Office: 5205 GC
Office Hour: Thursday 3-4 PM

Phone (Hunter College):   (212) 772-5507 (messages)
e-mail: apolsky@hunter.cuny.edu
ajpolsky@aol.com
http://urban.hunter.cuny.edu/~apolsky/
 

Course Description

This seminar offers an overview of the American political system and an introduction to major scholarly controversies in the field of American politics. Throughout the course a strong emphasis will be placed on the historical development of political institutions. Following a session on various approaches to the study of American politics, the first unit will focus on the framework of American politics, including American political culture(s), the constitutional foundations of national politics, and the patterning of inclusion/exclusion in the political community. Next the course will turn to political participation and linkage institutions (public opinion, parties, elections, interest groups). The final unit will cover key national institutions - Congress, the presidency, the courts, and the bureaucracy. A number of supplemental topics are interspersed in the syllabus at the approximate point at which they might be covered in an introductory undergraduate course in American politics. An overview session at the end of the course will highlight connections across units and emerging scholarship about American politics. We will regularly address issues and problems in teaching an undergraduate American politics survey course.

Course Requirements

1. Complete assigned readings before class meetings and prepare nine two-page summaries. I have limited the number of pages in assigned readings to keep the reading assignments manageable, though of course you may disagree with my notion of what that means. The syllabus is also on-line at http://urban.hunter.cuny.edu/~apolsky/. Over the course of the semester you are required to submit nine typed summaries of assigned readings, with not more than one summary per class session. Summaries may not exceed three standard typed pages (i.e., double-spaced, 12-point font). Note that if you fall behind you cannot make up missing summaries. Summaries will be due at the start of the class session at which the reading will be discussed. I do not accept late summaries for any reason. I regularly ask certain students in advance to be ready to lead the discussion of specified readings and to raise questions about an author's method and use of evidence. It makes sense to write summaries of readings you are designated to discuss. As indicated below, the course grade is based in part on the summaries.

2. Attend class regularly and participate. Contributions to the class discussion, including succinct, prepared comments by discussion leaders, will be considered in the calculation of the final grade for the course. (See below under grading.)

3. Complete all written assignments. Written work consists of two review essays and an in-class final exam. The review essays should examine books chosen from the recommended readings on this syllabus (not the required assignments!) or other recent books approved in advance by the instructor. Please select one book from each of two units of the course. Review essays should be approximately 8-10 pages. Each review essay will be due one week after we complete the course unit; if you do a review essay for the third unit of the course, that essay will be due on Monday, December 22nd at 4 PM. This course is designed to be finished on time. Late papers will be penalized one-third of a letter grade per day when there is not a valid, documented reason for lateness.

Grading

Grading for the course will be based on the following:

Class participation and preparation: 25%
Each review essay: 25%
Final exam: 25%

The class participation grade will be based upon the summaries and participation. Timely completion of the nine summaries establishes a base participation grade of A-. If you submit fewer than nine, the base participation grade drops to B; if you submit fewer than six, to C+. The participation grade will also reflect your active, thoughtful contribution to the discussion.

To be eligible for an incomplete grade, you must maintain "satisfactory progress" in the course. I define this to mean you will have attended class regularly, led discussions as assigned, submitted at least six summaries on time, taken the final exam (except in the specific instance where you have been granted extra time for a valid medical or other reason), and submitted one review essay. It is my goal to ensure that you have finished the course before the end of January 2004. Thus no incomplete will extend past January 31, 2004.

Books for Purchase

The titles listed here are available through the Labyrinth Books outlet at the Graduate Center. Note that these books are also on reserve at the graduate school library.

John H. Aldrich, Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).

Richard L. Hall, Participation in Congress (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996).

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers (Any inexpensive paperback edition, e.g., New American Library or Bantam).

Gerald N. Rosenberg, The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change? (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992).

Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to George Bush (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993).

Christina Wolbrecht, The Politics of Women's Rights: Parties, Positions, and Change (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000).

John R. Zaller, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992).

Course Pack/Reserve Readings

The articles and books listed below will be found in the course pack(s) that may be purchased at the Labyrinth outlet. The pack(s) also may be found on reserve in the Graduate School library.

Bruce Ackerman, We the People: Volume 1: Foundations (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991), chap. 7 "Publius," pp. 165-199.

John Aldrich, "Rational Choice Theory and the Study of American Politics," chap. 9 in Lawrence C. Dodd and Calvin Jillson, eds., The Dynamics of American Politics: Approaches and Interpretations (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994), pp. 208-34.

John H. Aldrich and David W. Rohde, "The Transition to Republican Rule in the House: Implications for Theories of Congressional Politics," Political Science Quarterly 112:4 (Winter 1997-1998): 541-568.

