ps1summer2013syllabus

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Political Science 1: Introduction to American Politics and Government

UC Berkeley, Summer 2013

Instructor: John Hanley

Syllabus

Class Meetings: Monday-Thursday 10am-noon, 100 Lewis

Office Hours:790 Barrows Hall, Monday-Tuesday, 1-2; Wednesday-Thursday 9-10; or

by appointmentEmail: [email protected]

Twitter: @jh_cal

Course Website: https://bspace.berkeley.edu/

Graduate Student Instructor: Travis Johnston

[email protected]

Course Texts1) Morris Fiorina, Paul Peterson, Bertram Johnson, and William G. Mayer 2010.

Americas New Democracy (Abbreviated as & below). Pearson. 6th edition.This is quick, clear, and inexpensive. Reading it will allow you to follow more

closely whats going on in lecture, and to understand the other readings.

2) Robert Dahl.How Democratic is the American Constitution? 2002.

There are other readings, all of which will be available through bspace. Readings in The

Americas New Democracy (&) should be done before the applicable lecture. Whether

you do the other readings before or after lecture is up to you. All readings mentioned inlecture are fair game for examinations.

Validation of Course

Course assignments will be weighted as follows.

Reading quizzes 1/3Two short memos 1/3

Final 1/3

Special provisions:(1) Your lowest reading quiz grade will be dropped. (2) However, should the lowest quiz

grade be higher than your final exam grade, it will replace one-fourth of the final (i.e.,

1/12th of the total grade). (3) Participation in section may raise a students grade by one-third of a letter (such as from B- to B), at the discretion of the GSI or Instructor.

It is important that you attend all lectures, as some material for exams will be discussedin lecture but not covered in the readings. You are responsible for all material in assigned

readings and discussed in class. The course also requires you to attend an assigned

discussion section once a week. Quizzes will take place during section. Makeup quizzes

will be given only for documented absences.

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The memos will be due on July 31 and August 7.

Incomplete grades, changes in exam dates, and extensions of written assignments will be

approved only by the instructor, and only upon evidence of extenuating circumstances.

Students with DSP accommodations should contact me immediately so that we may

make the proper arrangements. Our deadline for making arrangements with DSP for

proctoring is two weeks before the final.

Academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade for the course. Academic dishonesty is

defined as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, falsifying academic records,

and any other act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning process.Academic dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false or misleading

information to receive a postponement or extension on a test or assignment, or the

submission of essentially the same written assignment for two different courses without

prior permission of faculty members.

Schedule of Material

Part I. Introduction and the Constitution

In recent years, the meaning of the Constitution has taken on increased relevance in

political debates. We will study the problems which the Constitution was created toaddress, the struggles to reach agreement and achieve ratification, obvious and lurking

defects in the document, and its legacy today.

Monday, July 8 Introduction Logistics, what is politics and what we hope to gain

by studying it, brief introduction to game theory and collective

action problemsReadings:

&, Chapter 1

Aristotle, Politics, Selections from Book IRobert Dahl, What is Politics

7/9-10 Early America and the Constitution How did our system of government come into being? We will look at the principal debates

from the Constitutional convention and the explanations made in

The Federalist; and we will look at what the Framers missed.Readings:

&, Chapter 2

&, Federalist 10 &51 (James Madison) the language in these will take sometime to digest.

Robert Dahl,How Democratic is the American Constitution? (Chapter 2: What

the Framers Couldnt Know)

Adam Liptak. Smaller States Find Outsize Clout Growing in Senate,New York

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Times, March 11, 2013.

7/11 Federalism does limited government mean one with narrowpowers, strictly enumerated; or with specific limits on broad

powers? How has the operation of federalism changed over time?

&, Chapter 3Wickard v. Filburn

Gonzales v. Raich

Martha Derthick. 2007. Where Federalism Didnt Fail.Public AdministrationReview.pp 36-47.

Part II. Government Institutions. Many people assume that a course in American politics

will involve mostly learning about the three branches. These are definitely veryimportant, but virtually impossible to understand without reference to other aspects of

American politics. Study of the branches is also a prelude to learning about influences on

government, and how well government performs.

7/15-16 Congress (Article I)

Introduction to the legislative branch, and how it has changed over time.The mechanics of legislating, starting with how a bill becomes a law.

Who ends up in Congress, and what motivates them.

