Dr. Gray

1246B Social Sciences

Phone: 624-8529 or E mail: vgray@polisci.umn.edu

Office Hours: Monday, 1:30-2:15; once a week at the capitol or by appt.

Books: Purchase packet at Copies on Campus; * material is in packet; also purchase Scott & Garrison, The Political Science Student Writer's Manual, 3rd. ed. (will be late in arriving). Politics in Minnesota: The Directory, 3rd ed, is highly recommended; or substitute Official Directory of the Minnesota Legislature or Minnesota Legislative Manual (blue book). In addition, each student should read either the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press on a daily basis. And you should regularly access the Minnesota Legislature's Web page at http://www.leg.state.mn.us/

Internship: It is your responsibility to arrange an internship with a member of the Minnesota legislature for this session. If you have not already done so, contact the House or Senate internship coordinator immediately. They will attempt to secure a member for you. If you have secured a member on your own, you still must register with the coordinator and go through orientation. Also please tell the instructor which member you will be working for. The work done for the internship will provide the field experience and data which you will analyze with political science theories and tools. The products of that analysis will earn academic credit as described below.

Requirements: The learning in this course will come from participating in and observing the legislative process in Minnesota and from reflecting upon those experiences. Some learning will occur on your own, some from talking with legislators and staff, some from "debriefing" (recording your thoughts in a journal, sharing your observations with fellow students), and some from the analysis and writing of a term paper.

The grade in the course will include the following components:

Term paper: 65%

Class Participation: 15%

Journal: 2 x 10 = 20%

Grading will follow the University standards:

A--Achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements.

B--Achievement significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements.

C--Achievements that meets the basic course requirements in every respect.

D--Achievement worth of credit even though it does not fully meet the basic course requirements in every respect.

F--Performance that fails to meet the basic course requirements.

Writing Intensive Course: Since this course is designated "writing intensive", we will offer many opportunities for writing, and we will pay attention to the process of becoming a better writer. In addition to the political science writer's handbook listed above, you may also want to acquire Strunk and White, The Elements of Style and Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations or the University of Chicago Press's A Manual of Style. Or use online resources accessed through cisw.cla.umn.edu.

Term Paper: This paper should analyze some aspect of the legislative process and incorporate your observations and a modest amount of outside reading. It should also include interviews with at least two knowledgeable sources, e.g., a reporter, a committee chair, a staff member. You might, for example, analyze a particular piece of legislation (how a bill became a law), a particular committee, or a particular stage of the legislative process (how legislators get information). Or you might focus on specific legislators, e.g., women, party leaders, freshmen, committee chairs, rural members. Or you might concentrate on legislative interactions with constituents, lobbyists, reporters, staff, bureaucrats, the governor's office etc. The paper is not a chronology of what you did in your internship position, nor is it a library research paper; rather it is a politically sophisticated analysis of some aspect of the Minnesota legislative process. Examples of successful term papers in the past can be found in the class folder outside my office.

The paper should be approximately 20 pages long; it is due 2 weeks after the end of the legislative session. It will be critiqued and returned to you ASAP; the revised and final draft is due 2 weeks after receipt. Late papers will be penalized; no paper will be accepted after August 1, 2000. Term papers must be double-spaced, on one side of the paper only, and written in the English language in a professional manner. Pages must be numbered; there must be a title page; there must be a bibliography. By Feb. 14 you are to turn in a prospectus--an outline of the topic you have chosen and what kinds of data you will gather. Within two weeks you should meet with the instructor to discuss your plans. By March 6 you must turn in a bibliography of at least 5 sources you will use in your paper; you may need to meet with the instructor about further sources.

Journal: You are to keep a journal in which you record your insights about the legislative process. You must make at least 3 entries per week. The journal is to be brought to class EACH week; the instructor will randomly select journals to be graded. They will be returned promptly. This exercise counts 10% of the grade, and grading will be done twice during the semester. Use the journal as an opportunity to demonstrate what you are learning about the legislative process as result of your daily activities. Report your observations as well as make sense of them. What substantive knowledge are you gaining about public policy? Later use your journal as a data source for your term paper.

Class Participation: Class attendance is MANDATORY as is participation in various "debriefing" exercises each week; students will be excused only with a doctor's note. The class will be conducted as a seminar and will include an oral update on your experiences, a lecture and discussion of the topic for the week, and oral or written exercises.

OUTLINE AND READINGS

Jan. 19 Introduction

Jan. 24 Participant/Observation Methodology

Read: *Fenno, "Observation, Context, and Sequence," American Political Science Review, 80 (March 1986); *Wagner, "Field Study as a State of Mind," ch. 1 in Borzak, ed., Field Study; *Suelzle and Pasquale, "How To Record Observations: Writing Field Notes," ch. 10 in Borzak.

Jan. 26 The Minnesota Legislature in Historical Perspective

Read: *Hanson, Tribune of the People

Jan. 31 Legislative Elections, Recruitment, Campaign Finance

BRING WRITING HANDBOOK(S) TO CLASS

Legislative Session Starts Feb. 1

Feb. 7 Political Parties, Caucuses, Leadership

Read: Politics in Minnesota: The Directory, 3rd ed. or acceptable substitute

Feb. 14 Committee Organization and Operation; Legislative Process and Procedure; Informal Norms

Read: The Directory

PROSPECTUS DUE

Feb. 21 Role of Staff

Read: Gray, "Where Do Minnesota Policy Ideas Come From?, CURA Reporter, XXIX (April 1999): 1-6.

Feb. 28 Session on Writing

March 6 Lobbying of the Legislature, interest groups, ethics regulations

Read: *Rosenthal, Drawing the Line, chs. 5,7

BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE

March 13 Constituency Relations, casework, the media

March 20 Relations with the governor, the bureaucracy, the courts

March 27 Spring Break: No Class

April 3 Public Policy; Evaluation of Legislature

Read: *Mahtesian, "The Sick Legislature Syndrome and How to Avoid It," Governing, February 1997: 16-20.

April 10 Is Unicam the Answer?

Read: House Research Policy Brief, Aug. 1999, "Unicameral or Bicameral State Legislatures: The Policy Debate" (pick up at House Research, 6th floor, SOB)

April 17 Oral Reports on Term Papers presented in panel format

April 19 (If Session is Over)

April 24 Oral Reports on Term Papers

April 26 (If Session has Adjourned)

May 1 Oral Reports on Term Papers

May 3 Oral Reports on Term Papers