Introduction to the American Political Process

Readings

[K] Kollman, Ken, ed. Readings in American Politics: Analysis & Perspectives. 4th ed. W.W. Norton & Co., 2017. ISBN: ‎9780393283686.

Please read the assigned works in the order in which they are listed.

I. Introduction

Lecture 1: Course Introduction

• No readings assigned.

Lecture 2: Sources of American Discontent

• Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta. “How Do We Change America?” New Yorker, June 8, 2020.
• Howell, William, and Terry M. Moe. “Why the President Needs More Power.” Boston Review, July 2, 2018.
• Barber, Michael, and Nolan McCarty.“Causes and Consequences of Polarization.” Chapter 2 in Negotiating Agreement in Politics (PDF - 3.2MB). Edited by Jane Mansbridge and Cathie Jo Martin. American Political Science Association, 2013. ISBN: 9781878147479.
• Starr. Paul. “The Battle for the Suburbs.” New York Review of Books, September 26, 2019.

II. Fundamentals: Democracy, Elections, and Representation

Lecture 3: Representation and Responsiveness

• Pitkin, Hanna Fenichel. Selections from “Introduction.” In The Concept of Representation. University of California Press, 1972. ISBN: ‎9780520021563. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. Selections from “Formalistic Views of Representation.” Chapter 3 in The Concept of Representation. University of California Press, 1972. ISBN: ‎9780520021563. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. Selections from “‘Standing For’: Descriptive Representation.” Chapter 4 in The Concept of Representation. University of California Press, 1972. ISBN: ‎9780520021563.
• — — —. Selections from “Representing As ‘Acting For’: The Analogies.” Chapter 6 in The Concept of Representation. University of California Press, 1972. ISBN: ‎9780520021563.
• Mansbridge, Jane. “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent ‘Yes’.” (PDF - 1.8MB) Journal of Politics 61, no. 3 (1999): 628–57.
• Gilens, Martin. “Citizen Competence and Democratic Decision Making.” Chapter 1 in Affluence & Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America. Princeton University Press, 2012, pp. 12–24. ISBN: ‎ 9780691162423. [Preview with Google Books]
• Schlozman, Kay Lehman, Sidney Verba, and Henry E. Brady. “Introduction: Democracy and Political Voice.” Chapter 1 in The Unheavenly Chorus: Unequal Political Voice and the Broken Promise of American Democracy. Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 1–8. ISBN: ‎9780691159867. [Preview with Google Books]

Lecture 4: Collective Action and Interest Groups

• Olson, Mancur, Jr. “Introduction.” In The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Harvard University Press, 1971. ISBN: ‎9780674537514. 
• — — —. “A Theory of Groups and Organizations.” Chapter 1 in The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Harvard University Press, 1971, pp. 5–17. ISBN: ‎9780674537514. [Preview with Google Books]
• Schattschneider, E. E. “The Scope and Bias of the Pressure System.” In The Semisovereign People: A Realist’s View of Democracy in America. ‎ Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960. ISBN:‎ 9780030106408.
• [K] Chapter 11.2: From “Outside Lobbying: Public Opinion and Interest Group Strategies.”
• Strolovitch, Dara Z. “Do Interest Groups Represent the Disadvantaged? Advocacy at the Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender.” Journal of Politics 68, no. 4 (2006): 894–910. Read pp. 894-899 (up to Data) and p. 908 (Discussion and Conclusion).

Lecture 5: Electoral Geography and Voting Rights

• [K] Koza, John R., Barry Fadem, et al. Chapter 13.1: From Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote.
• [K] Chapter 13.3: From Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder (2013).
• Newkirk, Vann R., II.  “How Shelby County v. Holder Broke America.” The Atlantic, July 10, 2018.
• Cameron, Charles, David Epstein, et al. “Do Majority-Minority Districts Maximize Substantive Black Representation in Congress?” American Political Science Review 90, no. 4 (1996): 794–812. Read pp. 794–99 (up to Data) and p. 809–10 (Conclusion).
• Rodden, Jonathan. “The Geographic Distribution of Political Preferences.” Annual Review of Political Science 13 (2010): 321–40.

