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PSC 201: American Government, Timetable

Revised 6 Oct. '08, with speakers, by Dr. Jeremy Lewis. Click on an title's link to view the student outline.
Note: Serow reading numbers reflect 4/e Contents, marked [#] with new readings marked [+].
Week: [01] [02] [03] [04] [05] [06] [07] [08] [09] [10] [11] [Essay] [12] [Paper] [13] 14] [15] [Final] [Scores]
No classes, Fall 2008: 1 Sep, Labor Day; 24-28 Nov, Thanksgiving; 5 Dec. classes end.
No classes on HC In-Service (Away Football) Fridays: 19 Sep.; 3, 10 & 24 Oct.; and 14 Nov.
Additional session: Jan Crawford Greenburg, "Supreme [Court] Conflict", Tues. 23 Sep., 7:30pm, Chapel
Also, Dr. Lewis will be away at a conference, 26-29 Aug. in week 1.
Author
JandaWeb links:
Reading Timetable: Janda Website; US politics.
HC Students' outline links.
Speakers
Week 1
25-29 Aug
First session:
Janda 1
 
 
 
 

(APSA conf.)

Explanation of course, sign up for magazines, check info.
Freedom, Order or Equality?
  • Is there a political dilemma between freedom and order? [Janda]
  • Is there a modern dilemma between freedom and equality? [Janda]
  • How can these two dilemmas give us four types of political belief in modern US? [Janda]
  • What kinds of policy or values are upheld by each political belief? [Janda]
  • How do the four boxes of political beliefs differ from a traditional European spectrum of politics? [Janda]
  • Dr. Lewis will be away at a conference, 26-29 Aug. in week 1. Readings remain testable.
  • Curtis v2
  • Thomas Paine
  • Should we accept the rules and government set by past generations? [Paine]
  • Do men have natural rights -- and if so, what are they? [Paine]
  • Do we have a right to rebel against the government? [Paine]
  • Justin
    Homework
     

    Web fun:

  • Idealog (Web) [How to print or capture graphs] [Graphs '06]  [Graphs '07] [Graphs '08]
  • Are you liberal, libertarian, communitarian or conservative?
  • print screen or capture resulting graph, send to Lewis.

  • Politics on YouTube, 2007
    Week2
    T2-5 Sep
    (Mon 
    Labor Day)
    Janda 2
  • Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy?
  • How can we make democracy work? [Janda]
  • Should a majority rule on every question? [Janda]
  • Are minority rights better protected by interest groups that by majoritarian democracy? [Janda]
  • Will a larger Republic give us a safe balance of interest groups? [Janda]
  • Serow 1
    (Contents)
    American Ideology: 
    1 Alexis de Tocqueville, "Democracy in America"
    2 James Bryce, "American Commonwealth"
  • Does democracy require social and economic as well as political equality? [Tocqueville, Bryce]
  • What types of equality do Americans enjoy? [Tocqueville, Bryce]
  • -
    Emily
    Hall
    Serow 1 3 Louis Hartz, "Liberal tradition in America."
    4 Theda Skocpol, "Diminished Democracy" [+]
    5 Cornell West, "Race Matters" [+] NEW outline
  • What types of equality are consistent with the US Founders ideas? [Hartz]
  • Is US democracy incomplete without social or economic equality? [Skocpol, West]
  • Davis
    -
    Mollie
    Web fun:
    Web fun:
    Online Political Quotes Game (Wadsworth)
    Beloit College's mindset of freshmen: what did YOU grow up with?
    Week 3
    8-12 Sep
    Janda 3 Constitution
  • How was the constitution formed and ratified? [Janda]
  • What plans were proposed for the US constitution? [Janda]
  • What compromises were made to secure approval of the constitution? [Janda]
  • What amendments have been made to the US constitution? [Janda]
  • Serow 2 Constitution & American Democracy: 
    9 Richard Hofstadter, "American Political Tradition."
    10 James Madison, "Federalist No. 10."
    12 C. Wright Mills, "The Power Elite."
    14 Robert Dahl, "Who Governs?
  • Is there an identifiable American political tradition? [Hofstadter]
  • How can the mischief of factions be controlled? [Madison]
  • Who runs the US behind the scenes, a small elite or a broad set of groups? [Mills, Dahl]
  • -
    -
    Paul M
    Ann K
    Shane N
    Web fun:
    Web fun:
    JusticeLearning.org [notes] explains US constitution & justice  issues
    http://www.constitutionday.us/ has useful links.
    Cornell.edu also has a fine, more advanced, US constitution site.
    Week 4
    15-19 Sep
    Janda 4 Federalism
  • How has the relation of federal to state and local government changed over time? [Janda]
  • What does the federal government provide to states and localities? [Janda]
  • What is the proper relation of federal government to states? [Janda]
  • Serow 3 & 4 Separation of Powers & Federalism: 
    15 James Madison, "Federalist No. 51."
    16 Woodrow Wilson, "Congressional Government."
    17 James Sterling Young, "Washington Community."
    18 James Madison, "Federalist 39 & 46." [new #]
    20 Daniel Elazar, "American Federalism."
  • How can the branches of government be made to check each other? [Madison]
  • Did the C19th Congress become the dominant branch? [Wilson]
  • How did the early Congress develop? [Young]
  • What is the relation of federal to state and local governments? [Madison, Elazar]

