Course Description:

This course is a story about the role of Congress in setting defense policy. In this story, PROCESS is key to understanding policy outcomes. We will explore three main topics in this course. First, we will trace the historical development of our philosophy of national defense and how the Founders sought to build a system that would embody their particular fears and hopes. Second, we will explore the network of relationships between services, president, and Congress as they have responded to changes in the world since the Cold War ended. This network of relationships is far more complex than many suppose, and Congress is the key player -- despite its apparent remove from the action.

The course consists of four sections. Section One examines military policy and military reform in the United States, from our English roots (1603) through the end of the Cold War (1991). Our main interest here is not on military history or national strategy; our goal is to understand how history and context shaped the Founders’ approach to defense policy, and how the challenges of the Progressive era led to the establishment of modern, professionalized military services and bureaucracies after the War With Spain. In these lessons, we will seek to understand what the security challenges were, and what institutional arrangements -- organization, command, and governmental -- were devised to achieve the nation’s goals. Section Two explores the system developed during the Cold War – the system we still use today. We will explore the system itself – players, rules, and goals – with particular attention to Congress’ role. Congress has three major tools for participating in defense policy – oversight, organizational reform, and the budget – and we will examine each of these powers in this section.

Section Three brings us to today – and the challenges facing America the lone superpower. Our leaders are still struggling with the precise requirements of this new role, so the military missions that support such a national role are also undeveloped, as are the new institutional arrangements needs to make this role a successful one for the United States. In this section we will examine the last ten years in detail, exploring several key issues that have pitted Congress and the executive branch against each other, such as strategic direction, force structure, missile defense, US-China relations, and homeland security. The intention here is to sketch out the opposing arguments and try to see how Congress has used the powers we examined in Section Two to influence the Clinton and Bush (version 2.0) administrations in their national security and foreign policy decisions.

Section Four is yours. Each student will be researching and writing a short study paper (8-10 pages) and will present a short (10 minute) presentation on their topic during this part of the class. We end the course with a summary period, in which we will circle back to the theory. We will not solve the enormous issue of defense reorganization for the New World Order, but we should be able to outline the issues more clearly and ask the right questions. In policymaking, that is frequently much harder than solving the problem.

Writing Requirements

The grade for this course is based on three elements. First, ten per cent of the grade is based on class participation. You are responsible for attending each lesson (unavoidable absences due to work are fine; just let me know what is happening) and for preparing a weekly one-page assessment of the week’s reading, for each week marked in the schedule with an asterisk (lessons 2-11). In this one-pager, you should VERY briefly summarize the main argument of the week’s material, and then offer your analysis of the readings – how do they mesh with the course? What do they mean for us today? Should we read them, or is there something else that would be better? These one-pagers are due at the end of each class period – if you must be absent, e-mail them to me. Second, fifteen percent of grade is derived from two ten-minute presentation you will deliver – one about an article or book chapter from the readings in Section 2 or 3, which you will choose, and one on your short paper, to be delivered in Lesson 13 (see schedule, below). The seminar paper makes up the remaining 75 per cent of the grade (see comments on the paper, below).

“Incomplete” Policy

Since the paper grade largely determines your class grade, I cannot in good conscience offer “incomplete” grades to any student who fails to turn in the paper by the end of the term. Late submission of the paper will be subject to automatic grade reduction at the rate of one letter grade per week until the end date of the course. Any paper submitted after the last day of the course will be issued an automatic failing grade.  Start working early and complete the paper on time.

Paper Subject and Format

You have full and free rein to choose any defense-related topic for your subject. Write about a subject that interests you and that will be worth your time. The format for the paper is simple: define an issue, a problem, or a reform currently facing the defense establishment; examine the issue in some detail; and offer a solution or a recommendation. The paper must be 8-10 pages in length (text, not including bibliography). Grammar, spelling, and proper citations matter! Your paper might follow this pattern:

Topic: Statement of the problem/issue

Background: source of the problem. Contending views. Previous efforts to reform.

Options: Previously attempted reforms that were not fully successful. Options currently under debate

Evaluation of Options: What standards should we use to evaluate the reform? How do each of the

            options stack up against those standards?

Recommendation: What option is the best, and how does the U.S. implement the option (law, regulations, Executive Order, etc.)

Required Texts:

Ketcham, R., Editor. 1986. The Anti-Federalist papers and the Constitutional Convention debates. New York: Mentor Books. ISBN: 0451625250.

Knott, J., and G. Miller. 1998. Reforming bureaucracy: The politics of institutional choice. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0137700903.

Lindsay, James M. 1994. Congress and the politics of US foreign policy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN: 0801848822.

Ripley, Randall and James M. Lindsay, Editors. 1997. US foreign policy after the Cold War. Pittsbugh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN: 082295625X.

Skowronek, Stephen. 1982. Building a new American state. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0521288657.