Brian Balogh, "Reorganizing the Organizational Synthesis: Federal-Professional Relations in Modern America," Studies in American Political Development 5 (Spring 1991): 119-72.

Nancy Burns, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Sidney Verba, The Private Roots of Public Action: Gender, Equality and Political Participation (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001), chap. 1 "Introduction: Citizenship and Unequal Participation, " pp. 1-38.

Elisabeth S. Clemens, The People's Lobby: Organizational Innovation and the Rise of Interest Group Politics in the United States, 1890-1925 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997), "Prologue," pp.1-15, and "Coda: In Practice, in Theory," pp. 318-25.

Anne N. Costain, "Social Movements as Interest Groups: The Case of the Women's Movement," in Mark Petracca, ed., The Politics of Interests: Interest Groups Transformed (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992), pp. 285-306.

Michael C. Dawson and Cathy Cohen, "Problems in the Study of the Politics of Race," in Ira Katznelson and Helen V. Milner, eds., Political Science: The State of the Discipline (New York: Norton, 2002), pp. 488-510.

Richard J. Ellis, American Political Cultures (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), chap. 1 "Individualism and Community in American Life," pp. 3-27.

Sergio Fabbrini, "The American System of Separated Government: An Historical-Institutional Interpretation," International Political Science Review 20 (1999) (1): 95-116.

John Gerring, Party Ideologies in America, 1828-1996 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998), chap. 1 "Arguments," pp. 3-21 and chap. 8 "What Drives Ideological Change?" pp. 257-75.

Howard Gillman, "How Political Parties Can Use the Courts to Advance Their Agendas: Federal Courts in the United States, 1875-1891," American Political Science Review [APSR] 96 (3) (September 2002): 511-24.

Louis Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America (1955; reprint ed., San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1991), chap. 1 "The Concept of a Liberal Society," pp. 3-32.

Hugh Heclo, "Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment," chap. 3 in Anthony King, ed., The New American Political System (1979), pp. 87-124.

Hugh Heclo, "The Sixties False Dawn: Awakenings, Movements, and Postmodern Policymaking," Journal of Policy History 8 (1) (1996): 34-63.

Lawrence R. Jacobs and Robert Y. Shapiro, Politicians Don't Pander: Political Manipulation and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), chap. 2 "Crafted Talk and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness," pp. 27-71.

James G. March and Johan P. Olsen, "The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life," APSR 78 (3) (1984): 734-49.

Tali Mendelberg, The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), chap. 1 "A Theory of Racial Appeals," pp. 3-27.

Suzanne Mettler, "Bringing the State Back In to Civic Engagement: Policy Feedback Effects of the G.I. Bill for World War II Veterans," APSR 96 (2) (June 2002): 351-65.

William C. Mitchell and Michael C. Munger, "Economic Models of Interest Groups: An Introductory Survey," American Journal of Political Science 35 (2) (May 1991): 512-46.

Peter F. Nardulli, "The Constitution and American Politics," chap. 1 in Nardulli, ed., The Constitution and American Political Development: An Institutional Perspective (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992), pp. 3-31.

Karen Orren and Stephen Skowronek, "Beyond the Iconography of Order: Notes for a 'New Institutionalism,'" chap. 14 in Lawrence C. Dodd and Calvin Jillson, eds., The Dynamics of American Politics: Approaches and Interpretations (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994), pp. 311-30.

Robert D. Putnam, "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital," Journal of Democracy 6 (1) (January 1995): 65-78.

Jack N. Rakove, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1996), chap. 3 "The Madisonian Moment," pp. 35-56.

Bert A. Rockman, "Entrepreneur in the Constitutional Marketplace: The Development of the Presidency," chap. 4 in Peter Nardulli, ed., The Constitution and American Political Development: An Institutional Perspective (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992), pp. 97-120.

Bert A. Rockman, "The Federal Executive: Equilibrium and Change," in Bryan D. Jones, ed., The New American Politics: Reflections on Political Change and the Clinton Administration (1995), pp. 144-64.

Martin Shefter, Political Parties and the State: The American Historical Experience (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), chap. 3 "Party, Bureaucracy, and Political Change in the United States," pp. 61-97.

Kenneth A. Shepsle, "Studying Institutions: Some Lessons from the Rational Choice Approach,"

Journal of Theoretical Politics 1 (2) (1989): 131-47.

Theda Skocpol, "The Tocqueville Problem: Civic Engagement in American Democracy," Social Science History 21:4 (Winter 1997): 455-480.

Rogers M. Smith, "Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in America," APSR 87 (3) (September 1993): 549-66.

