Political Science 104; Fall, 2008 Office Hours: M+W 1-2 p.m. and by appt.
American Politics and Government Telephone: 263-2283
Professor David Canon Email: dcanon@polisci.wisc.edu
MW 2:30 - 3:45 p.m. Ingraham B10 Office: 413 North Hall
Teaching Assistants: Saemyi Park <spark38@wisc.edu> (head TA) , Vincent Boutet-Lehouillier <boutetlehoui@wisc.edu>, Brandon Kendhammer <btkendhammer@wisc.edu>, Yujin Kim,<yjkim8@wisc.edu>, Brett Kyle <bjkyle@wisc.edu> (office hours to be announced).
Course Description:
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This course is an introduction to American government. By the end of the semester you should have a good understanding of how the government makes policy and why decisions are made as they are. The course will combine insider accounts of how "Washington really works," scholarly work on the governmental process, and debates on various political issues and institutions. This is an especially exciting time to be taking a class on American politics, with the elections this fall, continuing debates over the war in Iraq, and issues such as health care reform, Social Security, energy, and how to deal with the budget deficits.
The course begins with a discussion of the foundations of our governmental system: the Constitution, federalism, capitalism and questions concerning the democratic nature of our government. Then we will examine the American political institutions: Congress, the bureaucracy, the president, and the courts. From there we turn to political participation and examine public opinion, parties, campaigns and elections, the media, and interest groups. Finally, we will see how it all fits together by examining social policy, civil rights, economic policy, and foreign policy. While the course is a lecture class (intimate discussions are a little difficult with nearly 400 students), I encourage you to raise questions you have about anything presented in the lectures.
Course Evaluation:
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The grades for the course will be based on two midterms (27.5% each), attendance and participation in discussion section (10%), and a final exam (35%). The midterm exams will be a combination of multiple choice and short IDs and the final exam will be a combination of multiple choice, short IDs, and one long essay. The multiple choice and short essay portions of the final exam will not be comprehensive and only cover material since the second midterm; the long essay, which I will give you in advance, is comprehensive in nature. All reading material and lectures will be fair game on the exams.
Books and Readings:
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The following books are required for the course and are available for purchase at the University of Wisconsin Bookstore on State Street, the Underground Textbook Exchange, and a Room of One’s Own. The books should be shrink-wrapped together as a packaged deal from Norton.
Theodore J. Lowi, Benjamin Ginsberg, and Kenneth A. Shepsle, American Government: Power and Purpose. 10th ed. W.W. Norton, 2008.
David T. Canon, John J. Coleman, Kenneth R. Mayer, eds. The Enduring Debate: Classic and Contemporary Readings in American Politics, 5th ed., W.W. Norton, 2008.
A few required readings are on posted on my web site and are available through the library’s electronic reserves. Also, I urge you to read a good national newspaper, such as the New York Times or the Washington Post. The national news weeklies, such as Newsweek, Time, or U.S. News and World Report also would be useful for keeping you current on what is happening in the world of politics. I will make available to you on the first day of class order forms for the New York Times. Home delivery (to your dorm or apartment) of the Times is available at a reduced rate.
A friendly word of advice on the readings that should be taken seriously: you should complete the assigned reading before the topic is discussed in lecture. At a minimum you should complete the reading before your discussion section or you will not be prepared to participate. Also, many of the lectures will use the readings as a point of departure, so your understanding of lecture material will be enhanced by having completed and understood the assigned reading. The reading load averages about 85 pages a week. This should not be a difficult pace to maintain if you do not fall behind. If you put off reading anything until before the exams will you find yourself staring at 425 pages for each of the exams . . . this strategy is not recommended. One other thing I should mention – the reading load is not equally distributed across the weeks. Some weeks you will only have 30-40 pages of reading; other weeks will be more than 100. Therefore, it may be useful for you to try to get ahead on the next week's readings when the reading load for a given week is relatively light.
