This course provides students with a comprehensive perspective on the American presidency and covers a range of topics: elections, congressional relations, public communications, unilateral action, influence over the bureaucracy, leadership in foreign policy, and much more. Throughout, the goal is to understand why presidents behave as they do and why the presidency as an institution has developed as it has, with special attention to the dynamics of the American political system and how they condition incentives, opportunities, and power.
3-5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
This course provides students with a comprehensive perspective on the American presidency and covers a range of topics: elections, congressional relations, public communications, unilateral action, influence over the bureaucracy, leadership in foreign policy, and much more. Throughout, the goal is to understand why presidents behave as they do and why the presidency as an institution has developed as it has, with special attention to the dynamics of the American political system and how they condition incentives, opportunities, and power.
Offered in Autumn 2025 at Stanford University.