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Participation grade criteria |
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course schedule and readings
spring 2010
Please note: At your instructor’s discretion, there may be minor
alterations to the reading assignments listed below. One of
the major advantages to providing you with an on-line readings archive is
that timely articles can be added or substituted when appropriate. Opening
documents downloaded from this website will require that your computer have Acrobat Reader.
You will also need the class-specific password to open individual files.
January 13 (W)—Course introduction
Materials that will help you to get the most out of this class: the on-line versions of the syllabus and course schedule, paper grading criteria handout (on-line), citation instructions handout (on-line), and the High Point University Honor Code.
January 15 (F)— What are our core political values, and where did they come from?
Lowi, et al., "The Founding and the Constitution" (Chapter 2, just the first section on the political philosophers most influential at the time the US was founded).
Selection from John Kingdon, America the Unusual (part one; part two). The full citation for this book: John Kingdon. 1998. "American Ideology." In America the Unusual. New York: St. Martins. Pp. 23-56.
T
The Articles of Confederation
Edmond S. Morgan, "The Second American Revolution," a review of Gordon Wood's The Radicalism of the American Revolution (New York Review of Books, 1992, 8pp)
January 22 (F)—Who were the writers of the American Constitution? What did they want, and why?
HW Brands, "Founders Chic" (Atlantic Monthly)
Jay Tolson, "Founding Rivalries" (US News & World Report)
January 25 (M)— How was the Constitution written? Whose
interests did the drafting process best protect?
David Brian Robertson, "Madison's Opponents and Constitutional Design" (American Political Science Review). Read up to "Altering Madison's Substantive Plans for the Constitution" (pg. 238)
January 27 (W)— Why and how did the Founders make our government work so inefficiently by separating and balancing its power among its branches?
David Brian Robertson, "Madison's Opponents and Constitutional Design" (American Political Science Review). Read the remainder of the article.
Federalist 51 "The
Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances
Between the Different Departments"
Federalist 10:
The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and
Insurrection
Sanford Levinson, "The Democratic Deficit in America" (Harvard Law and Policy Journal, 2006, 7pp)
February 3 (W) and 5 (F)— Why did liberties play a minor role in the original Constitution? Why and how are individual liberties so expansive today?
Andrew Rudalevige, "The War on Terrorism's Toll on the U.S. Constitution" (Foreign Affairs, 2007, 5pp)
February 8 (M)—How and why have civil rights come to flourish in the United States? What role should government play in securing civil rights?
February 10 (W)— How have citizen rights movements transformed American democracy?
February 15 (M)— What is happening to America's civic community and our sense of the common good?
The Economist, "The Glue of Society" (2005, 6pp)
February 17 (W)— Why does it matter that Americans know about so little about
politics?
The Economist, "Vote for Me, Dimwit" (2007, 1p)
Michael X. Delli Carpini, "In Search of the Informed Citizen" (Communication Review, 2000, 18pp)
February 22 (M)— Political participation in America: Why is it so unequal and does this kind of inequality matter?
Sidney Verba, Kay Scholozman, and Henry Rady, "The Big Tilt" (American Prospect, 1997, 7pp)
Sidney Verba, "Would the Dream of Political Equality Turn out to Be a Nightmare? " (Perspectives on Politics, 2003, 17pp).
February 24 (W)— The American elections system: Why don't Congressional elections provide most voters with real choices?
Dan Gilgoff, "A Fake Democracy?
Charles S. Bullock, "Two Generations of Redistricting" and Michael McDonald, "Drawing the Line" (Extensions, 2004, 10pp)
February 26 (F)—
Steven
Levy, "Campaigns Get Personal" (Newsweek, 2008, 1p)
Handout using survey data from the annual
American National Election Survey (2005, 2pp:
Who gets contacted by the
parties and urged to register and vote? Please look carefully at the
data to identify which socioeconomic and demograpic characteristics most
closely correlate with being contacted by a party about voting.
March 3 (W) and 5 (F)— Can political parties save democracy?
(1) Democrats by group
affiliation;
(2)
Republicans by group
affiliation;
March 15 (M)— The American media: Watchdog or lapdog of the political system?
Lowi, et al., "The Media" (Chapter 7)
Ted Koppel, "Commercial Pressures and the News." Washington, DC: National Public Radio, November 18, 2005. You can listen to this five minute interview in either *.wav or *.mp3 formats.
Jay
Tolson, "The Media on Trial" (
March
19
(F):
March 22 (M), 24 (W), and 26 (F)—The Congress
Steven Stark, "Too Representative?" (The Atlantic Monthly, 1995)
Additional reading TBA.
March 29 (M)—What are the powers and limitations of the presidency?
Thomas Cronin and Michael Genovese, Selections from The Paradoxes of the American Presidency
March 31 (W): How and why modern have presidents have become more powerful over time?
Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann "When Congress Checks Out" (Foreign Affairs, 2006, 8pp).
Aziz Huq, "Imperial March" (Democracy Journal, 2008, 12pp).
April 2 (F)—How have 9/11 and the economic crisis impacted the presidency?
Richard N. Posner, "Our Incompetent Government" (The New Republic, 2005, 5pp)
April 5 (M)—No class, Easter Monday
April 7 (M) and April 9 (W): Why do we need the bureaucracy? What does it do and how can it work better?
April 12 (M), 14(W), and 16 (F)
April 19 (M)—How does government shape America’s economy?
April 21 (W)—No class, Honors Day
April 23 (F)—How does American social policy work, and why does our government provide fewer protections than in other advanced democracies?
April 26 (F)—How will the structure and effectiveness of our government in the 21st century shape America’s role in global politics?
The Economist, "American Power: The Hobbled Hegemon (2007, 8pp)
April 28 (W)—Course wrap-up: What did you learn in this class? During this week, please make sure to complete the University's on-line course evaluation for this class. The evaluations system is open the last week of classes but ends before exams start.
Friday, April 30 at 1:30—Final examination. Your third in-class exam will be taken during the university-scheduled exam period for this class. The take-home essay portion of the test is due at the start of the final exam period.