  • No classes on HC In-Service (Away Football) Friday 19 Sep.
    -
    -
    Will
    Aarendy
    Chris
    Justin
     
    Monday
    Week 5
    22-26 Sep
    TEST
    Janda 5
    Web fun:
    Stallworth Lecture:
    Only Weeks 1-4 Testable. 
    Public Opinion and Political Socialization
    Match your policy choices to a (surprising) candidate for president in 2008
    Jan Crawford Greenburg, "Supreme [Court] Conflict", Tues. 23 Sep., 7:30pm, Chapel
    and in PSC 311, 12:30pm in FL 203 -- NEW
    Serow 10 Public Opinion: 
    55 Walter Lippmann, "Phantom Public." [new #]
    56 V.O. Key, "Public Opinion & American Democracy." [new #]
    57 Thomas Cronin, "Direct Democracy." [new #]
  • How well can public opinion understand politics? [Lippmann]
  • Can public opinion provide a democratic check on political elites? [Key]
  • Do we need to distinguish between the attentive (elite) and inattentive (mass) public? [Lippmann]
  • Is direct democracy feasible? [Cronin]
  • -
    Andrew
    Roman
    Horace
    Web fun:

    Web fun:

    Political Compass: plots your ideological position from a quiz; explanation of the two dimensions of political thinking [local file].  (More sophisticated than Idealog).
    Critical thinking exercise on poll: Barack Obama Test New
    Curtis v1

    Web fun:

    Baron de Montesquieu
  • How does the culture of a society affect its ability to forge a democracy? [Montesquieu]

  • Beloit College's mindset of freshmen: what did YOU grow up with?
    Week 6
    29 Sep-3 Oct
    Janda 6 Media
  • How much media coverage is of politics? [Janda]
  • How do the media vary in their needs and qualities? [Janda]
  • Do citizens receive enough information to be sovereign in politics? [Janda]
  • Serow 14
     

    Serow 12

    Media: 
    79 Katharine Graham, "Personal History" [+] 
    80 Larry Sabato, "Feeding Frenzy."
    68 William Eggers, "Government 2.0" [+]
  • How did reporters uncover the Watergate scandal? [Graham]
  • Has reporting of politics deteriorated since Watergate into personal scandals? [Sabato]
  • Do the new electronic media create a new kind of politics? [Eggers]
  • -
    Emily
    Sarah
    Paul
    Curtis v1 Thomas Hobbes
    John Locke,
    [Table] Lecture comparing Hobbes & Locke [Lewis]
  • What is the nature of man in the state of nature (without government)?
  • What kind of society do men share, therefore, without government?
  • How can men join together to form a government?
  • Is there a right to rebel against this government?
  • Does it make a difference whether the author is writing during civil war or in peacetime?
  • Web fun:
     

    Web fun:
    Weblog:
    No Friday Class:

    Note: think critically about email hoaxes. I suspected one, googled, & found:
     http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/tyler.asp
    Here's another frequent hoax -- Ollie North himself has disavowed the claims:
     http://www.snopes.com/rumors/north.asp
  • Steven Taylor (Troy U) PoliBlogger.com