Rogers M. Smith, "If Politics Matters: Implications for a 'New Institutionalism,'" Studies in

American Political Development 6 (1) (Spring 1992): 1-36.

Daniel Tichenor and Richard Harris, "Organized Interests and American Political Development," Political Science Quarterly 117 (Winter 2002-03): 587-612.

Jeffrey K. Tulis, "The Two Constitutional Presidencies," in Michael Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, 4th ed.(Washington, DC: CQ Press, ), pp. 91-123.

Keith Whittington, "Presidential Challenges to Judicial Supremacy and the Politics of Constitutional Meaning," Polity 33 (3) (Spring 2001): 365-95.
 

Schedule of Topics and Reading Assignments
 

Required readings are preceded by a double asterisk. You should read them in the order in which they are listed. Additional readings for each topic (listed alphabetically) are intended as a guide to further research and planning for undergraduate instruction, and so include a mix of classic works, new scholarship, and popularized treatments.

The syllabus includes a number of supplemental topics that may be covered in an introductory undergraduate American politics course. These topics are listed below at the approximate point at which they would be covered in such a course. I encourage you to explore the supplemental topics as time permits. You may select books for review drawn from these headings.
 

September 4th. Introduction and Overview.

No reading assignment.
 

September 11th. Conceptual Models for the Study of American Institutions.

**James G. March and Johan P. Olsen, "The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life." [course pack]

**Kenneth A. Shepsle, "Studying Institutions: Some Lessons from the Rational Choice Approach." [course pack]

**John Aldrich, "Rational Choice Theory and the Study of American Politics." [course pack]

**Rogers M. Smith, "If Politics Matters: Implications for a `New Institutionalism." [course pack]

Gabriel Almond, "The Return to the State," APSR 82 (3) (1988): 853-74.

Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957).

Peter Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Skocpol, eds., Bringing the State Back In

(1985).

Gunnar Grendstad and Per Selle, "Cultural Theory and the New Institutionalism," Journal of Theoretical Politics 7 (1) (1995): 5-27.

Ellen M. Immergut, "The Theoretical Core of the New Institutionalism," Politics and Society 26:1 (March, 1998) 5-34.

James G. March and Johan P. Olsen, Rediscovering Institutions: The Organizational Basis of

Politics (1989).

Mancur Olson, The Logic of Collective Action (1965).

Karen Orren and Stephen Skowronek, "The Study of American Political Development," in Ira Katznelson and Helen V. Milner, eds., Political Science: The State of the Discipline (New York: Norton, 2002), pp. 722-54.

Paul Pierson, "Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics," APSR 94:2 (June 2000): 251-267.

"Polity Forum: Institutions and Institutionalism," Polity 28 (1) (Fall 1995): 84-140.
 
 
 

Part One: The Frameworks of American Politics
 

September 18th. American Political Culture.

**Louis Hartz, Liberal Tradition in America, chap. 1 "The Concept of a Liberal Society."

[course pack]

**Richard J. Ellis, American Political Cultures, chap. 1 "Individualism and Community in American Life." [course pack].

**Hugh Heclo, "The Sixties False Dawn: Awakenings, Movements, and Postmodern Policymaking. [course pack]

John Patrick Diggens, The Lost Soul of American Politics: Virtue, Self Interest, and the

Foundations of Liberalism (1985).

Daniel J. Elazar, The American Mosaic: The Impact of Space, Time, and Culture on AmericanPolitics (1994).

J. David Greenstone, The Lincoln Persuasion: Remaking American Liberalism (1993).

Russell L. Hanson, The Democratic Imagination in America (1985).

Samuel Huntington, American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony (1980).

James A. Morone, The Democratic Wish: Popular Participation and the Limits of American Government (1990).

Robert H. Wiebe, A Cultural History of American Democracy (1995).
 

September 25th and October 2nd. The Constitutional Framework.

**Jack N. Rakove, Original Meanings, chap. 3 "The Madisonian Moment." [course pack]

**Federalist Papers, nos. 1, 9-10, 14-15, 21, 23, 37, 39, 45-46, 51, 56-57, 62-63, 68-70, 78, 84.

**Bruce Ackerman, We the People, chap. 7. [course pack]

**Peter F. Nardulli, "The Constitution and American Politics." [course pack]

Martin Diamond, The Founding of the Democratic Republic (1981).

Daniel J. Elazer, The American Constitutional Tradition (1988).

Wayne D. Moore, Constitutional Rights and Powers of the People (1996).

Karen Orren, "The Primacy of Labor in American Constitutional Development," APSR 89 (2) (June 1995): 377-88.

Martin H. Redish, The Constitution as Political Structure (1995).

