Creating the US Presidency

Presidential Power

In this course, Dr David Andersen analyses the US Presidency, focusing particularly on the President’s formal and informal powers. In the first module, Dr Andersen discusses the US Constitution and the Founding Fathers’ intentions in creating the presidential office. Dr Andersen then ask, in the second module: what qualifications does someone need to become the US President? In the third module, we cover the formal powers of the US President as head of state in external matters (you may know this as foreign policy). Then, in the fourth module, Dr Andersen turns to the formal powers of the US President as head of government in internal matters (you may know this as domestic policy). In the fifth module, Dr Andersen then explains the institutional resources available to the President. Finally, in the sixth module, Dr Andersen explains the other informal powers and resources available to the President, focusing particularly on the importance of the media and the all-important role of public opinion. This course may be especially useful for students and teachers of US Politics, as well as those more generally interested in the US Presidency and the US Constitution.

Creating the US Presidency

In this module, Dr David Andersen discusses the creation of the US Presidency, focusing in particular on: (i) the origins of the American polity: the Articles of Confederation and the subsequent Constitution; (ii) the Founding Fathers’ concerns over bringing a “king-like” figure into the American polity; (iii) Shays’ Rebellion and its effects; (iv) the key problems associated with the presidential office in the late eighteenth century, and (v) the Founding Fathers' attempts to solve these problems, such as by establishing the Electoral College.