SYLLABUS for NS 3037
SPRING QUARTER
March 31-June 20, 2003
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1300-1450, Glasgow 386
Office Hours: By Appointment
Professor Archie
Barrett
Professor Glen Browder
Office: 392 Glasgow
Office: 277 Root
Tel.: (831) 656-2409 Tel.: (831) 656-2733
E-mail: adbarret@nps.navy.mil E-mail: jgbrowder@nps.navy.mil
This course focuses on the Congress and examines how it fulfills its role in national security policymaking. The course will cover the Constitutional foundation of the legislature and its evolution; congressional leadership and committee structure; rules and procedures; the roles and functions of political parties; congressional member recruitment and campaigning; budget, authorization, and appropriation processes; congressional staff activities; staff relationships to legislators; development of legislative language; development of legislative strategy; subcommittee, full committee, and floor debate; conference between the two houses of Congress; oversight of the Executive Branch to include congressional investigations and interactions with the Department of Defense. In addition to learning about the legislative process, the student should gain an understanding of the legal foundations of civil-military relations and civilian control of the military.
The two professors offering the course have
extensive experience in the legislative process. Both served on the House Armed Services
Committee, Dr. Browder as a Congressman from 1989 to 1996, and Dr. Barrett as a
member of the professional staff from 1981 to 1994. Dr. Browder was also a member of the House
Budget Committee. His defense-related
legislative work involved military readiness, installations, research and
development, investigations and oversight, and morale-welfare-recreation
responsibilities; he was chairman of the Military Depot Caucus and the Military
Base Closure Fairness Network. His
Budget Committee work focused on balancing the federal budget. He was also a founding leader of the “Blue
Dog” Democratic movement emphasizing both strong defense and fiscal
responsibility. Dr. Barrett’s
congressional responsibilities included
participation in the investigation of the terrorist bombing of the Marine
headquarters in Lebanon in 1983, staff preparation of the hearings and
legislative proposals on defense reorganization that culminated in the
Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, and staff
oversight of the Skelton Panel on Military Education. Dr. Barrett also served as the Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs from 1994 to
1997.
Course Requirements
Class participation will determine forty percent of the grade. That participation will include seminars and other assignments that involve classroom activity and associated outside preparation. Sixty percent of the grade will be based on the mid-term exam and a course paper.
Course Materials
Roger
H. Davidson and Walter J. Oleszek, Congress
and Its Members, Eighth Edition (Washington, D. C.: CQ Press, 2002).
James
R. Locher III, Victory on the Potomac,
The Goldwater-Nichols Act Unifies the Pentagon (College Station,
Texas: Texas A&M University Press,
2002).
Additional
readings will be provided as handouts, transmitted by e-mail, or placed on hold
in the library.
Part I. Evolution of Congress (Lessons 1-3)
Tuesday, April
1/Lesson 1. Introduction to the Course
A Conceptual Framework for the American
Experiment in Democracy
Read for Lessons 1-3: Davidson & Oleszek, Congress and Its Members, Ch. 1 & 2 (36 pages)
Locher, Victory on the Potomac, Ch. 1-3 (67 pages)
Constitution of the United States,
Articles 1 & 2 (4 pages)
Tuesday, April 8/Lesson 3. The
Conceptual Framework (cont.) &
the Constitution
Submit proposed topic of course paper
and draft scenario.
Part II. The Members (Lessons 4-6)
Thursday, April
10/Lesson 4. Recruitment, Running,
Serving
Read for Lessons 3-6: Davidson & Oleszek, Ch. 3, 4, & 5
(116 pages)
Locher, Ch. 4 (12 pages)
Tuesday, April
15/Lesson 5. Recruitment, Running,
Serving (cont.)
Submit specific title of course paper
and preliminary list of sources.
Thursday, April
17/Lesson 6. Recruitment, Running,
Serving (cont.)
Guest Lecturers: Mrs. Becky
Browder, former campaign manager; Mrs. Miriam Barrett, former member of
Congressman Martin Sabo’s staff
Part III. The Congressional System (Lessons 7- 10)
Tuesday, April
22/Lesson 7. Organization and Processes
Read for two lessons: Davidson & Oleszek, Ch. 7 & 8 (61 pages)
Locher, Ch. 5, 6 & 8 (62 pages)
Submit course paper prospectus containing the scenario, a
description of the proposed paper, and the bibliography.
Thursday, April
24/Lesson 8. Organization and Processes
(cont.)
Tuesday, April
29/Lesson 9. Leaders, Parties, and
Decision Making
Read for two lessons: Davidson & Oleszek, Ch. 6 & 9 (67 pages)
Locher, Ch. 9 & 11-13 (78 pages)
Thursday, May 1/Lesson 10. Leaders, Parties, and Decision Making (cont.)
Part IV. Dynamics
of the Defense Policy Process (Lessons 11-14)
Tuesday,
May 6/Lesson 11. Congress and the
Executive Branch
Guest Lecturer: Mr. Fred Frostic
Read:
Davidson & Oleszek, Ch. 10, & 11, (53 pages)
Locher, Ch. 14 (22 pages)
Thursday, May 8/Lesson 12. The Budget and the Budget Process
Guest Lecturer, Prof. Dick Doyle, Associate Professor of Public
Budgeting, Naval Postgraduate School
Read: Davidson & Oleszek, Ch 12 & 13 (46 pages)
Locher, Ch. 15 & 16 (34 pages)
Submit Mid-Term Project/Exam (related
to the course paper).
Tuesday, May 13/Lesson 13. Budgeting for Defense
Read: Davidson & Oleszek, Ch. 14 (24 pages)
Locher, Ch. 17-19 (40 pages)
Part V. Topics in Foreign and Military Policymaking (Lessons 14-22)
Reading assignment to be announced later
Reading assignment to be announced later
Submit a draft of the course paper on Tuesday, May 20.
Read: Locher, Prologue, Ch. 22-24, & Epilogue (62 pages)
Reading
assignment to be announced later
Tuesday, June 3/Lesson 19.
Chemical Weapons Issues Case Study and Exercise
Tuesday, June 10/Lesson 21. The
Future of American Civil-Military Relations
Reading assignment to be
announced later
Submit course paper on Tuesday, Jun 10.
Thursday, June 12/Lesson 22. The Future of American Democracy
Reading assignment to be announced later