William H. Riker, The Strategy of Rhetoric: Campaigning for the American Constitution (1996). Herbert J. Storing, ed., The Anti-Federalist (1985).

Herbert J. Storing, What the Anti-Federalists Were For (1981).

Keith E. Whittington, Constitutional Construction: Divided Powers and Constitutional Meaning (1999).

Keith E. Whittington, Constitutional Interpretation: Textual Meaning, Original Intent, and Judicial Review (1999).

Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 (1969).
 

Supplemental Topic. Federalism.

Samuel Beer, To Make a Nation: The Rediscovery of American Federalism (1993).

Raoul Berger, Federalism: The Founders' Design (1987).

Martha Derthick, Keeping the Compound Republic: Essays on American Federalism (2002).

Robert C. Lieberman and John S. Lapinski, "American Federalism, Race and the Administration of Welfare," British Journal of Political Science 31 (2) (April 2001): 303-29.

Vincent Ostrom, The Meaning of American Federalism: Constituting a Self-Governing Society (1991).

Robert F. Nagel, The Implosion of American Federalism (2001)

Paul Peterson, The Price of Federalism (1995).

David B. Walker, The Rebirth of Federalism: Slouching toward Washington (1995).
 

Supplemental Topic. Power and the American Political Economy.

John C. Berg, Unequal Struggle: Class, Gender, Race, and Power in the U.S. Congress (1994)

Thomas Ferguson, Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems (1995).

Edward S. Greenberg, Capitalism and the American Political Ideal (1985).

Charles Lindblom, Politics and Markets: The World's Political and Economic Systems (1977), chaps. 12-15.

Grant McConnell, Private Power and American Democracy (1966).

Nelson W. Polsby, Community Power and Political Theory: A Further Look at Problems of Evidence and Inference (1980).

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

David Vogel, Fluctuating Fortunes: The Political Power of Business in America (1989).
 

October 9th. Expanding the Political Community: Race and the Challenges of Inclusion.

**Michael C. Dawson and Cathy Cohen, "Problems in the Study of the Politics of Race." [course pack]

**Tali Mendelberg, The Race Card, chap. 1 "A Theory of Racial Appeals." [course pack]

**Rogers M. Smith, "Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in America." [course pack]

Keith J. Bybee, Mistaken Identity: The Supreme Court and the Politics of Minority Representation (1998).

Michael C. Dawson, Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African-American Politics (1994).

Michael Goldfield, The Color of Politics: Race and the Mainsprings of American Politics (1997).

Hugh Davis Graham, The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy, 1960-1972 (1990).

Rodney Hero, Faces of Inequality: Social Diversity in American Politics (1998).

Rodney Hero, "Social Capital and Racial Inequality in America," Perspectives on Politics 1 (1) (March 2003): 113-22.

Jennifer L. Hochschild, Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation (1995).

Robert Huckfeldt and Carol Weitzel Kohfeld, Race and the Decline of Class in American Politics (1989).

Jan E. Leighley, Strength in Numbers? The Political Mobilization of Racial and Ethnic Minorities (2001).

Donald W. Jackson, Even the Children of Strangers: Equality Under the U.S. Constitution (1992).

Desmond King, Separate and Unequal: Black Americans and the U.S. Federal Government (1995).

Philip A. Klinkner with Rogers M. Smith, The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America (1999).

Andrew Kull, The Color-Blind Constitution (1992).

Richard M. Merelman, "Racial Conflict and Cultural Politics in the United States," Journal of Politics 56 (1) (February 1994): 1-20.

Hanes Walton, Jr. and Robert C. Smith, American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom (2000).
 

Supplemental Topic. Civil Liberties.

Margaret A. Blanchard, Revolutionary Sparks: Freedom of Expression in Modern America (1992).

Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey R. Stone, eds., Eternally Vigilant: Free Speech in the Modern Era (2002).

Michael Kent Curtis, Free Speech, "The People's Darling Privilege": Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History (2000).

David Garrow, Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade (1994).

James L. Gibson, "Political Intolerance and Political Repression During the McCarthy Red Scare," APSR 82 (2) (1988): 511-29.

Gregg Ivers, Redefining the First Freedom: The Supreme Court and the Consolidation of State Power (1992).

Ken I. Kersch, "The Reconstruction of Constitutional Privacy Rights and the New American State, Studies in American Political Development 16 (1) (Spring 2002): 61-87.

David M. Rabban, Free Speech in its Forgotten Years .

David A.J. Richards, Toleration and the Constitution (1986).

Mark J. Richards and Herbert M. Kritzer, "Jurisprudential Regimes in Supreme Court Decision Making," APSR 96 (2) (June 2002): 305-20.

