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PIR-30117 - Module Specification
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 16 December 2025

PIR-30117 - The U.S. Presidency
Coordinator: Phil Catney Room: CBA1.029 Tel: +44 1782 7 33346
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office:

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

The U.S. presidency commands global attention. Whether held by Obama, Trump, or Biden, the office is widely regarded as one of the most powerful in the world. Yet, in a political system built on the separation of powers, presidential leadership is far from guaranteed. This module invites you to explore the strategies presidents use to lead—and to critically assess how effective those strategies really are.
Teaching takes place in two-hour seminars. Assessment is based on an opportunity to investigate presidential leadership in policy areas of your choice.

Aims
This module aims to equip students with,
a. knowledge of academic studies of the U.S. presidency
b. the capacity to apply the models outlined in those studies
c. the capacity to evaluate those studies' strengths and weaknesses.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/pir-30117/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

Apply political science theory to classify presidential behaviours.
: 1
Write short, direct reports on the results of their research.
: 1
Offer informed analysis on the capacity of presidents to pursue particular strategies of policy leadership.
: 1
Identify strengths and weaknesses in theories of presidential leadership.
: 1
Pursue independent research on presidential conduct in a policy area of their choice.: 1

Study hours

Seminars: 24 hours
Seminar Preparation: 48 hours
Assessment Preparations: 76 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Essay weighted 100%
A 3000-word case study considering presidential leadership.
The case study is a 3000-word analysis of either a recent presidential election result or a presidential attempt to lead legislative change in Congress. Students will be presented with a list of potential case studies to choose from. They will be asked to consider our current understandings of presidential conduct and apply their ideas in explaining recent events.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 16 December 2025