U.S. Presidency
Title: Polarizer-in-Chief: Presidential Leadership in the 21st Century
Day & Time: Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Many Americans can name several presidents and even have opinions on “good” versus “bad” presidents. But what do presidents actually do, what resources and limitations do they have in their ability to act, and how do we measure their performance and our expectations for their leadership? With a divided Congress and record polarization, what can we expect during the next year and a half of a Biden/Harris administration? This course will put the modern presidency in historical and theoretical context, drawing on a variety of readings and approaches to determine which framework best explains presidential (in)action. At its core, this class is about the question of executive power in democratic government and how we understand what we see happening just down the street from the UC Washington Center. In addition to studying and reflecting on the theme of presidential power, we will also consider the limits to this power and how presidents achieve their goals. Ultimately, we aim to understand the work of the presidency and some of the different perspectives by which we might analyze or assess presidents and their administrations.
Gilbert Nunez
I am a Ph.D. of American government and politics with specializations in the American presidency, public policy, and polarization. My research focuses on presidential governance via the executive order and how political factors influence the ability of presidents to issue their most significant orders. I have taught UCDC’s presidency seminar since the Fall 2017 quarter. Before UCDC, I taught classes about public policy and Congress at the University of Maryland to students who had internships related to those fields in a format similar to the UCDC program. Outside of the classroom, I work at Community Change & Community Change Action, non-profit organizations focused on building a movement led by everyday people to create change in their communities and across the country. As the Electoral Data Manager, I work with different teams and partner organizations across the country to identify target audiences for our work and track the work we are doing in communities affected by injustice. I’m originally from Michigan but have lived in the DC area for about 15 years.