Cass R. Sunstein, Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech (1993).
 
 
 

Part Two: Linkage Institutions and Political Participation
 

October 16th. Public Opinion and Political Leadership.

**John R. Zaller, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion, chaps. TBA.

**Lawrence R. Jacobs and Robert Y. Shapiro, Politicians Don't Pander, chap. 2 "Crafted Talk and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness." [course pack]

Timothy E. Cook, Governing with the News: The News Media as a Political Institution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998).

Michael X. Delli Carpini and Scott Keeter, What Americans Know about Politics and Why It Matters (1996).

George C. Edwards III and B. Dan Wood, "Who Influences Whom? The President, Congress, and the Media," APSR 93 (2) (June 1999): 327-44.

James L. Gibson and Richard D. Bingham. "On the Conceptualization and Measurement of Political Tolerance," APSR 76 (3) (1982): 603-20.

Martin Gilens, "Political Ignorance and Collective Policy Preferences," APSR 95 (2) (June 2001): 379-96.

Robert Huckfeldt and John Sprague, Citizens, Politics, and Social Communication: Information and Influence in an Election Campaign (1995).

Shanto Iyengar and Donald R. Kinder, News That Matters: Television and American Public Opinion (1987).

Arthur Lupia and Matthew D. McCubbins, The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know? (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998).

Jeff Manza and Fay Lomax Cook, "A Democratic Polity? Three Views of Policy Responsiveness to Public Opinion in the United States," American Politics Research 30 (6) (November 2002): 630-67.

Benjamin I. Page, Who Deliberates? Mass Media in Modern Democracy (1995)

Benjamin I. Page and Robert Y. Shapiro, The Rational Public: Fifty Years of Trends in Americans' Policy Preferences (1992)

Samuel Popkin, The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns (1991).

Paul J. Quirk and Joseph Hinchliffe, "The Rising Hegemony of Mass Opinion," Journal of Policy History 10:1 (1998): 19-50.

Bartholomew Sparrow, Uncertain Guardians: The News Media as a Political Institution (1999).

James A. Stimson, Public Opinion in America: Moods, Cycles, and Swings (1991).
 

October 23rd. Political Participation: Civil Society, Gender, Social Capital, and the State.

**Robert D. Putnam, "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital." [course pack]

**Theda Skocpol, "The Tocqueville Problem: Civic Engagement in American Democracy." [course pack]

**Suzanne Mettler, "Bringing the State Back In to Civic Engagement." [course pack]

**Nancy Burns, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Sidney Verba, The Private Roots of Public Action, chap. 1 "Introduction: Citizenship and Unequal Participation." [course pack]

Norman H. Nie, Jane Junn, and Kenneth Stehlik-Barry, Education and Democratic Citizenship in America (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1996).

Steven J. Rosenstone and John Mark Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America (1993).

Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady, Voice and Inequality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (1995).

Hanes Walton, Jr., ed., Black Politics and Black Political Behavior (1994).
 

October 23rd and 30th. Political Parties, Elections, and Partisan Regimes.

**John H. Aldrich, Why Parties?, chaps. 1-2, 6-9.

**John Gerring, Party Ideologies in America, 1828-1996, chap. 1 "Arguments" and chap. 8 "What Drives Ideological Change?" [course pack]

**Christina Wolbrecht, The Politics of Women's Rights, chaps. 1, 4, and 7.

John H. Aldrich, "Political Parties in a Critical Era," American Politics Quarterly 27:1 (January 1999): 9-32.

Paul Allen Beck et al., "The Social Calculus of Voting: Interpersonal, Media, and Organizational Influences on Presidential Choices," APSR 96 (1) (March 2002): 57-73.

Courtney Brown, Ballots of Tumult: A Portrait of Volatility in American Voting (1991).

Walter Dean Burnham, Critical Elections and the Mainsprings of American Politics (1970).

Angus Campbell, et al., The American Voter (1960).

Jerome M. Clubb, William H. Flanigan, and Nancy H. Zingale, Partisan Realignment: Voters, Parties, and Government in American History (1980).

John J. Coleman, Party Decline in America: Policy, Politics, and the Fiscal State (1996).

Patricia Heidotting Conley, Presidential Mandates: How Elections Shape the National Agenda (2001).

Marc J. Hetherington, "Resurgent Mass Partisanship: The Role of Elite Polarization, APSR 95 (3) (September 2001): 619-30.

David C. Leege et al., The Politics of Cultural Differences: Social Change and Voter Mobilization Strategies in the Post-New Deal Period (2002).

Jeff Manza and Clem Brooks, Social Cleavages and Political Change: Voter Alignments and U.S. Party Coalitions (1999).

