PS 101AS

Issues in Twentieth (and Twenty-First)

Century American Politics

Prof. John Aldrich Prof. Michael Munger

408 Perkins Library 303A Perkins Library

660-4346 660-4301

In this course, we will examine a diverse variety of topics in American politics, from studying those who have raised classic questions about democracy and the structure and purpose of American government, through reading on and thinking about the “American dream,” to the role of race in American electoral campaigns. All of this is designed to do three things:

1. Learn something about the substance of these questions, problems, and concerns.

2. Learn something about the numerous, but not unlimited, ways social scientists make and justify normative claims, and how they make and justify empirical claims.

3. Learn how to think better, in this case think as a social scientist.

This course is a small, intensive learning environment. It will work well only if you do your part – your part is more important to the success of this class than is the part played by your instructors. Your duties in making an effective seminar include to have read the assignments for the class well in advance of the class meeting at which they are discussed. They include participating in the discussions. They include asking questions when you don’t understand something. Most of all, they are to think about the subject matter of this course – to think deeply and clearly about that subject matter. To help you perform these duties, you will be graded in part on your involvement in the seminars; how much you participate and how well you have prepared for that participation. And, to help you perform these duties, you will be graded in part on your writing, and you will have a series of opportunities to work on your writing.

Readings

Books--

The following books are for sale in the Duke bookstore. All are in paperback.

Dahl, Robert A., 1956, A Preface to Democratic Theory, Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press.

Dresang, Dennis, et al., 2003, American Government in a Changed World: The Effects of September 11, 2001, New York: Pearson Education, Longman.

Hochschild, Jennifer L., 1995, Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Mendelberg, Tali, 2001, The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Other Readings—

The following articles are available on-line; just click on the “&” symbol and you will go to the reading on JSTOR. Note: you must be on an IP address that the JSTOR server recognizes as a Duke address. If you need to configure your browser to use the Duke proxy server, go to: proxy server instructions.

Black, Duncan, 1948, “On the Rationale of Group Decision-making,” Journal of Political Economy.” &

Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay, 1787-88, The Federalist Papers, Numbers 10 and 51

(and maybe others, as announced in class). &

Hardin, Garrett, 1968, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” Science. &

Putnam, Robert, 1995, “Bowling Alone,” Journal of Democracy,” &

Please note that some readings (for most, the Black article and the Dahl book) will be harder than other readings, because the style of argument is more academic, and more theoretical, than you may be used to. Since you are expected to reread all of the assigned works until you understand them, this means that you may need to reserve more time for the more difficult readings. You are welcome to come to class with questions about particular passages you found difficult.

Schedule of Readings and Assignments

August 27, Introduction

Reading Assignment:

Read Dresang, Dennis, et al., American Government in a Changed World,

for discussion on September 3 and 5.

Writing Assignment:

Select one chapter that surprised you, that gave an account you did not expect. Explain the nature of the author’s argument and explain why you found it surprising.

Paper is due September 3. It is to be a between 2 and 3 pages (maximum of 700 words) long.

August 29, No class

(national meetings of American Political Science Association)

September 3-5, Discussion of Dresang, et al.

September 10-12, Discussion of the original structure of the U.S. federal government.

Reading Assignment:

Read Hamilton, et al., The Federalist Papers, Numbers 10 and 51. &

Written Assignment:

Write a 2 to 3 page essay for September 10 on either:

No. 10 – According to No. 10, under what conditions would an interest group be a faction?

No. 51 – According to No. 51, should U.S. Senators vote their “advise and consent” on Supreme Court justice nominees based on their (both the Senator and the nominee’s) ideological views?

September 17-26, Discussion of Dahl

Reading Assignment:

Read Dahl, Robert A., A Preface to Democratic Theory, assigned in four parts: introduction and chapter1; chapters 2 and 3; chapter 4; and chapter 5.

October 1, Review and Discussion of readings to date.

October 3, Midterm Examination: In class, essay-based examination.

October 8, Preliminary discussion of congressional elections

Reading Assignment: TBA

October 10, Discussion of “social capital”

Reading Assignment:

Putnam, Robert, “Bowling Alone.” &

October 15, Fall Break, no class.

October 17-31 Discussion of the American dream.

Reading Assignment:

Hochschild, Jennifer L., Facing Up to the American Dream.

Karen Rives, et al., “The Price of Free Trade” Raleigh News and Observer

Part 0: &

Part 1: &

Part 2: &

Part 3: &

Written Assignment:

Write a 2 to 3 page essay that explains how Putnam’s ideas contradict, modify, or extend Hochschild’s. It is due October 24.

November 5-7, Discussion of congressional elections.

Reading Assignment:

As before (October 8).

Prepare for Presentation:

Information on congressional race of interest.

November 12-21, Discussion of race in modern campaigns.

Reading Assignment:

Mendelberg, Tali, The Race Card.

Written Assignment:

Write a short essay on assessment of role played by race in 2002 elections. The essay is due, November 19.

November 26, Discussion of the problem of collective action.

Reading Assignment:

Hardin, Garrett, “The Tragedy of the Commons.” &

December 3-5, Discussion of democratic decision-making.

Reading Assignment:

Black, Duncan, “On the Rationale of Group Decision-making.” &

Written Assignment:

Write a final essay on how Black or Hardin’s essay affects the argument in either Federalist 10 or Federalist 51. The essay is due December 5.