Course Description
This is the core national institutions seminar in American politics. We survey some of the primary literature in the field with an emphasis on institutional development, representation, inequality and power. The course spans formal institutions—congressional representation and policymaking, executive power and judicial politics—and examines the development and complex interplay of political parties, media and interest groups. Throughout the course, we consider whether and to what extent US institutional arrangements promote democratic goals, and whether periods of consolidated power and democratic retrenchments reveal evidence of authoritarianism or autocracy.
Course Materials
Jamila Michener. 2018. Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism and Unequal Politics. Cambridge University Press.
*Zac Gershberg & Sean Illing. 2022. The Paradox of Democracy: Free Speech, Open Media and Perilous Persuasion. University of Chicago Press.
*Frances Lee. 2016. Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign. University of Chicago Press.
Stephen Skowronek, John Dearborn & Desmond King. 2021. Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and The Unitary Executive. Oxford University Press.
*Ebook or photocopies will be made available