David R. Mayhew, Electoral Realignments: A Critique of an American Genre (2002).

Peter F. Nardulli, "The Concept of a Critical Realignment, Electoral Behavior, and Political Change," APSR 89 (1) (March 1995): 10-22.

Nicol C. Rae, Southern Democrats (1994).

Jeffrey M. Stonecash, Class and Party in American Politics (2000)

James L. Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System: Alignment and Realignment of Political Parties in the United States (1973, 1983).

Katherine Tate, From Protest to Politics: The New Black Voters in American Politics (1993).
 

November 6th. Interest Groups and Social Movements: Past and Present.

**William C. Mitchell and Michael C. Munger, "Economic Models of Interest Groups: An Introductory Survey." [course pack]

**Daniel Tichenor and Richard Harris, "Organized Interests and American Political Development." [course pack]

**Elisabeth S. Clemens, The People's Lobby, "Prologue" and "Coda: In Practice, in Theory." [course pack]

**Anne N. Costain, "Social Movements as Interest Groups: The Case of the Women's Movement." [course pack]

Frank R. Baumgartner and Beth L. Leech Basic Interests: The Importance of Groups in Politics and Political Science (1998).

William P. Browne, Cultivating Congress: Constituents, Issues, and Interests in Agricultural Policymaking (1994).

Anne Costain, Inviting Women's Rebellion: A Political Process Interpretation of the Women's Movement (1992).

Thomas Gais, Improper Influence: Campaign Finance Law, Political Interest Groups, and the Problem of Equality (1996).

Virginia Gray and David Lowery, Population Ecology of Interest Representation (1996).

John Mark Hansen, Gaining Access: Congress and the Farm Lobby, 1919-1981 (1991).

John P. Heinz, et al., The Hollow Core: Private Interests in National Policy Making (1993).

Kevin W. Hula, Lobbying Together: Interest Group Coalitions in Legislative Politics (2000).

Ken Kollman, Outside Lobbying: Public Opinion and Interest Group Strategies (1998).

Terry Moe, The Organization of Interests: Incentives and the Internal Dynamics of Political Interest Groups (1980).

Francesca Polletta, Freedom is an Endless Meeting: Democracy in American Social Movements (2002).

Kay Lehman Schlozman and John T. Tierny, Organized Interests and American Democracy (1986).

Adam D. Sheingate, The Rise of the Agricultural Welfare State: Institutions and Interest Group Power in the United States, France, and Japan. (2001).

Theda Skocpol, Marshall Ganz, and Ziad Munson, "A Nation of Organizers: The Institutional Origins of Civic Voluntarism in the United States," APSR 94 (3) (September 2000): 527-46.

Robert M. Stein and Kenneth N. Bickers, Perpetuating the Pork Barrel: Policy Subsystems and American Democracy (1995).

Jack L. Walker, "The Origins and Maintenance of Interest Groups in America," APSR 77 (1983): 390-406.

Jack L. Walker, Mobilizing Interest Groups in America (1991).
 
 
 

Part Three: National Institutions and Policy Making
 

November 11th. Congress: History, Structures, and Politics.

**Richard L. Hall, Participation in Congress, chaps. 1-4, 9.

**John H. Aldrich and David W. Rohde, "The Transition to Republican Rule in the House: Implications for Theories of Congressional Politics." [course pack]

John H. Aldrich and David W. Rohde, "The Republican Revolution and the House Appropriations Committee," Journal of Politics 62:1 (February 2000): 1-33.

R. Douglas Arnold, The Logic of Congressional Action (1990).

Richard Bensel, "Of Rules and Speakers: Toward a Theory of Institutional Change for the US House of Representatives," Social Science History 24:2 (Summer 2000): 349.

Joseph M. Bessette, The Mild Voice of Reason: Deliberative Democracy and American National Government (1994).

Sarah A. Binder, Minority Rights, Majority Rule: Partisanship and the Development of Congress (1997).

David W. Brady, Critical Elections and Congressional Policy Making (1988).

David Brady, "Incrementalism in the People's Branch: The Constitution and the Development of the Policy-making Process," chap. 2 in Nardulli, ed., Constitution and American Political Development, pp. 35-62.

Andrew E. Busch, Horses in Midstream: U.S. Midterm Elections and Their Consequences, 1894-1998 (1999).

Gary W. Cox and Matthew D. McCubbins, Legislative Leviathan: Party Government in the House (1993).

Christine A. DeGregorio, Network of Champions: Leadership, Access, and Advocacy in the U.S. House of Representatives (1997).

David Epstein and Sharyn O'Halloran, Delegating Powers: A Transaction Cost Politics Approach to Policy Making Under Separated Powers (2000).