  • No classes on HC In-Service (Away Football) Friday 19 Sep.
    Week7
    6-10 Oct
    Janda 7 Participation and Voting
  • What types of participation are conventional or unconventional? [Janda]
  • How well do Americans turn out to vote? [Janda]
  • What causes high or low electoral turnout? [Janda]
  • Is US turnout rising or falling, and does it matter? [Janda]
  • Why was voting so common in the C19th? [Janda]
  • What is the effect of education on turnout? [Janda]
  • Should voting be mandatory?
  • Serow 12

    Serow 14

    Voting & Elections: [Civics Model]
    71 Ceaser & Busch, "Red Over Blue" (Swift boats) [+] 
    72 Piven & Cloward, "Why Amer's Still Don't Vote"
    82 Martin Wattenberg, "Where Have all the Voters Gone?" [+] 
  • How did the swift boat attack spots affect the 2004 election? [Ceasar]
  • Does lack of public benefits decrease turnout? [Piven & Cloward]
  • Does polarization of politics increase turnout? [Wattenberg]
  • -
    John
    Roman
    Molly
    Serow 2 11 Lani Guinier, "Tyranny of the Majority." [#]
  • Does the electoral system decrease turnout? [Guinier]
  • How can we fairly count up the votes? [Guinier]
  • Justin
    Week 8
    13-17 Oct
    Janda 8
  • Political Parties [Mon-Tue Fall Break]
  • What are the functions of political parties? [Janda]
  • What are the US political parties like? [Janda]
  • How do US political parties differ from those in Europe? [Janda]
  • Are political parties gathering strength or weakening over time? [Janda]
  • Are parties private organizations or public, regulated ones? [Janda]
  • How has the US system of parties changed over time? [Janda]
  • Are some elections more important than others? [Janda]
  • Serow 13 Political Parties: 
    79 Walter Dean Burnham, "Critical Elections ..."
    74 Ceaser & Busch, "Red Over Blue" (realignment) [+] 
    75 Black & Black, "Rise of Southern Republicans." [#]
    78 Monmonier, "Bushmanders & Bullwinkles" [#]
  • Are some elections more important than others? [Burnham]
  • What is a realignment of voters, and is one occurring currently? [Burnham, Ceasar]
  • Is the US polarized into Red (Republican) and Blue (Democratic) states? [Ceasar]
  • Has there been a realignment of southern white voters? [Black]
  • How does redistricting affect the party seats in legislatures? [Monmonier]
  • Web, Polls  http://www.electoral-vote.com/states/alabama.html
     http://www.electoral-vote.com/ US map by poll data
    Week 9
    20-24 Oct
    Janda 9 Nominations, Elections and Campaigns
  • What are the stages of the nomination process? [Janda]
  • What kinds of primary and caucus are there? [Janda]
  • Does the presidential nomination process deliver good quality candidates? [Janda]
  • How well do third parties fare in campaigns? [Janda]
  • How does the election system count the votes? [Janda]
  • Can the "wrong" president be elected? [Janda]
  • Is the role of money in US elections excessive? [Janda]
  • What is the role of PACs and 527 groups in US elections? [Janda]
  • Serow 12 Voting & Elections:
    67 Johnson, "No Place for Amateurs" [#]
    69 Kathleen Hall Jamieson, "Dirty Politics." [#]
    70 Steve Ansolabehere, "Going Negative." [#]
  • What role do professionals play in campaigns? [Johnson]
  • Have attack spots on TV changed political campaigning? [Jamieson; Ansolabehere]
  • Web fun: JibJab election 'Toons.
    Week10
    27-31 Oct
    Janda 10
  • Interest Groups
  • How can interest groups influence US politics? [Janda]
  • Does lobbying produce a balance of interests? [Janda]
  • Serow 11 Interest Groups: 
    59 Alexis de Tocqueville, "Democracy in America." [#]
    60 EE Schattschneider, "Semisovereign People." [#]
    61 Theodore Lowi, "End of Liberalism." [#]
    62 Jeffrey Birnbaum, "The Lobbyists." [#]
  • How active are Americans in joining interest groups? [Tocqueville]