Web Sites
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W.W. Norton has a “study space” Web site for the Lowi/Ginsberg/Shepsle text that you may find useful for the course. The address is: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/polisci/lowi/lowi10/. It includes chapter reviews, study questions, on-line quizzes, links to other political sites, vocabulary flash cards, plus other readings and resources. I have a homepage at “http://www.polisci.wisc.edu/~dcanon” that includes links to other political sites and information about the course, the additional readings, and outlines of the powerpoint presentations, which will be posted before each lecture.
Lecture Schedule, Reading Assignments, and Discussion Questions:
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The following abbreviations are used in the outline of assigned reading for each day: “ED” for The Enduring Debate and “AG” for American Government: Power and Purpose. There are a few readings on e-reserves through the UW library web site. To access these readings you will need to go to MyUW, login, then click on the “academic tab.” Click on the “library/reserve” link and you will find the reserve readings. I will also provide links to the readings from my web site.
I. FOUNDATIONS
A. Introduction to the Course–September 3
Preface and Chapter 1 in AG, xxi-xxiii, 2-33.
B. The Constitution–September 8
Chapter 2 in AG, 34-73 and the second half of Chapter 3 of AG, 96-107.
The Constitution and its Amendments, A13-A34 in AG (back of the AG book).
Louis Hartz, “The Liberal Tradition in America,” ED, 3-8.
Michael Kammen, “The Nature of American Constitutionalism,” ED, 51-59.
Discussion Section Questions, September 4-10 (Discussion sections will meet starting the 4th): What are the components of “power and purpose” referred to in the subtitle of the textbook? How does this help summarize the basis for politics in the American political system? Can you think of any current events in the news, such as the ethanol story on pp. 31-33, that illustrate the central themes of the book? What were the central problems the Founding Fathers faced at the Constitutional convention and how did they resolve them? What are some of the unresolved constitutional problems? What is distinctive about the American constitutional system? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a strong central government? What explains the simplicity and durability of the Constitution? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the document’s simplicity? What is the “liberal tradition” in America and how did it affect the founding era? Do you think it is good to regularly amend the Constitution to reflect changing values and address current problems, or should the Constitution be changed only rarely (the flag amendment discussed on pp.71-73 of the text is one recent example of a proposed amendment that is related to a current issue)?
The Constitution, continued – September 10
Charles Beard and Robert Brown, "An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution: Founding Fathers, the Question of Motive,” ED, 70-81.
Federalist Papers #10 and #51, A35-A42 in AG (back of the AG book).
C. Federalism – September 15
First half of Chapter 3 in AG, 74-96, 108-09.
Paul Peterson, “The Price of Federalism,” ED, 87-95.
George Annas, “Jumping Frogs, Endangered Toads, and California’s Medical Marijuana Law,” ED, 96-106
Posner and Rabe, “Federalism and Policy,” ED, 107-26.
Discussion Section Questions, September 11-17: How did the Founding Fathers' view of people help shape the Constitution? Did their self-interest play an important role? What does Madison say about the relation between self-interest and the nature of government in Federalist #10? When should the national government have the power to coerce states to adopt national policies against their will, if ever? Does the Constitution give the national government the power to tell the states what to do? How has the balance of power between the states and the national government evolved over time? How are the states fighting back to resist centralization at the national level? What role has the Supreme Court played in this evolution (as in the medical marijuana and assisted suicide cases)? Do you think the Supreme Court should have intervened in either of these cases, or left those decisions up to the states?
D. Democracy in the United States – September 17-22
Democracy and Participation – September 20
Howard Zinn and Sidney Hook on "Democracy: How Democratic is America?", on e-reserve.
Democracy and Capitalism – September 25
Milton Friedman, "The Relation Between Economic Freedom and Political Freedom," pp. 7-21, on e-reserve.
Charles Lindblom, "The Market as Prison," Journal of Politics 44:2 (May, 1982): 324-36, on e-reserve.
Discussion Section Questions, September 18-24: How democratic is America? Are Zinn's or Hook's arguments more compelling? What are the central areas of their disagreements? How can their arguments be related to the state of American democracy today? Is capitalism consistent with (or indeed reinforce) democracy, or does it serve as a 'prison' for policy makers? How powerful is the political elite in the United States? What is the proper role for the federal government in terms of controlling the market? How does the tradeoff between freedom and power relate to the debate about the relationship between capitalism and democracy? In what areas should government use its power?