Gerald Gamm and John Huber, "Legislatures as Political Institutions: Beyond the Contemporary Congress," in Ira Katznelson and Helen V. Milner, eds., Political Science: The State of the Discipline (New York: Norton, 2002), pp. 313-41.

Paul Gronke, The Electorate, the Campaign, and the Office: A Unified Approach to Senate and House Elections (2000).

Gary C. Jacobson, The Electoral Origins of Divided Government: Competition in House Elections, 1946-1988 (1990).

Keith Krehbiel, Pivotal Politics: A Theory of U.S. Lawmaking (1998).

Frances E. Lee and Bruce I. Oppenheimer, Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation (1999).

Forrest Maltzman, Competing Principals: Committee, Parties, and the Organization of Congress (1997).

David R. Mayhew, America's Congress: Actions in the Public Sphere, James Madison through Newt Gingrich (2000).

David Mayhew, Congress: The Electoral Connection (1974).

Nolan McCarty, Keith T. Poole, and Howard Rosenthal, "The Hunt for Party Discipline in Congress, APSR 95 (3) (September 2001): 633-47.

Nelson Polsby, "The Institutionalization of the U.S. House of Representatives," APSR 62 (1968): 144-68.

Keith T. Poole and Howard Rosenthal, Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting (1996).

David F. Rohde, Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House (1991).

Charles Stewart III, "Responsiveness in the Upper Chamber: The Constitution and the Institutional Development of the Senate," chap. 3 in Nardulli, ed., Constitution and American Political Development, pp. 63-96.

Elaine K. Swift, The Making of an American Senate: Reconstitutive Change in Congress 1787-1841 (1996).

Donald R. Wolfensberger, Congress and the People: Deliberative Democracy on Trial (2000)
 

November 18th. Presidential Power Across Time.

**Bert A. Rockman, "Entrepreneur in the Constitutional Marketplace: The Development of the Presidency," chap. 4 in Nardulli, ed., Constitution and American Political Development, pp. 97-120. [course pack]

**Jeffrey K. Tulis, "The Two Constitutional Presidencies." [course pack]

**Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make, chaps. 1-3, 7-8.

Charles M. Cameron, Veto Bargaining: Presidents and the Politics of Negative Power (2000).

Matthew J. Dickinson, Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power, and the Growth of the Presidential Branch (1996).

Fred I. Greenstein, The Presidential Difference: Leadership Style from FDR to Clinton (2001).

Thomas S. Langston, Ideologues and Presidents: From the New Deal to the Reagan Revolution (1992).

Theodore Lowi, The Personal President: Power Invested, Promise Unfulfilled (1985).

Forest McDonald, The American Presidency: An Intellectual History (1994).

Sidney M. Milkis, The President and the Parties: The Transformation of the American Party System since the New Deal (1993).

Richard Neustadt, Presidential Power (1960 and subsequent editions).

Andrew Rudalevige, Managing the President's Program: Presidential Leadership and Legislative Policy Formulation (2002).

Stephen Skowronek, "Notes on the Presidency in the Political Order," Studies in American Political Development 1 (1986): 286-302.
 

November 25th. The Judiciary in the American Politics.

**Howard Gillman, "How Political Parties Can Use the Courts to Advance Their Agendas." [course pack]

**Keith Whittington, "Presidential Challenges to Judicial Supremacy and the Politics of Constitutional Meaning." [course pack]

**Gerald N. Rosenberg, Hollow Hope, chaps. 1-5, 12.

Nancy V. Baker, Conflicting Loyalties: Law and Politics in the Attorney General's Office, 1789-1990 (1992).

Jonathan D. Casper, "The Supreme Court and National Policy Making," APSR 70 (1) (1976): 50-63.

Cornell W. Clayton and Howard Gillman, eds., Supreme Court Decision-Making: New Institutionalist Approaches (1999).

Robert Dahl, "The Supreme Court's Role in National Policy-Making," Journal of Public Law 6 (1957): 279-95.

Malcolm Feely and Edward Rubin, Judicial Policy Making and the Modern State (1998).

John B. Gates, The Supreme Court and Partisan Realignment: A Macro- and Microlevel Perspective (1991).

Mark Graber, "The Non-Majoritarian Difficulty: Legislative Deference to the Judiciary," Studies in American Political Development 7 (1) (Spring 1993): 35-73.

Gerald S. Gryski, Gary Zuk, and Deborah J. Barrow, "A Bench that Looks Like America? Representation of African-Americans and Latinos on the Federal Courts," Journal of Politics 56 (4) (November 1994): 1076-1086.

Ronald Kahn, The Supreme Court and Constitutional Theory, 1953-1993 (1994).

