Dr. Lawrence Jacobs
1480 Social Sciences
625-3384
Office Hours:
M & W: 12:15-1:15 and by appointment
Are Americans racist? Why does President Clinton always seem to be locked in combat with House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Congress? Will Social Security be there for you? Why wasn't reform of the welfare system followed by reform of Social Security? This course will address these and other questions as it reviews the major features of American politics: the constitutional framework, public opinion, voting and elections, interest groups, Congress, the presidency, and the courts.
The course is designed to encourage your participation. Reading the materials, discussing them, and re-enacting congressional debate will make the class more interesting to you and improve your educational experience. The lectures will offer many opportunities for class discussions. In addition, the recitation sections will simulate congressional debate on Social Security reform and give you "hands on" experience running a committee hearing and conducting floor debate on legislation that you design along with your classmates.
The requirements for the course are the following:
| Midquarter exam |
35% |
| Final exam |
30% |
| Recitations |
35% |
The Midquarter examination will be Wednesday November 4 during the regularly scheduled class time and the final will be Wednesday December 9, 8AM-10AM. The expectations and work load for the recitations will be explained by the individual instructors. Please come to the lectures and recitations having completed the assigned reading and prepared to participate in discussions.
There will be no makeup examinations or incomplete grades given except for the standard University policy reasons (for example, illness).
There are 3 books that will be used for this course:
Wilson, American Government, short edition
Sniderman and Piazza, The Scar of Race
Elizabeth Drew, Showdown: The Struggle Between the Gingrich Congress and the Clinton White House
All of the books should be available at both the Westbank Bookstore and the Wilson Library Reserve Reading Desk. An additional set of readings, which have been identified on the course outline with an (R) are on Reserve in Wilson Library (West Bank), and can be purchased as a course packet. The course will use two packets of readings: a packet of readings from the lectures and a packet from the recitations.
Course Outline
This outline of the course is subject to change during the quarter, as announced in class.
I. Disorganized Democracy (September 28)
Wilson, ch. 1
II. An Invitation to Conflict: Political Foundations (Sept 29 -- Oct 12)
Wilson, ch. 2
Declaration of Independence (Wilson Appendix)
Constitution of the United States (Wilson Appendix)
Jeffrey Toobin, "Terms of Impeachment," New Yorker, 9/14/98, pp.32-38.
Bruce Ackerman, "What Ken Starr Neglected to Tell Us," New York Times, 9/14/98 (1 page).
Daniel Rogers, "Rights Consciousness in American History," in The Bill of Rights in Modern America After 200 Years ed. by David Bodenhamer and James Ely (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993), pp 3-17.
Federalist Papers 10 & 51 (Wilson Appendix)
James Q. Wilson, "New Politics, New Elites, Old Publics" in The New Politics of Public Policy ed. by Marc Landy and Martin Levin (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), pp.249-67 (R).
III. The Land of Uncertainty: Public Opinion and the 'Scar of Race' (Oct 13 -- Oct 26)
Sniderman and Piazza, Scar of Race, chapters 1, 2, 3, 5.
Donald Kinder and Lynn Sanders, Divided By Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1996), pp.92-127 (R).
Wilson, ch.4
John Hope Franklin, "Talking, Not Shouting, About Race," New York Times, 6/13/98 (1 page) (R).
"Race, Memory, and Justice," New York Times, editorial, 6/14/98 (1 page) (R).
IV. The Tools of Politics: Political Organizations, Elections, and Interest Groups (Oct 27 -- Nov 3)
Wilson, ch. 5 and ch. 6
E.E. Schattschneider, The Semisovereign People, (Hindsdale, IL: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1960), pp.27-43 (R).
Mancur Olson, The Rise and Decline of Nations (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982), pp. 17-35 (R)
Everett Carll Ladd, "1996 Vote: The 'No Majority' Realignment Continues," Political Science Quarterly, vol 112 (Spring 1997): 1-28 (R).
V. Congressional Government (Nov 9 -- 17)
Wilson, ch. 7
Drew, Showdown, chapters 1, 2, 6, 8-11, 13, 16, 18, 20, and 22-24.
VI. Cozy Alliances: Congress, Interest Groups and the Bureaucracy (Nov 18 and 23)
Wilson, ch. 9
Morris Fiorina, Congress: Keystone of the Washington Establishment (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989, Second Edition), pp. 37-47 and 53-66.
VII. Presidential Power (Nov 24 -- Dec 1)
Wilson, ch. 8
Richard Neustadt, Presidential Power (New York: John Wilely and Sons), pp. 26-35 (R).
Robert Pear, "Justices Bar Veto of Line Items in Bills," New York Times, 6/26/98 (2 pages) (R).
Authur Schlesinger, "So Much for the Imperial Presidency," New York Times, 8/3/98 (1 page) (R).
VIII. The Rights Revolution: Enter the Courts (Dec 2)
Wilson, ch. 10
Reading Packet for Lectures
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SUMMER 2001
SPRING 2001
FALL 2000
SUMMER 2000
SPRING 1999
WINTER 1999
FALL 1998
SUMMER 1998
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