III. American Political Institutions

Lecture 6: Introduction to Institutional Analysis

• Shepsle, Kenneth A. “Rational Choice Institutionalism.” Chapter 2 in The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions. Edited by R.A.W. Rhodes, Sarah A. Binder, and Bert A. Rockman. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: ‎9780199548460. [Preview with Google Books]
• Cameron, Charles M. “Rational Choice and the Presidency.” Chapter 3 in Veto Bargaining: Presidents and the Politics of Negative Power. Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN: ‎9780521625500. [Preview with Google Books]

Lecture 7: The Constitution

• “The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription.” America’s Founding Documents, National Archives.
• [K] Dahl, Robert A. Chapter 2.3: From How Democratic Is the American Constitution?
• Pope, Jeremy C., and Shawn Treier. “Voting for a Founding: Testing the Effect of Economic Interests at the Federal Convention of 1787.” Journal of Politics 77, no. 2 (2015): 519–34. Read pp. 519–24 (up to Variables) and 532–34 (Discussion).
• Klarman, Michael. “The Constitution as a Coup against the Public Opinion.” Revista Estudos Institucionais 3, no. 1 (2017): 256–66.

Lecture 8: Congress I: The Electoral Connection

• [K] Mayhew, David R. Chapter 5.1: From “Congress: The Electoral Connection.”
• [K] Fenno, Richard F., Jr. Chapter 5.2: From “Home Style: House Members in their Districts.”
• [K] Cox, Gary W., and Mathew D. McCubbins. Chapter 5.3: From “Setting the Agenda: Responsible Party Government in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Lecture 9: Congress II: Pivotal Politics

• Krehbiel, Keith. “Basics.” Chapter 1 in Pivotal Politics: A Theory of U.S. Lawmaking. University of Chicago Press, 1998. ISBN: ‎9780226452722. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “A Theory.” Chapter 2 in Pivotal Politics: A Theory of U.S. Lawmaking. University of Chicago Press, 1998. ISBN: ‎9780226452722. 

Lecture 10: The Presidency

• [K] Neustadt, Richard E. Chapter 6.1: From Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan.
• [K] Cameron, Charles M. Chapter 6.2: From Veto Bargaining: Presidents and the Politics of Negative Power.
• [K] Canes-Wrone, Brandice. Chapter 6.3: From Who Leads Whom? Presidents, Policy, and the Public.
• [K] Howell, William G. Chapter 6.4: From Power Without Persuasion: The Politics of Direct Presidential Action.

Lecture 11: The Bureaucracy

• Potter, Rachel Augustine. “The Power of Procedure.” Chapter 1 in Bending the Rules: Procedural Politicking in the Bureaucracy. University of Chicago Press, 2019. ISBN: ‎9780226621746. [Preview with Google Books]
• [K] Gailmard, Sean, and John W. Patty. Chapter 7.5: From Learning While Governing: Expertise and Accountability in the Executive Branch.
• [K] McCubbins, Mathew D., and Thomas Schwartz. Chapter 7.2: From “Congressional Oversight Overlooked: Police Patrols versus Fire Alarms.” 

Lecture 12: The Judiciary

• Segal, Jeffrey A., and Harold J. Spaeth. “Introduction: Supreme Court Policy Making.” Chapter 1 in The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited. Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN: ‎9780521789714. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “Models of Decision Making: The Legal Model.” Chapter 2 in The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited. Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 44–53. ISBN: ‎9780521789714. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “Models of Decision Making: The Attitudinal and Rational Choice Models.” Chapter 3 in The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited. Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 86–100. ISBN: ‎9780521789714. [Preview with Google Books]
• [K] Rosenberg, Gerald N. Chapter 8.1: From The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?
• Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483: Earl Warren Delivered the Opinion of the Court (PDF). 

Lecture 13: Parties

• [K] Aldrich, John H. Chapter 12.1: From Why Parties? A Second Look.
• [K] Cohen, Marty, David Karol, et al. Chapter 12.3: From The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform.
• [K] Kollman, Ken. Chapter 12.4: From “Who Drives the Party Bus?”
• Schickler, Eric. “Introduction.” Chapter 1 in Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932–1965. Princeton University Press, 2016, pp. 1–16. ISBN: ‎9780691153889. [Preview with Google Books]

Lecture 14: Federalism and State Politics

• [K] Riker, William. Chapter 3.2: From Federalism: Origin, Operation, Significance.
• Hertel-Fernandez, Alexander. “Introduction.” In State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States—and the Nation. Oxford University Press, 2021. ISBN: ‎9780197564264. [Preview with Google Books]
• Michener, Jamila. “Medicaid, Political Life, and Fragmented Democracy.” Chapter 1 in Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics. Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp. 1–15. ISBN: ‎9781316649589. 
• Pacewicz. Josh. “States Lead the Fight against Covid-19. That Means We All Depend on Medicaid Now,” Washington Post, April 8, 2020.