Michael W. McCann, Rights At Work: Pay Equity Reform and the Politics of Legal Mobilization (1994).

John T. Noonan, Narrowing the Nation's Power: The Supreme Court Sides with the States (2002).

Richard L. Pacelle, Jr., The Transformation of the Supreme Court's Agenda (1991).

Rebecca Mae Saloker, The Solicitor General: The Politics of Law (1992).

Martin Shapiro, "The Supreme Court's 'Return' to Economic Regulation," Studies in American Political Development 1 (1986): 91-141.
 

December 2nd and 9th. The Federal Bureaucracy and Regulatory Politics.

**Martin Shefter, Political Parties and the State, chap. 3 "Party, Bureaucracy, and Political Change in the United States." [course pack]

**Brian Balogh, "Reorganizing the Organizational Synthesis: Federal-Professional Relations in Modern America." [course pack]

**Bert A. Rockman, "The Federal Executive: Equilibrium and Change." [course pack]

**Hugh Heclo, "Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment." [course pack]

Daniel P. Carpenter, The Forging of Bureaucratic Autonomy: Regulations, Networks, and Policy Innovation in Executive Agencies, 1862-1928 (2001).

Robert F. Durant, The Administrative Presidency Revisited: Public Lands, the BLM, and the Reagan Revolution (1992).

Louis Galambos, ed., The New American State: Bureaucracies and Policies since World War II (1987).

Mark W. Huddleston and William W. Boyer, The Higher Civil Service in the United States: Quest for Reform (1996).

Patricia Wallace Ingraham, The Foundation of Merit: Public Service in America (1995).

Cathy Marie Johnson, The Dynamics of Conflicts Between Bureaucrats and Legislators (1992).

Ronald N. Johnson and Gary D. Libecap, The Federal Civil Service and the Problem of Bureaucracy: The Economics and Politics of Institutional Change (1994)

Paul C. Light, Thickening Government: Federal Hierarchy and the Diffusion of Accountability (1994).

Terry M. Moe, "The New Economics of Organization," American Journal of Political Science 28 (1984): 739-777.

Robert M. Stein and Kenneth N. Bickers, Perpetuating the Pork Barrel: Policy Subsystems and American Democracy (1995).

James Q. Wilson, Bureaucracy (1989).
 

Supplemental Topic. Politics and the Policy Process.

Jonathan Bendor, Terry M. Moe, and Kenneth W. Shotts, "Recycling the Garbage Can: An Assessment of the Research Program," APSR 95 (1) (March 2001): 169-190, and response by Johan P. Olsen.

Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones, Agendas and Instability in American Politics (1993).

Thomas A. Birkland, "Focusing Events, Mobilization, and Agenda Setting," Journal of Public Policy 18:1 (January-April, 1998): 53-74.

Roy B. Flemming, B. Dan Wood, and John Bohte, "Attention to Issues in a System of Separated Powers: The Macrodynamics of American Policy Agendas," Journal of Politics 61:1 (February 1999): 76-108.

Bryan D. Jones, Tracy Sulkin, and Heather A. Larsen, "Policy Punctuations in American Political Institutions," APSR 97 (1) (February 2003): 151-69.

John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (1984).

David B. Robertson and Dennis R. Judd, The Development of Public Policy: The Structure of Policy Restraint (1989).

Jean Reith Schroedel, Congress, the President, and Policymaking (1994).

James E. Skok, "Policy Issue Networks and the Public Policy Cycle: A Structural-Functional Framework for Public Administration," Public Administration Review 55 (1995): 325-32

Aaron Wildavsky, The New Politics of the Budgetary Process, 2nd ed. (1992).
 

Conclusion: Overviews and Syntheses
 

December 9th. Piecing Together American Politics: Key Issues and Emerging Scholarship.

**Karen Orren and Stephen Skowronek, "Beyond the Iconography of Order: Notes for a 'New Institutionalism.'" [course pack]

**Sergio Fabbrini, "The American System of Separated Government: An Historical-Institutional Interpretation." [course pack]

Alberto Alesina and Howard Rosenthal, Partisan Politics, Divided Government, and the Economy (1994).

Robert S. Erikson, Michael B. MacKuen, and James A. Stimson, The Macro Polity (2002).

Richard A. Harris and Sidney M. Milkis, Remaking American Politics (1989).

Bryan D. Jones, ed., The New American Political System? Reflections on Political Change and the Clinton Administration (1995).

Theodore J. Lowi, The End of Liberalism: The Second Republic of the United States, 2nd ed. (1979).

Theodore J. Lowi, The End of the Republican Era (1994).

David R. Mayhew, Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-1990 (1991).
 

December 16th. Final Exam