IDEAS IN ACTION

The Presidency and Economic Policy - PSCI 205-001

Term: Fall 2006

Instructor: Dr. Donald Kettl

Distinguished Policymaker: Various

Course Syllabus

Course Description: This course explored the president’s efforts to shape the economy, how the economy shapes the presidency, what tools the president has (and doesn’t have) to steer the economy, rising global forces on the American economy, and how the economy affects the balance of power between the White House and the Congress.

Economic issues are important in their own right. They also provide one of the very best prisms for breaking apart and helping to understand the issues that shape presidential power. The course aimed to acquaint students with the driving issues of economic policy, both domestic and international; to examine how American political institutions deal with these issues; and to explore the central role of the president in shaping economic policy.
In addition to the theoretical and substantive issues in the course, the class developed strategies for engaging younger voters in the debate over the nation’s fiscal future. One of the course’s dominant themes was the deep financial crisis in which the nation finds itself. What should we do to address this crisis? And how can—and should—younger voters be engaged in the effort to address the huge problems looming in the future?

The generation of that strategy was the principal goal of the course. At the end of the semester, students presented the results of their research and analysis to representatives from the Concord Coalition, staff from United States Senate offices, and others.

At the center of discussion were the strategies that the students had devised to engage other young people in issues relating to the nation’s fiscal future. The following web sites are examples of the students’ strategies to engage young people in the issue of Social Security:
http://www.polisci.upenn.edu/courses/f2006/PSCI205/201/index.php
http://www.dieby65.com/