E. Civil Liberties – September 24-29
First part of Chapter 4 in AG, 110-146, 173-75.
Jonathan Rauch, “In Defense of Prejudice,” ED, 142-49.
Cole, Dempsey and Posner, “Civil Liberties and the Fight Against Terror,” ED, 150-66.
Discussion Section Questions for September 25-October 1: Should the Bill of Rights apply to the states as well as the federal government? Why? Should hate speech be allowed? Do you agree with Rauch’s assessment of the problems associated with trying to limit hate speech? If so, is all speech protected by the Constitution? If not, where do you draw the line between protected free speech and speech or actions that may be harmful to others? What about defendants’ rights, protections against illegal searches and seizures (as discussed in lecture)? How would you address the tradeoff between security and freedom in the fight against terror? Do you think we have the right balance, or are we undermining civil liberties too much or ignoring security too much?
*********** First In-Class Midterm Exam on Wednesday, October 1st ***********
(exam will cover readings and lectures through September 29th)
II. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
A. Congress – October 6-8
Chapter 5 in AG, 178-235.
Edmund Burke, “Speech to the Electors of Bristol,” ED, 169-73.
David Mayhew, “Congress: The Electoral Connection,” ED, 174-77.
John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, “Too Much of a Good Thing,” ED, 178-84.
Goldston, Cohn, and The Pig Book, “Pork Barrel Politics,” ED, 185-205.
Discussion Section Questions for October 2-8: Is Congress truly the "first branch" of government? What aspects of its operation either justify or undermine that label? Do the justifications for the bicameral legislature presented by the Founders still ring true today, or would we be better off with a unicameral legislature? What have been the most important changes in Congress in the last 20 years? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the strong reelection goal among members of Congress? Why do Hibbing and Theiss-Morse argue that have a responsive Congress is “too much of a good thing?” Do you agree? Would term limits help solve the problem of an over-responsive Congress? Is “pork barrel” politics evidence that Congress is not working properly, or evidence that we are getting the type of representation that we want? What are the contrasting views of “pork” presented by the authors? How is the debate over pork related to the roles of delegate or trustee?
B. The Presidency – October 13-15
Chapter 6 in AG, 236-83.
Richard Neustadt, “The Power to Persuade,” ED, 206-15.
Charles O. Jones, “Perspectives on the Presidency,” ED, 216-22.
Pfiffner and Simendinger, “Politicizing the Bureaucracy,” ED, 223-44.
Discussion Section Questions for October 9-15: Neustadt argues that the president’s central power is the “power to persuade.” Do you agree? Has the president become too powerful? What would the Founding Fathers say about the current state of the presidency? How are the president’s powers limited by our system of separated powers? Have these limits on presidential power changed during war time? Do you think it is appropriate for the president to have strong control over the bureaucracy to make sure that his policy views are being implement, or should career civil servants be more immune from this political pressure? What are the pros and cons of having a more politcized bureaucracy?
C. The Bureaucracy – October 20
Chapter 7 in AG, 284-323.
James Q. Wilson, “What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It,” ED, 254-63.
NCTC report, Posner, and Light, “Reforming the National Security Bureaucracy,” ED, 264-84.
D. The Courts – October 22
Chapter 8 in AG, 324-75.
Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 78, ED, 285-91.
David O’Brien, “The Court in American Life,” ED, 292-99.
Leon Friedman, “Overruling the Court,” ED, 300-304.
Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer, “Interpreting the Constitution: Originalism or a Living Constitution?”, ED, 305-26.
