Day 25 - Getting Ready for a busy day at the White House

 

Learning Targets:

• Explain how presidents have interpreted and justified their use of formal and informal powers.
• Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda. 
• Explain how communication technology has changed the president’s relationship with the national constituency and the other branches.

Opener:  

• How has the President's ability to communicate directly to the American electorate changed in the past 20 years?  What impacts do you think this has during times of crisis and emergencies?

Activity #1 - Presidential Simulation Prep

We will first elect a president to serve in the simulation.  Those wishing to run for president during the simulation MUST acknowledge and accept the grading criteria below:

1.  The President will assign each student a cabinet or advisor position.  These will be projected on the screen.  You have 10 minutes to assign your staff!

• Each cabinet member (excluding those listed below) will be assessed based on the written proposal (how their department will aid in solving the crisis at hand) submitted to their President.
• 10 Points – based on thoroughness, detail, realism, and sound judgment 
• 5 Points – based on participation and effort

• Presidents and Chief of Staff will receive an average of their cabinets' scores as their score.

• Press Secretaries will submit a copy of the public address/statement given to the US populace explaining what the government is doing during this crisis.

2. Cabinet members and advisors will then complete the following tasks prior to the simulation:

1. Provide a 1 paragraph summary of their department’s duties, mission, and history.  This can usually be found on the department's website.
2. List the agencies that they manage under their department.
3. Describe at least 2 past operations (1 success and 1 failure) that your department led.

Activity #2 - Simulation Tips

Critical Thinking Questions to consider

• What does the situation look like?
• Visualization helps you “see” and anticipate the problem. 

• How does my department fit into this scenario?
• What agencies do I control? What can they do? 
• What responsibilities does my department have? 

• What will happen next?

Writing Recommendations

• Remember, it’s a proposal or plan of action.  This is the Executive branch!  
• Be specific!!! The greater the detail, the clearer the proposal to your president.
• Who? 
• What – How many? 
• When – How long? 
• Where?
• How? 
• Be prepared to revise it as new information becomes available

Close:  BE READY TO GO AS SOON AS YOU ARRIVE NEXT CLASS!!!!  This was one thing that we said that we need to improve on in our class simulations.