Spring 2001 Office: Room 1723 HW

Monday 1:10-3:30 PM Phone: 772-5507 (direct)

Room 1731 HW 772-5500

Office Hours: M, Th 10:00-10:45 AM E-mail: apolsky@shiva.

Th, 1:00-2:00 PM hunter.cuny.edu
 

Course Description
 

The appropriate role of government in the American economy has long been a subject of political controversy and conflict. In this course we will examine the contested politics behind economic policy. We will seek in particular to understand the relative importance in different historical periods of economic and political institutions and political actors, most notably private business. We will begin by considering theoretical frameworks that might guide the study of state-economy relations and economic policymaking. For the remainder of the semester we will explore empirically the politics of political economy since the late 19th century. Among the historical phenomena we will investigate are sectional conflict, war mobilization, and the New Deal. We will also study the political battles surrounding economic policy since the late 1960s, concentrating on the influence of business in national politics. Throughout the empirical units of the course, we will test the theoretical propositions raised in the first sessions. We will also discuss the consequences for society -- who gains and who loses -- of the patterns of public-private interactions we uncover.
 

Course Prerequisite
 

By department policy, all students enrolled in a 300-level political science course must have completed ENG 120 or the equivalent. Students who have not done so may be dropped from the roster by the Registrar.
 

Course Requirements
 

1) Complete reading assignments before class meetings (see attached schedule) and prepare six one-page summaries before class. A seminar places considerable demands upon all participants to be prepared for class sessions. To help assure adequate preparation, half of the class will be asked to write a one-page summary of a reading before each session; the next week, the other half will do the summaries. Students who have done written summaries will be asked periodically to brief the class on the main points of the reading. We will then be able to devote our time to the implications of the material, rather than to mere recapitulation of the texts. Note that the readings are difficult and demanding - expect to spend more time than usual per assignment. If you lose the syllabus, you may find it on-line at (be sure to copy this address into your notebook): http://maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/polsc/polsky/index.html
 

2) Attend class regularly and on time. No student shall be permitted to enter the classroom late; I will treat such lateness as an unexcused absence. Students who miss two or more classes without a valid, documented reason shall be penalized in the final grading (see below). Students who miss a class when they have a summary due will be expected to do a summary the following week. Thus, if you are absent (even with justification), you may find yourself doing summaries for several consecutive weeks. Students absent late in the term must contact me to arrange to submit summaries before classes end.
 

3) Participate in class discussion. The subject itself is one about which we have strong feelings and so it invites argument. Just as important, the course is designed to encourage you to practice social science -- to examine explanatory models critically and test them against evidence. So active learning is essential. Your final grade will reflect your contribution to class meetings.
 

4) Complete all written assignments. Written work for the course consists of a substantial review essay or research paper (12-15 pages) and two take-home essay exams. The first exam will be given approximately mid-semester (due before Spring break) and the second will be due during final exam week. Students who choose the review essay option for their paper will select a book drawn from a bibliography that will be distributed early in the term; a sample review essay will also be put on reserve. I will distribute guidelines on writing a review essay well in advance of the due date. Students who prefer a research paper will identify an economic policy outcome (recent or historical) they wish to explain and develop a "causal story" about it based on secondary and journalistic sources. The paper should refer to one or more of the theoretical models we discuss during the semester. You should select a book or research paper topic by the time we complete the first unit of the course and discuss your choice with me. I will expect an outline or one-paragraph summary of the argument you expect to make in the paper immediately after the spring recess. The paper will be due in late April so I will have time to grade it and return it to you with comments. You will have the opportunity to rewrite the paper for an additional grade (see below).
 

Grading
 

In computing the written portion of the grade, the exams and class participation will be given equal weight, while the paper shall be counted twice. (The ratio thus will be 1:1:1:2.) Class participation will be based on timely submission of summaries, attendance, and regular contributions to discussion. Submission of the six summaries establishes a base participation grade of B. Two or more unexcused absences will lower the participation grade by one-third of a letter grade, rising to two-thirds of a grade after four absences; failure to submit the required number of summaries also lowers the participation grade by one-third of a letter. After the end of the semester students will have the option of rewriting their paper by a deadline I will set later in the term. The rewrite will also be given double weight, but it will not replace the first written grade. (The ratio in computing the grade then becomes 1:1:1:2:2)

You are expected to complete all assignments on time. Extensions will be given only for valid reasons and documentation will be required. Otherwise, late work will be penalized. The same conditions apply to requests for incompletes, which I approve infrequently and which extend for only as long as the period of time during which you were unable to work (e.g., if you were ill for one week at final exam time, you will be given one extra week in late May or early June to complete the take-home final).

Note on credit/no credit grading: College rules specify that to be eligible for credit/no credit, students must complete all course requirements. In this course, students who wish to be graded on the credit/no credit system must take the mid-term exam, submit the paper assignment on time, and attempt the final. Failure to do all three of these things will void a credit/no credit request, and a conventional letter grade will be entered instead.
 

Books and Assigned Readings
 

Readings for the course are contained in a course pack available from the Hunter College Bookstore. The readings in the course pack are also on reserve in the library. However, as only one copy will be on reserve, I cannot assure that you will find intact readings at the library.
 
 
 
 
 

Schedule of Class Assignments

Dates are approximate. You should assume we are on schedule unless I announce changes in class. If you miss class, contact me via e-mail to confirm the next reading assignment.
 