Discussion Section Questions for October 16-22: Does the bureaucracy serve the public interest? What is the proper standard for assessing the bureaucracy? Efficiency? Equity? How does this play out in the comparison of the DMV and McDonalds presented by Wilson? What does the NCTC report on the national security bureaucracy and the reaction to it from Posner and Light demonstrate about how government agencies can be reformed? What are the differences between “police patrol” and “fire alarm” oversight, and which do you think would be the preferable form of oversight? Are the federal courts the "least dangerous branch?" What is the proper role of the Supreme Court in the American political process? Should they be responsive to political forces, as O’Brien discusses? What is the meaning of "judicial restraint" and "judicial activism"? How are they related to "strict constructionism"? Which approach to interpreting the Constitution, Scalia’s textualism or Breyer’s consequentialist approach, do you find more appealing? What role should the Senate play in the appointment and confirmation of judges? Should Congress play an active role in interpreting Court decisions, as Friedman discusses, or should it defer to the Court?
III. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
A. Campaigns and Elections – October 27 - 29
Chapter 10 in AG, 420-75.
V.O. Key, “The Voice of the People: An Echo,” ED, 367-72.
Richard Parker, “Power to the Voters,” ED, 373-81.
Louis Menand, “The Unpolitical Animal,” ED, 382-90.
Williams, Keisling and Cox, “Voter Fraud or Voter Suppression?” ED, 391-408.
Discussion Section Questions for October 23- 29: How do voters decide who to vote for? What does this view of voting behavior say about how we should interpret the results of elections? Do elections “send a message” or can we really tell much about what voters want from the outcome of elections? How do Key and Parker differ on this point? Which of the three theories of voting reviewed by Menand sounds the most convincing? Should political participation be encouraged as a “good in itself”? Why? Is voter fraud a bigger problem than voter suppression? Can one problem be addressed without making the other problem worse?
B. Public Opinion – November 3
Chapters 9 in AG, 378-419.
George Gallup, “Polling the Public,” ED, 329-336.
Richard Morin, “Choice of Words,” ED, 337-41.
Discussion Section Questions for October 30- November 5: To what extent should political leaders listen to public opinion? What are some of the problems associated with interpreting the results of public opinion polls? How can question wording shape the results of polls? How did question wording influence the interpretation of President Clinton’s impeachment? Can you think of other examples how question wording influences the outcome of polls?
********** Second In Class Midterm Exam on Wednesday, November 5th **********
(exam will cover readings and lectures through November 3th)
C. Political Parties – November 10
Chapter 11 in AG, 476-521.
Morris Fiorina, “The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics, ED,” 409-19.
James Sundquist, “Needed: A Political Theory for the New Era of Coalition Government in the United States,” ED, 420-30.
Gerald Pomper, “Parliamentary Government in the United States?”, ED, 431-43.
Fiorina and Wilson, “Red Versus Blue America: Are We Polarized?,” ED, 444-61.
D. Interest Groups – November 10 and 12
Chapter 12 in AG, 522-59.
Alexis de Tocqueville, “Political Association in the United States,” ED, 462-65.
Mancur Olson, “The Logic of Collective Action,” ED, 466-75.
Theda Skocpol, “Associations Without Members,” ED, 476-87.
Madison, Truman, and Rauch, “Was Madison Right?”, ED 488-510 (you should review Federalist #10).
E. The Media – November 12
Chapter 13 in AG, 560-97.
Scheufele and Tewksbury, “Framing, Agenda Setting and Priming,” ED, 342-47.
Nagourney, McDaniel, and Prior, “The Impact of the New Media on American Politics,” ED, 348-66.
Discussion Section Questions for November 6-12: What are the major differences between the Democratic and Republican parties? Would our political system benefit from stronger parties or even a parliamentary system? What would are the advantages and disadvantages of stronger parties? How has divided government affected our thinking about political parties? How does divided government affect the political system? Is “red and blue America” a myth? What are the various strategies used by interest groups to influence politics (as described in the textbook). Which do you think is likely to be more effective? Which of these tactics are appropriate and which should be regulated? Truman describes some of the advantages of political association and organization, while Rauch describes the problems. Whose positions do you find more compelling? Do interest groups reflect the collective interests of the nation? What are the implications of Olson’s collective action problem (discussed in lecture and the text) for the representativeness of interest groups? Do all groups have their voices heard through the political process, as the pluralists would maintain, or are some groups unrepresented because of the logic of collective action? How can collective action problems be solved? How has the nature of group participation changed from the time of Tocqueville through the period the Skocpol examines? How as the “new media” changed coverage of politics? Is this good or bad for the political system? How have the media changed governing? Do you think they play too much of a role in politics? If so, how could this be changed? How to framing, priming, and agenda setting influence the news that we see?
