Week 5: Discussion Questions
WEEK 5
Questions:
- What are the defining characteristics of Presidentialism?
- What are the pros and cons of divided government? Of unified government? Why do you think divided government is so common in the United States?
- Explain the difference between constitutional power (reactive and proactive) and partisan power. What shapes each one? When do presidents have high constitutional power? High partisan power?
- When can presidents build bi-partisan coalitions in support of their policy agenda? What factors make this easy or hard?
- How does the party system shape presidentialism?
- What are the likely implications of growing political polarization in American politics?
- How did the results of the Senate elections in Georgia affect President Biden's ability to pursue his policies?
Define and provide significance* for the following terms:
- Separate Origin
- Separate Survival
- Divided Government
- Unified Government
- Polarization
- Party Discipline
- Deadlock
* What does it mean to "provide significance for" a term? It means that you should 1) explain why the term is important to the course (why do you think we are learning this term?); and/or 2) link the term to other concepts in the course. (See example in Discussion Questions Week 1 for more information).