 
 

Part One: Theoretical Approaches to American Political Economy
 

January 29th. Pluralist and Elitist Models of Power.

No reading assignment.
 

February 5th. The Privileged Position of Business Versus the Autonomy of the State.

Charles Lindblom, Politics and Markets (New York: Basic Books, 1977), chaps. 13-15, 17.

Mark A Smith, American Business and Political Power: Public Opinion, Elections, and Democracy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), chap. 2 "Business Unity and Its Consequences for Representative Democracy," pp. 13-35.

Eric A. Nordlinger, On the Autonomy of the Democratic State (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981), chap. 1 "State, Society, and Public Policy," pp. 1-41.
 

February 13th (Tuesday). Problems of Collective Action in the Politics of Economic Policy.

Mancur Olson, The Logic of Collective Action (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965, 1971), pp. 1-16, 43-52, 141-48.

Thomas Ferguson, Golden Rule (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), pp. 17-38.

Andrew J. Polsky, "When Business Speaks: Political Entrepreneurship, Discourse, and Mobilization in American Partisan Regimes," Journal of Theoretical Politics12 (4) (October 2000): 451-72.
 

February 19th. Washington's Birthday (no class).
 

February 26th. The Sectional Basis of American Political Economy.

Richard Franklin Bensel, Sectionalism and American Political Development: 1880-1980 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1984), chaps. 1 "Introduction" and 2 "Overview," pp. 3-59.
 
 
 

Part Two: From the Gilded Age to the New Deal
 

March 5th. The Response to Industrialization.

Charles W. Calhoun, "Political Economy in the Gilded Age: The Republican Party's Industrial Policy," Journal of Policy History 8 (3) (1996): 291-309.

Bensel, Sectionalism and American Political Development, chap. 3 "Tariffs, Elections, and Imperialism, 1880-1910," pp. 60-103.
 

March 12th. The First World War and Its Aftermath.

Marc Allen Eisner, From Warfare State to Welfare State: World War I, Compensatory State Building, and the Limits of the Modern Order (University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 2000), chap. 3 "Mobilization, Demobilization, and the Legacy of the Great War," pp. 45-85.

Ellis W. Hawley, "Herbert Hoover, the Commerce Secretariat, and the Vision of an 'Associative State,' 1921-1928," Journal of American History 61 (1) (June 1974): 116-40.
 

March 19th and 26th. Business Power and the New Deal.

Theda Skocpol, "Political Response to Capitalist Crisis: Neo-Marxist Theories of the State and the Case of the New Deal," Politics and Society 10 (2) (1980): 155-201.

Thomas Ferguson, "Industrial Conflict and the Coming of the New Deal: The Triumph of Multinational Liberalism in America," in Steve Fraser and Gary Gerstle, eds., The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930-1980 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989), pp. 3-31.

David Plotke, "The Wagner Act, Again: Politics and Labor, 1935-1937," Studies in American Political Development 3 (1989): 105-56.

Colin Gordon, "New Deal, Old Deck: Business and the Origins of Social Security, 1920-1935," Politics and Society 19 (2) (1991): 165-207.
 
 
 
 
 

Part Three: American Political Economy in the Contemporary Period
 

April 2nd. War, Recovery and the Triumph of Keynesian Policy.

Margaret Weir, Politics and Jobs: The Boundaries of Employment Policy in the United States (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), chap. 2 "Creating an American Keynesianism," pp. 27-61.

Ira Katznelson and Bruce Pietrykowski, "Rebuilding the American State: Evidence from the 1940s," Studies in American Political Development 5 (Fall 1991): 301-339.
 

April 9th. Spring Recess [no class].
 

April 16th. The 1960s: Business Political Power in Decline?

David Vogel, Fluctuating Fortunes: The Political Power of Business in America (New York: Basic Books, 1989), chaps. 3 and 4, pp. 37-92.

Cathie Jo Martin, "Business and the New Economic Activism: The Growth of Corporate Lobbies in the Sixties," Polity 22 (1) (1994): 49-76.
 

April 23rd and 30th. The End of the Postwar Boom: Policy Responses and the New Political Organization of Business.

Marc Allen Eisner, The State in the American Political Economy (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1995), chap. 9 "Stagflation and the War Against Inflation," pp. 260-85.

Vogel, Fluctuating Fortunes, chaps.7 and 8, pp. 148-239.

David Plotke, "The Political Mobilization of Business," in Mark P. Petracca, ed., The Politics of Interests (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992), pp. 175-98.
 

May 7th. The Reagan Revolution.

David Vogel, Fluctuating Fortunes, chap. 9, pp. 240-90.

Cathie Jo Martin, "Business Influence and State Power: The Case of U.S. Corporate Tax Policy," Politics and Society 17 (2) (1989): 189-223.
 

May 14th. Partisanship and Political Economy: Recent Trends.

Andrew J. Stritch, "State Autonomy and Societal Pressure: The Steel Industry and U.S. Import Policy," Administration and Society 23 (1991) (3): 288-309.

James Shoch, "Party Politics and International Economic Activism: The Reagan-Bush Years," Political Science Quarterly 113 (1) (1998): 113-31.

Andrew J. Polsky, "Giving Business the Business," Dissent (Winter 1996): 33-36.
 

Final Exam Week.

Take-home final, due date TBA.