U.S. Foreign Policy Comprehensive Exam - August 2006

Answer 3 Questions:

1. The rational actor model has come under significant attack in recent years, even by some of its adherents. Assess the validity of both the rational actor model and critiques of the model. In doing so, summarize the core contributions of major adherents and critics -- authors such as Allison, Jervis, Janis, Janis and Mann, Levy, and Simon -- indicating into which categorize you are placing each one.

2. Conventional wisdom about the way in which the NSC system functions holds that its variation largely reflects the personal styles and approaches to management of the president. Analyze this conventional wisdom by drawing on the appropriate literature to: (a) compare how modern presidents have operated their NSC systems; (b) evaluate whether the differing operations of the NSC system corresponded to the personal styles and approaches to management of the president; (c) suggest other factors which might influence how a particular NSC system operates.

3. One might argue that the relationship between Congress and the President departs significantly from the plan envisioned by the Constitution's framers for making foreign policy. They imagined policymaking would occur in a four-stage process: (1) Congress would deliberate and establish policy goals; (2) both branches then would negotiate the articulation of the goals through legislation (hence, the "invitation to struggle"); (3) the Executive would then execute or implement the laws; (4) both Congress and the Executive would exercise oversight to review the way the laws were implemented in order to consider a revised articulation of the goals.

Today, it seems that goal setting is largely the Executive's prerogative; the President then establishes the legislative agenda through his budget proposals or foreign policy initiatives and Congress merely tinkers with the President's proposed legislation; Congress involves itself in implementation through micro-management and "earmarks"; the Executive is principally involved in the process of oversight, because Congress lacks the necessary information, electoral incentive, or time to engage in effective review of Executive implementation.

Analyze the extent to which this argument – that the process of making foreign policy departs significantly from the plan of the Constitution's framers – is valid, by elaborating the premises that you think are well grounded, and/or by providing a detailed critique of the premises that you think are not accurate.

4. Which offers a better explanation for the contours US foreign policy since 9/11: the nature of key national security policy making agencies in combination with core elements of American culture, or the personal views and priorities of key actors in the Bush Administration?

5. Describe and analyze the role nuclear weapons played in foreign policy choices US officials made during the Cold War. To the extent that you judge that there was variation in the role of nuclear weapons, be sure to indicate the boundaries of the periods you are discussing.

6. Which has had a greater influence on the proliferation (or lack thereof) of nuclear weapons: international norms and rules (such as the Nonproliferation Treaty) or US efforts to use its own military and foreign policy tools to address proliferation on a case by case basis, as dictated by American's own foreign policy interests?

7. Using US public support for the Iraq War (between March 2003 and 2006), assess the extent to which real life trends have reflected academic generalizations found in the literature on public opinion and military interventions?

8. I asked Congress to give me the flexibility necessary to be able to deal with the true threats of the 21st century by being able to move the right people to the right place at the right time, so we can better assure America we're doing everything possible. The House responded. But the Senate is more interested in special interests in Washington, and not interested in the security of the American people. – President George W. Bush, September 25, 2002, discussing congressional amendments to his proposal for the Department of Homeland Security.

President Bush's comments highlight a common criticism of Congress, that it does not have the ability to make foreign policy because members of Congress are too parochial and too responsive to special and/or constituency interests. Assess the validity of this criticism of Congress's ability to make foreign policy. In doing so, be sure to describe the ways in which constituents and interest groups have influenced Congress on foreign and defense policy issues. Include descriptions of the kinds of issues on which lobbyists tend to be most influential, the methods lobbyists tend to use, and the difficulties which lobbyists encounter in achieving their foreign policy goals.