GOV 103 Introduction to American Politics
An analysis of processes, values and problems of American government and democracy. Special emphasis is given to national political institutions and issues.
Classes will be a mixture of lecture and discussion. Students should feel free to ask questions at any time. I encourage you to see me in my office if you have questions or problems related to the course or just want to talk.
Course Objectives:
Discuss the assigned reading materials and summarize in oral presentations to demonstrate comprehension and analytic capacity.
Differentiate political institutions in the US, cross nationally, and/or at the global level. Demonstrate capacity to discuss issues analytically, including reasons for cross national institutional variation.
Described political behavior and processes in specific settings as well as organizational arguments and goals fashioned by political activists to deal with those behaviors and processes.
Compare, contrast, and critique political ideas, philosophies, processes, and behaviors. Explain distinctions between normative and pure goal explanations of political phenomena.
Identify and explain how ordinary people may become politically involved at the local, national, and global levels.
General Education Proficiencies
After completing this course you will have developed the following proficiencies:
Oral and written communication skills (CS) –You will have had multiple experiences in communicating ideas in writing and speaking. You will complete assignments totaling at least 3500 words of writing.
Critical analysis (CA) –You will have had multiple experiences in critically and constructively analyzing information in different areas of study.
Information literacy (IL) –You will have had multiple experiences in finding information in the library, on the Internet, and in other places and in evaluating the reliability of this information.
Make-up policy and late papers: Late assignments will receive zero credit. (Remember: printers will break down, disks will become corrupted-anticipate these problems by backing up your work and not waiting until the last minute to print.)
If a student can prove that he or she was a patient in the hospital on the day of an exam or quiz, that student would be eligible for a make-up, to be scheduled during final-exam week, at my discretion. No other circumstances (deaths in family, sickness, etc.) qualify students for a make-up exam or quiz.
You must take the final exam to receive a passing grade for the class.
Grades will be calculated as follows: in-class exercises are worth 10 points each; each quiz is worth 20 points; the two exams are worth 100 points each; the final exam is worth 150 points. The total number of points possible in the class is therefore roughly 500, in addition to the assignments I choose to include throughout the semester.
For the final grade, I will make the highest score the highest “A”, and move down in increments of 10%. For example, the lowest A will be 90% of the high score; the lowest B, 80%, etc.
I reserve the right to adjust the final grading scale as I see fit.
Academic Honesty. Be advised that academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is prohibited and is punishable by penalties including failing grades, suspension or expulsion. For further information on the Wagner College policy, see this link.
The Book: Ginsberg, Lowi et al, ”We the People (8th Essentials editon)“. Available for purchase in the Bookstore.
The Schedule: The following schedule outlines the reading assignments and lecture topics for each class. This schedule may vary somewhat throughout the semester. If this happens I will inform you in class. You are responsible for any announcements I make in class. Note that we will use my website to communicate, details about which I will announce in class.
Week 1 (January 18): Course expectations; Liberalism
Week 2 (January 25): Aspects of Political Culture
Readings: David Barstow, ”Tea Party Movement Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right”, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2010; Kay, “Black Helicopters Over Nashville“, Newsweek, 9 Feb. 2010; Richard Hofstadter, “The Paranoid style in American politics,” November 1964, Harper’s Magazine.
Hofstadter: ‘The modern right wing feels dispossessed: America has been largely taken away from them…The old American virtues have already been eaten away by cosmopolitans and intellectuals; the old competitive capitalism has been gradually undermined by socialistic and communistic schemers; the old national security and independence have been destroyed by treasonous plots… Their predecessors had discovered conspiracies; the modern radical right finds conspiracy to be betrayal from on high.”
Question: How does this observation, made in 1964, relate to the Barstow article? What are the key differences between the historical examples of the “paranoid style” and the modern right wing, according to Hofstadter?
Week 3 (February 1): The Founding and the Constitution
Reading: Ginsberg et al, Ch. 2.
Week 4 (February 8): Federalism
Reading: Ginsberg et al, Ch. 3; Sunstein, “The Enlarged Republic—Then and Now“, New York Review of Books, 26 March 2009.
Montesquieu (1689-1755) wrote:
“It is natural to a republic to have only a small territory, otherwise it cannot long subsist. In a large republic there are men of large fortunes, and consequently of less moderation; there are trusts too great to be placed in any single subject; he has interest of his own; he soon begins to think that he may be happy, great and glorious, by oppressing his fellow citizens; and that he may raise himself to grandeur on the ruins of his country.”
The Anti-Federalists agreed. Explain. The Federalists (eg, “Publius”) disagreed, and thereby shaped the US Constitution. Explain.
Week 5 (February 15) Civil Liberties (I)
Readings: Ginsberg et al, Ch. 4; “1st amendment“, jlaw.org; Liptak, Unlike Others, U.S. Defends Freedom to Offend in Speech, New York Times, 12 June, 2008; Stone, “Remembering the Nazis in Skokie,” Huffington Post, 19 April 2009.
Week 6 (February 22): Civil Liberties (II)
Readings: “4th amendment“, jlaw.org; Civil Liberties and Terrorism“, Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition; “Al Franken reads 4th Amendment to Justice Department official,” Youtube.
Week 7 (February 29): Political Parties and Elections
Reading: Ginsberg et al, ch. 7; Toobin, “The Great Election Grab,” The New Yorker, 8 December 2003.
Week 8 (March 7): Mid-term exam
March 14: SPRING BREAK
Week 9 (March 21): Social Policy
Reading: Ginsberg et al, Ch. 13
Week 10 (March 28): Interest Groups
Reading: Ginsberg et al, Ch. 8; Steorts, “The Sugar Industry and Corporate Welfare“, National Review, 18 July 2005; Byrnes and Lavelle, “The Corporate Tax Game“, Business Week, 31 March 2003; Hancock, “Wal-Mart: Always Low Taxes“, Baltimore Sun, February 7, 2007; Drucker, “Wal-Mart’s State Tax Evasion Ploy: Paying Rent to Itself“, Wall St. Journal, February 1, 2007
Week 11 (April 4): The Congress
Reading: Ginsberg et al, Ch. 9; MacGillis, The Gangs of D.C., Washington Post, 9 August 2009; Packer, “How Broken is the Senate?”, The New Yorker, 9 August 2010.
Week 13 (April 11) The Presidency
Reading: Ginsberg et al, Ch. 10; Egan, “Building a Nation of Know-Nothings“, New York Times, August 26, 2010; Avlon, “Scary New GOP Poll,” Daily Beast, 22 March 2010; Waas, “Insurer targeted HIV patients to drop coverage“, Reuters; “Birthers on the Hill“, YouTube; “Birthers on the Hill, Part II” Youtube.
Week 14 (April 18) Foreign Policy
Reading: Ginsberg et al, Ch. 14; Bacevich, “The Tyranny of Defense Inc.”, Atlantic, January/February 2011; US military interventions, Caribbean region; Instances of Use of United States Forces Abroad, 1798 – 1993.
Week 15 (April 25): The Bureaucracy; Final Exam Review
Reading: Ginsberg et al, Ch. 11