IV. Political Behavior

Lecture 15: The Rational Voter?

• Achen, Christopher H., and Larry M. Bartels. “Democratic Ideals and Realities.” Chapter 1 in Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. Princeton University Press, 2017, pp. 1–12. ISBN: ‎ 9780691178240. [Preview with Google Books]
• Page, Benjamin I., and Robert Y. Shapiro. “Rational Public Opinion.” Chapter 1 in The Rational Public: Fifty Years of Trends in Americans’ Policy Preferences. University of Chicago Press, 1992, pp. 1–3 and 15–27. ISBN: ‎9780226644783. [Preview with Google Books]
• Lenz, Gabriel S. “Rum Punch or Issue Voting?” Chapter 1 in Follow the Leader? How Voters Respond to Politicians’ Policies and Performance. University of Chicago Press, 2012. ISBN: ‎9780226472140. [Preview with Google Books]

Lecture 16: Microfoundations of Public Opinion

• [K] Zaller, John R. Chapter 9.2: From The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion.
• [K] Kinder, Donald R., and Cindy D. Kam. Chapter 9.3: From Us against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion.
• Sears, David O., Richard R. Lau, et al. “Self-Interest vs. Symbolic Politics in Policy Attitudes and Presidential Voting.” American Political Science Review 74, no. 3 (1980): 670–84. Read pp. 670–74.
• Gilens, Martin. “Introduction.” In Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy. University of Chicago Press, 2000. ISBN: ‎9780226293653. 
• — — —. “The American Welfare State: Public Opinion and Public Policy.” Chapter 1 in Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy. University of Chicago Press, 2000, pp. 11–12. ISBN: ‎9780226293653. 

Highly recommended

• Gilens, Martin. “The American Welfare State: Public Opinion and Public Policy.” Chapter 1 in Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy. University of Chicago Press, 2000, pp. 22–30. ISBN: ‎9780226293653. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “Racial Attitudes, the Undeserving Poor, and Opposition to Welfare.” Chapter 3 in Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy. University of Chicago Press, 2000, pp. 61–63 and 67–72. ISBN: ‎9780226293653. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “The News Media and Racialization of Poverty.” Chapter 5 in Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy. University of Chicago Press, 2000, pp. 103–14. ISBN: ‎9780226293653. 

Lecture 17: Partisanship

• [K] Angus Campbell, Philip E. Converse, et al. Chapter 12.2: From The American Voter: An Abridgement.
• Green, Donald, Bradley Palmquist, and Eric Schickler. “Introduction.” Chapter 1 in Partisan Hearts and Minds: Political Parties and the Social Identity of Voters. Yale University Press, 2004, pp. 1–11. ISBN: ‎9780300101560. [Preview with Google Books]
• Mason, Liliana. “Identity-Based Democracy.” Chapter 1 in Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity. University of Chicago Press, 2018. ISBN: ‎9780226524542. [Preview with Google Books]

Lecture 18: Retrospective Voting and Campaigns

• Achen, Christopher H., and Larry M. Bartels. “A Rational God of Vengeance and of Reward? The Logic of Retrospective Accountability.” Chapter 4 in Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. Princeton University Press, 2017, pp. 90–102. ISBN: ‎ 9780691178240. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “Blind Retrospection: Electoral Responses to Droughts, Floods, and Shark Attacks.” Chapter 5 in Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. Princeton University Press, 2017, pp. 116–28. ISBN: ‎ 9780691178240. [Preview with Google Books]
• Mendelberg, Tali. “A Theory of Racial Appeals.” Chapter 1 in The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equity. Princeton University Press, 2001, pp. 3–10. ISBN: ‎9780691070711. [Preview with Google Books]
• Sides, John, Michael Tesler, et al. “The 2016 Election: How Trump Lost and Won.” Journal of Democracy 28, no. 2 (2017): 34–44.

V. Where We Are

Lecture 19: Polarization

• McCarty, Nolan. “Introduction.” Chapter 1 in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: ‎9780190867775. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “What is Political Polarization?” Chapter 2 in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: ‎9780190867775. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “Are Partisan Elites Polarized?” Chapter 3 in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: ‎9780190867775. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “Is the Public Polarized?” Chapter 4 in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: ‎9780190867775. 
• — — —. “What Are the Causes of Polarization?” Chapter 5 in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: ‎9780190867775. 