  • Are active interest groups compatible with democracy? [Tocqueville]
  • Has the interest group system created deadlock in democracy? [Lowi]
  • Have lobbyists become overwhelming in the Congress? [Birnbaum]
  • Hallowe'en Second Test, Friday [unless a "Football away" Friday, then Wednesday] or
    Week 11
    3-7 Nov
    Janda 11 Congress
  • How is congress organized? [Janda]
  • What are the powers of Congress? [Janda]
  • How does a bill become law? [Janda]
  • What are the differences between House and Senate? [Janda]
  • How do committees work? [Janda]
  • Serow 5 Congress: 
    22 David Mayhew, "Congress: Electoral Connection." [#]
    23 Richard Fenno, "Home Style." [#]
    30 David Price, "Congressional Experience." [#]
  • Does congressional behavior work purely toward re-election? [Mayhew]
  • What methods do congressmen use in serving constituents for re-election? [Mayhew]
  • How do members represent themselves in their home districts? [Fenno]
  • How do US Reps. ensure re-election? [Fenno]
  • What is the experience for a new US Rep. like? [Price]
  • Week 12
    10-14 Nov
    Janda 12 The Presidency
  • What are the powers of the presidency versus Congress and the courts? [Janda]
  • How has the presidency swelled? [Janda]
  • How is the presidency organized? [Janda]
  • How can the presidency supervise the bureaucracy? [Janda]
  • Serow 6 Presidency: 
    31 Richard Neustadt, "Presidential Power." [#]
    32 Arthur Schlesinger, "Imperial Presidency." [#]
    33 Thomas Cronin, "Paradoxes of Presidency." [#]
  • Does the president have any power beyond persuasion? [Neustadt]
  • Has the presidency grown too powerful, and why? [Schlesinger]
  • Do we expect too much of the presidency? [Cronin]
  • web file The Four Parachutes joke [PPS] (no comment intended!)
    Week 13
    17-21 Nov
    Janda 13 The Bureaucracy
    Lecture
  • How is the bureaucracy organized? [Janda]
  • What are the characteristics and scale of US agencies? [Janda]
  • How are bureaucracies influenced by Congress, the courts and the presidency? [Janda]
  • Do bureaucracies inevitably grow, or can they be controlled and limited? [Janda]
  • Serow 7 Executive Branch: 
    32 Hugh Heclo, "Government of Strangers." [#]
    39 Reich, "Locked in the Cabinet" [#]
    40 James Q. Wilson, "Bureaucracy" [+]
    David Osborne, "Reinventing Government." [Lecture Slide]
  • How do career civil servants and political appointees get along? [Heclo]
  • How difficult is it for a new cabinet secretary to hire appointees? [Reich]
  • What is the nature of bureaucracy? [Wilson]
  • Should bureaucracy be reinvented? [Osborne]
  • Curtis v2 John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty", 
    Alexis De Tocqueville.
    24-28 Nov
    Thanksgiving:  Whole week
    Week14
    1-5 Dec
    Janda 14 The Courts
  • How are the courts structured? [Janda]
  • What are the functions of the courts? [Janda]
  • How does the judicial process work? [Janda]
  • Is judicial review compatible with democracy? [Janda]
  • Serow 8 Judiciary
    41 Alexander Hamilton, "Federalist 78." [#]
    42 Eugene Rostow, "Democratic Character of Judicial Review." [#]
    43 David O'Brien, "Storm Center." [#]
    44 Peter Irons, "Brennan vs Rehnquist." [#]
  • Is judicial review compatible with a democracy? [Hamilton; Rostow]
  • By what process does the supreme court decide cases? [O'Brien]
  • How did the supreme court under Rehnquist differ from that under Brennan's influence? [Irons]
  • website:
    Velasco
    Oyez: Supreme Court Cases | Docket.
    AL suffers unlimited interest group donations to judicial campaigns, '07
    Weeks 13-14 Capstones Seniors present on topics in American Government: ['04] ['05] ['06] ['07]
    4-8 Dec. essay exam Comprehensive: 08:30 Tues 9 Dec, in usual classroom