17.20 | Fall 2020 | Undergraduate

Introduction to the American Political Process

Readings

Supplementary Readings

Atkinson, Matthew D., Ryan D. Enos, et al. “Candidate Faces and Election Outcomes: Is the Face-Vote Correlation Caused by Candidate Selection?” Quarterly Journal of Political Science 4, no. 3 (2009): 229–49. 

Bafumi, Joseph, and Michael C. Herron. “Leapfrog Representation and Extremism: A Study of American Voters and Their Members in Congress.” American Political Science Review 104, no. 3 (2010): 519–42. 

Clark, Tom S. “The Separation of Powers, Court Curbing, and Judicial Legitimacy.” American Journal of Political Science 53, no. 4 (2009): 971–89.

Converse, Philip E. “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics.” Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 18, no. 1–3 (2006): 1–74.

Enos, Ryan D. “What the Demolition of Public Housing Teaches Us about the Impact of Racial Threat on Political Behavior.” American Journal of Political Science 60, no. 1 (2016): 123–42.

Gilens, Martin, and Benjamin I. Page. “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens.” Perspectives on Politics 12, no. 3 (2014): 564–81.

Grimmer, Justin. “Appropriators not Position Takers: The Distorting Effects of Electoral Incentives on Congressional Representation.” American Journal of Political Science 57, no. 3 (2013): 624–42.

Grofman, Bernard. “Downs and Two-Party Convergence.” Annual Review of Political Science 7 (2004): 25–46.

Hetherington, Marc J. “Review Article: Putting Polarization in Perspective.” British Journal of Political Science 39, no. 2 (2009): 413–48.

Huber, Gregory A., Seth J. Hill, et al. “Sources of Bias in Retrospective Decision Making: Experimental Evidence on Voters’ Limitations in Controlling Incumbents.” American Political Science Review 106, no. 4 (2012): 720–41.

Kernell, Samuel H. “Introduction: Going Public in Theory and Practice.” Chapter 1 in Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership. 4th ed. CQ Press, 2006. ISBN: ‎9781568028996. [Preview with Google Books]

— — —. “How Washington Has Changed.” Chapter 2 in Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership. 4th CQ Press, 2006. ISBN: ‎9781568028996. [Preview with Google Books]

— — —. “The Growth of Going Public.” Chapter 5 in Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership. 4th CQ Press, 2006. ISBN: ‎9781568028996. 

McCarty, Nolan. “Pivotal Politics, Partisan Polarization, and Policy Predictability.” Journal of Politics 80, no. 3 (2018): 1076–81.

McCarty, Nolan, and Eric Schickler.  “On the Theory of Parties.” Annual Review of Political Science 21 (2018): 175–93.

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]

— — —. “The Impact of Implicit Messages.” Chapter 6 in The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equity. Princeton University Press, 2001, pp. 3–10. ISBN: ‎9780691070711. 

— — —. “Implicit, Explicit, and Counter-Stereotypical Messages: The Welfare Experiment.” Chapter 7 in The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equity. Princeton University Press, 2001, pp. 3–10. ISBN: ‎9780691070711. 

Prior, Markus. “Media and Political Polarization.” Annual Review of Political Science 16 (2013): 101–27.

Tesler, Michael. “Priming Predispositions and Changing Policy Positions: An Account of When Mass Opinion Is Primed or Changed.” American Journal of Political Science 59, no. 4 (2015): 806–24.

Course Info

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Fall 2020
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Lecture Notes
Exams with Solutions
Written Assignments with Examples