IV. Public Policy
A. Civil Rights – November 17-19
Second half of Chapter 4 in AG, 147-72.
Abraham Lincoln, “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions,” ED, 127-33.
Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter From the Birmingham Jail,” ED 134-41.
“Debating the Issues: Reparations for Slavery,”on e-reserves.
Jonathan Rauch, “Objections to These Unions,” ED, 593-601.
Huntington and Menand, “What Does it Mean to be American,” ED, 33-50.
Discussion Section Questions for November 13- 19: What is the best means of achieving an integrated society? Describe the progress made in the area of civil rights in the past 45 years. What remains to be done? Do you support reparations for slavery? If you do oppose the idea, are your concerns on the merits of the argument, or more on practical issues? Lincoln and King take opposing views about the place of civil disobedience in trying to promote social change. Which do you find more convincing? If you think that civil disobedience can be appropriate, how does one decide where to draw the line between legitimate civil disobedience and lawless behavior? Do you think that gay marriage should be banned? If so, what do you think about Rauch’s argument that gay marriage would not change the institution of marriage as much as previous changes have? Do you think that Huntington or Menand makes a more convincing case concerning recent immigration to the United States?
B. Economic Policy –November 23-26
Chapter 14 in AG, 600-33.
Charles Lindblom, “The Science of Muddling Through,” ED, 513-21.
Jim Holt, “The Human Factor,” ED, 529-31.
Roger Scruton and Nurith Aizenman, “Regulating Risk,” ED, 565-83.
Lomberg, Teague, and Navin, “Global Warming,” ED, 532-45
Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Call for Federal Responsibility,” ED, 546-50.
Herbert Hoover, “Against the Proposed New Deal,” ED, 551-55.
Rowe and Silverstein, “The GDP Myth,“ ED, 556-64.
Discussion Section Questions November 20-26: To what extent should the federal government have responsibility for making sure that the economy is running smoothly? Is the government responsible for providing a “social safety net,” as argued by Roosevelt? Should the market be allowed to operate freely, or is government regulation necessary? How does the “human factor” figure into government regulation? To what extent is it possible or desirable to “regulate risk”? Why should the debate over global warming be considered in a discussion about economic policy? What are the drawbacks of focusing on economic growth as a central economic goal?
*** Thanksgiving Break November 27-30 ***
C. Social Policy – December 1-3
Chapter 15 in AG, 634-69.
Gary Burtless, “Growing American Inequality,” ED, 584-92.
David John, “Providing Social Security Benefits in the Future,” ED, 602-15.
Krugman, Wells, Turner, and Hacker, “Health Care Reform,” ED, 616-37.
Discussion Section Questions December 1-5: What different techniques does the federal government use to achieve its social policy goals? Is economic inequality a central problem that should be addressed through social policy? What should be done to reform Social Security, if anything? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the various proposals? Does the recent volatility in the stock market and the meltdown of the subprime mortgage market change your views (if you support some type of privatization)? What role should the government play in providing health care, if any? Should market forces play more of a role in health care?
D. Foreign Policy and Summing it Up – December 8-10
Chapter 16 in AG, 670-709.
George Soros, “The Age of Open Society,” ED, 638-40.
Peter Sutherland, “Reality Check,” ED, 641-48.
Lustick, Gaffney, and The National Intelligence Estimate, “Foreign Policy: A War on Terror,” ED, 649-63.
Discussion Section Questions December 8-12: What is the proper role of the United States in the international community? Is economic and political globalization out of sync? Does economic globalization pose challenges to the United States more generally? How do Soros and Sutherland differ in their interpretations of the impact of globalization on poor countries? Which argument do you find more convincing? How serious a threat is global terror? Is it a “trap” that political leaders are using to further their own goals, or is it a grave threat that must be tackled head-on?
*** FINAL EXAM, Tuesday, December 16, 12:25-2:25 p.m., Location TBA ***