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Introduction to the American Political Process >> Content Detail



Study Materials



Readings

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This section features a list of books required for the course as well as the readings by week.



Required Texts


Amazon logo Brady, David W., and Craig Volden. Revolving Gridlock: Politics and Policy from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780813343204.

Amazon logo Dahl, Robert Alan. Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in American Society. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1961 or 1963. ISBN: 9780300000511 (1989 edition).

Amazon logo Kinder, Donald R., and Lynn M. Sanders. Divided By Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1996. ISBN: 9780226435732.

Amazon logo Olson, Mancur. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1965 or 1971. ISBN: 9780674537507 (1971 edition).

Amazon logo Mayhew, David R. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1975. ISBN: 9780300018097.

Amazon logo Schattschneider, E. E. Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. ISBN: 9780030133664.



Readings by Week



WEEK #TOPICSREADINGS
Introduction and Politics of the American Constitution
1Introduction and Organization(no readings)
2Theories and Theoretical Tools

Session 1


Amazon logo Stewart, Charles. Analyzing Congress: The New Institutionalism in American Politics. New York, NY: Norton, 2001, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780393976267.



Session 2


Articles of Confederation and U.S. Constitution

Federalist Paper 51: Madison, James. "The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments." Independent Journal (February 6, 1788).

Federalist Paper 84: Hamilton, Alexander. "Certain General and Miscellaneous Objections to the Constitution Considered and Answered." Independent Journal (July 16, July 26, August 9, 1788).

Pluralism and Its Critiques
3Pluralism

Federalist Paper 10: Madison, James. "The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (continued)." Daily Advertiser (November 22, 1787).

Dahl. Books I and IV in Who Governs?

4Economic Interests

Amazon logo Beard, Charles A. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 2004, chapters 1, 6, and 9. ISBN: 9780486433653.

Schattschneider. Semisovereign People. Chapters 1-5.

5RaceKinder and Sanders. Divided by Color.
6Collective ActionOlson. The Logic of Collective Action. Especially chapters 1-2.
Voting and Elections
7Party and Ideology

Amazon logo Campbell, Angus, Phlip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes. The American Voter: Unabridged Edition. Reprint ed. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, 1980, chapter 6. ISBN: 9780226092546.

Amazon logo Fiorina, Morris P., Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Pearson Longman, 2005. ISBN: 9780321366061.

8Responsiveness

Ansolabehere, Steve, Jim Snyder, and Charles Stewart. "Candidate Positions in Congressional Elections." American Journal of Political Science 45 (January 2001): 136-159.

Fiorina, Morris. "The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics." Daedalus (Summer 1980): 25-46.

9Retrospective Voting Issue Ownership

Session 1: Retrospective Voting


Achen, Christopher, and Larry Bartels. "Blind Retrospection: Electoral Responses to Drought, Flu, and Shark Attacks." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA, August 28, 2002.



Session 2: Issue Ownership


Petrocik, et al. "Issue Ownership and Presidential Campaigning, 1952-2000." Political Science Quarterly 118, no. 4 (December 1, 2003): 599-626.

10Voting and Seats Election Reading

Session 1: Voting and Seats


Tufte, Edward. "Determinants of the Outcomes of Midterm Congressional Elections." The American Political Science Review 69, no. 3 (September 1975): 812-826.

Law Making
11RepresentationMayhew, Congress: The Electoral Connection
12-13Policy Making

Session 1


Brady and Volden. Revolving Gridlock. Chapter 3.

Note: Starting with chapter 3, this book is an easy and mostly informative read.



Session 2


Brady and Volden. Revolving Gridlock. Chapters 6-7.

Media and Politics
14Zaller's Theory

Session 1


Zaller, John. A Theory of Media Politics: How the Interests of Politicians, Journalists, and Citizens Shape the News. Unpublished book manuscript, October 1999, chapters 1-4.



Session 2


Zaller, John. A Theory of Media Politics: How the Interests of Politicians, Journalists, and Citizens Shape the News. Unpublished book manuscript, October 1999, chapters 5-7.


 








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