional power grown so much as to make executive leadership impractical?

6. The Antifederalists warned that the Constitution of 1787 would lead to national "consolidation," that its authors desired to reduce the States, slowly and imperceptivity, to a "mere shadow of power." Did the critics of the Constitution read it properly? Or has the system of federalism proved to be less fragile than the Antifederalists feared it would be?

7. "If I were asked where I place the American aristocracy," Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America, "I should reply without hesitation that it is not among the rich, who are united by no common tie, but that it occupies the judicial bench and bar." Has the Judiciary been the functional equivalent of an aristocracy in the United States, checking innovation in American democracy? Or does such a characterization misrepresent the American legal tradition, particularly of the past fifty years, and the way it has been a critical agent of reform?

8. There is constant discussion of the need for control of "bureaucracy," or decisionmaking by non-elected government agencies. What, based upon the research of political science, are the actual roles of the Presidency, Congress, and the Federal judiciary in exerting such control? What important political science research problem(s) do you identify from your analvsis of such control?