- Autumn 2016
Syllabus Description:
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September 28 Introduction to the course.
September 29 Sections: Read Hans Noel
, “Ten Things Political Scientists Know That You Don’t”
September 30 What is political science, and where does the study of American politics fit within it?
October 3 How the meaning of the terms “liberal” and “conservative” have evolved.
October 4 Sections: Read David Wearing, “How Scientific is Political Science?”, Jill Lepore, “Long Division: Measuring the Polarization of American Politics,” and Arvind Kumar, “Essay on Whether Political Science is a Science or an Art?”
October 5 Changing beliefs, institutions, and practices related to majority rule.
October 6 Sections: Read James Madison, The Federalist #10
; excerpts from James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist #63, 68, and 71; and John Judis, "All the Rage"
October 7 Does America have majority rule today?
October 10 How the meaning of the Bill of Rights expanded over time.
October 11 Sections: Read Peter Schuck, “James Q. Wilson and American Exceptionalism”; Andrew Roberts, “What Americanists Don’t Know about American Politics”
October 12 The development of judicial review.
October 13 Sections: Read Steven Teles, “Kludgeocracy in America”; Suzanne Mettler, “Our Hidden Government Benefits”
October 14 The development of the Electoral College and the presidential selection system.
October 18 Sections: Read The Economist (unsigned), “The Art of the Lie”; Charlotte Alter and Michael Scherer, "The Truth is Out There"; Peter Wehrer, “Confirmation Bias and the Limits of Human Knowledge”; Peter Wehrer, “Have You Ever Been Wrong?”
October 19 The two-party system in America.
October 20 Sections: Read Gil Troy, “The Campaign Triumphant”; and Kenneth Goldstein, Matthew Dallek, and Joel Rivlin, “Even the Geeks are Polarized: The Dispute over the ‘Real Driver’ in American Elections”
October 21 First exam.
October 24 The competence of the American electorate.
October 25 Sections: Read Larry Bartels, “The Irrational Electorate,” Matthew Iglesias, "This is the Best Book to Help You to Understand the Wild 2016 Campaign" and R. Douglas Arnold, “Can Inattentive Citizens Control Their Elected Representatives?” Paper assigned.
October 26 Initiatives and referenda.
October 27 Sections: Read Jamelle Bouie, “How Trump Happened”; Amanda Taub, “The Rise of American Authoritarianism”, and Mark Bauerlein, "A Conservative Scholar Makes the Case that Trump is the Disruptive Force America Needs"
October 28 Political parties, interest groups, and social movements.
October 31 Measuring public opinion.
November 1 Sections: Read Matthew Yglesias, “American Democracy is Doomed”; Ezra Klein, “America’s Political System Isn’t Going to Collapse”
November 2 Interpreting public opinion polls.
November 3 Sections: Read Didi Kuo, “Polarization and Partisanship”; Gary Andres, “Campaign-Style Advocacy: A Broader View of Lobbying”; and Melinda Burns, “K Street and the Status Quo”. Paper due.
November 4 Parties and political polarization
November 7 Presidential campaign ads.
November 8 Sections: Read Dylan Matthews, "Hillary Clinton's Quiet Revolution"; David Roberts, "Voting by Mail Is Fair, Safe, and Easy. Why Don’t More States Use It?"
November 10 Sections: Read Mark Fischer, "How Donald Trump Broke the Rules of Politics--and Won the White House"
November 11 No class (Veterans’ Day).
November 14 Immigration, ethnicity, and religion in American politics.
November 15 Sections: Read Lee Drutman, “How Race and Identity Became the Central Dividing Line in American Politics”; The Economist, "The Last Liberals"; Lee Drutman, "Trump's Supporters Revealed"
November 16 Race in American politics.
November 17 Sections: Read Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations”
November 18 Second exam.
November 21 How we arrived at the current American health care system.
November 22 Sections: Read David Wong, "How Half of America Lost its F**king Mind"; Ezra Klein, “Unpopular Mandate”; R. Douglas Arnold, “Politics at the Precipice: Fixing Social Security in 2033”
November 23 How institutional rules affect political outcomes.
November 24 No class (Thanksgiving break).
November 25 No class (Thanksgiving break).
November 28 Presidential powers.
November 29 Sections: Read Ezra Klein, “The Unpersuaded”; Kenneth S. Lowande and Sidney Milkis, “’We Can’t Wait’: Barack Obama, Partisan Polarization, and the Administrative Presidency”; Jonathan Rauch, "How American Politics Went Insane"
November 30 Why Supreme Court justices make the decisions they do.
December 1 Sections: Read University of Virginia School of Law, “Scalia Defends Originalism as Best Methodology for Judging Law”; Ralph Rossum, “Justice Scalia’s Legacy of Originalism”; Ronald Lindsay, “Justice Scalia and Originalism: May They Rest in Peace”; Jedediah Purdy, “Scalia’s Contradictory Originalism”
December 2 The causes of bureaucratic red tape.
December 5 The news media: How journalists determine what qualifies as news.
December 6 Sections: Read Paul Starr, “Goodbye to the Age of Newspapers (Hello to a New Era of Corruption)”; John Heltman, “Confessions of a Paywall Journalist”; Johan Norberg, “Why Can’t We See That We’re Living in a Golden Age?”
December 7 The news media: How journalists cover politics and elections.
December 8 Sections: Read Shanto Iyengar, “The Media Game: New Moves, Old Strategies,” Brent Cunningham, “Re-thinking Objectivity" ; Craig Silverman, "This Analysis Shows How Fake News Stories Outperformed Real News on Facebook"
December 9 The news media and the rise of Donald Trump.
Wednesday, December 14 Final Exam from 2:30-4:30
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