&, Chapter 10

Jeffrey Toobin, Barneys Great Adventure, The New Yorker, January 12, 2009.

Ryan Lizza, Getting to Maybe: Inside the Gang of Eights immigration deal,

The New Yorker. June 24, 2013.Military to Continue Sports Advertising.Associated Press, July 18, 2012.

Kathryn Pearson and Eric Schickler. The Transition to Democratic Leadership in

a Polarized House Congress Reconsidered, 9th ed.

7/17-18 Political Parties Parties are important for linking elected officials and the

public, organizing activity in the legislature, and structuring competitionamong aspiring politicians. The Founders triedand failedto prevent

them. Here, well look at the emergence of American political parties and

their importance to Presidential nominations.

&, Chapter 9, but only pp. 203-217

Ryan Lizza, The House of Pain, The New Yorker, March 4, 2013.

Dahl,How Democratic is the American Constitution?, Chapter 5.

7/22-3 President and the Presidential Branch (Article II) emergence of the

President as a national leader despite limited institutional power; advisorsand Cabinet aspolicy-makers

Dahl, Chapter 4: Electing the President

&, Chapter 11

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American Social and Political Thought: A Reader, pp. 33-44.

Jack Citrin et al. 2007. Testing Huntington: Is Hispanic Immigration a Threat to

American Identity?Perspectives on Politics.

8/5-6 Campaigns and Elections At first glance, political campaigns appear to

respond very effectively to popular demands. However, specific choices ofelectoral institutionsin the US, plurality voting, primary elections, and

private financing of campaignsshape the political landscape.

(Mondays class will consist of the documentary Housequake)

&, Chapter 8

Jim Rutenberg and Nicholas Confessore. A Wealthy Backer Likes the Odds on

Santorum.New York Times, February 8, 2012.David Weigel, Meet the Hip Geeks Who Beat Mitt Romney, Slate, December 3,

2012.

8/7 Interest Groups (Associations, lobbies, unions, and PACs) the seamierside of political organizations, the special interests. We will talk about

how the U.S. political system facilitates interest group activity, theoriesabout why groups form, and the history of campaign financing.

Memo #2 Due

&, Chapter 9, pp. 218-231Dahl,How Democratic is the American Constitution?, Chapter 5.

Robert D. Putnam. 1996. The Strange Disappearance of Civic AmericaPolicy

pp. 3-15.

Brody Mullins and Russell Gold, Under Attack, Big Oil Finds Reserves of CloutRunning Low, Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2006.

8/8 The Media Political actors frequently complain about media bias, butwhat basis is there to believe that journalists influence what people think?

What drives changes in how we receive our news?

&, Chapter 6

John Zaller, Monica Lewinskys Contribution to Political Science,PS: Political

Science and Politics, June 1998, pp. 182-189.

Rick Edmonds et al. Newspapers: Stabilizing, but Still Threatenedhttp://stateofthemedia.org/2013/newspapers-stabilizing-but-still-threatened/ May 7, 2013.

Part IV. Policy. Finally, we put together the pieces together in a few examples. What isthe character of American politics and government? What changes might we consider?

8/12 Civil Rights How does a democratic republic confront its own prejudicesand end its mistreatment of others? We will reflect on how the Founding

generations deep ambivalence on human rights became embedded in the

Constitution. We will examine the muddle of the First Reconstruction,

the rise of state-sanctioned segregation, and multiple factors behind the

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success of the Civil Rights Movement.

&, Chapter 15Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

Celia McGee, Recalling Green Book, Guide for Black Travelers, NYT,

August 22, 2010Nate Silver, Gay Marriage Opponents Now in Minority, NYT, April 20, 2011

8/13 Public Policy and Current Challenges Who wants what? Are they likely

to get it? When? How? Where do you fit into the picture?

&, Chapter 16Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/docum

ents/TheMomentofTruth12_1_2010.pdf

Gary S. Becker et al., Time for a Budget Game-Changer, WSJ, April 4, 2011http://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/Time-for-Budget-

Game-Changer_WSJ-4-4-11.pdfPaul Krugman, The Austerity Delusion,NYT, March 24, 2011.

Dahl,How Democratic is the American Constitution? Chapter 7.

Annie Lowrey, Do Millennials Stand a Chance in the Real World?, New York

Times, March 26, 2013.

8/14 Conclusion & Review

8/15 Final Exam, in lecture

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Documents

ps1summer2013syllabus