Lecture 20: Money in Politics

Required

• Page, Benjamin I., and Martin Gilens. “Thwarting the Will of the People,” “The Political Clout of Wealthy Americans,” and “Corporations and Interest Groups.” Chapters 3–5 in Democracy in America? What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do about It. University of Chicago Press, 2020. ISBN: ‎9780226724935. 
• Kalla, Joshua L., and David E. Broockman. “Campaign Contributions Facilitate Access to Congressional Officials: A Randomized Field Experiment.” American Journal of Political Science 60, no. 3 (2016): 545–58.

Recommended

• Carnes, Nicholas. “Government by the Privileged.” Chapter 1 in The Cash Ceiling: Why Only the Rich Run for Office—And What We Can Do about It. Princeton University Press, 2020. ISBN: ‎9780691203737. [Preview with Google Books]

Lecture 21: Gender Politics

• [K] Fox, Richard L., and Jennifer L. Lawless. From “Gendered Perceptions and Political Candidacies: A Central Barrier to Women’s Equality in Electoral Politics.”
• Dolan, Kathleen. “Candidate Sex and Gender Stereotypes in American Elections.” Chapter 1 in When Does Gender Matter? Women Candidates and Gender Stereotypes in American Elections. Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN: ‎9780199968282. [Preview with Google Books]
• Anzia, Sarah F., and Christopher R. Berry. “The Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect: Why Do Congresswomen Outperform Congressmen?” American Journal of Political Science 55, no. 3 (2011): 478–93. Read pp. 478–81 and 490–91.

Lecture 22: The Carceral State

• Hinton, Elizabeth. “Introduction: Origins of Mass Incarceration.” In From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America. Harvard University Press, 2017. ISBN: ‎9780674979826. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “The Battlegrounds of the Crime War.” Chapter 5 in From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America. Harvard University Press, 2017, pp. 209–17. ISBN: ‎9780674979826. [Preview with Google Books]
• Weaver, Vesla M., and Amy E. Lerman. “Political Consequences of the Carceral State.” American Political Science Review 104, no. 4 (2010): 1–16.
• White, Ariel. “Even Very Short Jail Sentences Drive People Away from Voting,” Washington Post, March 28, 2019.
• Davis, Angela Y. “Introduction—Prison Reform or Prison Abolition?” Chapter 1 in Are Prisons Obsolete? Seven Stories Press, 2003. ISBN: ‎9781583225813. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “Slavery, Civil Rights, and Abolitionist Perspectives Toward Prison.” Chapter 2 in Are Prisons Obsolete? Seven Stories Press, 2003. ISBN: ‎9781583225813. [Preview with Google Books]

Lecture 23: The Racial Divide

• Dawson, Michael C. “The Changing Class Structure of Black America and the Political Behavior of African Americans.” Chapter 1 in Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African-American Politics. Princeton University Press, 1995, pp. 3–11. ISBN: ‎9780691025438. [Preview with Google Books]
• — — —. “Models of African-American Racial and Economic Group Interests.” Chapter 4 in Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African-American Politics. Princeton University Press, 1995, pp. 71–84. ISBN: ‎9780691025438. [Preview with Google Books]
• [K] Tesler, Michael. Chapter 4.1: From Post-Racial or Most Racial? Race and Politics in the Obama Era.
• White, Ismail K., and Chryl N. Laird. “Introduction.” In Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior. Princeton University Press, 2021, pp. 1–20. ISBN: ‎9780691228983. [Preview with Google Books]

Lecture 24: White Identity, Rural Politics, and the Rise of Trump

• Cramer, Katherine J. “Making Sense of Politics through Resentment.” Chapter 1 in The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. University of Chicago Press, 2016. ISBN: ‎9780226349114. [Preview with Google Books]
• Jardina, Ashley. “The New American Minority.” Chapter 1 in White Identity Politics. Cambridge University Press, 2019. ISBN: ‎9781108468602. [Preview with Google Books]

Lecture 25: Immigration

• Tichenor, Daniel J. “The Politics of Immigration Control: Understanding the Rise and Fall of Policy Regimes.” Chapter 2 in Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America. Princeton University Press, 2002. ISBN: ‎9780691088051. [Preview with Google Books]