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This section features a list of books required for the course as well as the readings by week.
Required Texts
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.
Dahl, Robert Alan. Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in American Society. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1961 or 1963. ISBN: 9780300000511 (1989 edition).
Kinder, Donald R., and Lynn M. Sanders. Divided By Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1996. ISBN: 9780226435732.
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).
Mayhew, David R. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1975. ISBN: 9780300018097.
Schattschneider, E. E. Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. ISBN: 9780030133664.
Readings by Week
Course calendar.
| WEEK # |
TOPICS |
READINGS |
| Introduction and Politics of the American Constitution |
| 1 |
Introduction and Organization |
(no readings) |
| 2 |
Theories and Theoretical Tools |
Session 1
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 |
| 3 |
Pluralism |
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?
|
| 4 |
Economic Interests |
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.
|
| 5 |
Race |
Kinder and Sanders. Divided by Color. |
| 6 |
Collective Action |
Olson. The Logic of Collective Action. Especially chapters 1-2. |
| Voting and Elections |
| 7 |
Party and Ideology |
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.
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.
|
| 8 |
Responsiveness |
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.
|
| 9 |
Retrospective 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.
|
| 10 |
Voting 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 |
| 11 |
Representation |
Mayhew, Congress: The Electoral Connection |
| 12-13 |
Policy 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 |
| 14 |
Zaller'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.
|