AMERICAN POLITICS PROSEMINAR Political Science 820 Spring 2010
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Course
AMERICAN POLITICS
Institution
AMERICAN POLITICS
AMERICAN POLITICS PROSEMINAR
Political Science 820
Spring 2010
Matt Grossmann
Department of Political Science
Michigan State University
Class: Thursday 6-8:50pm, 104 South Kedzie
Office Hours: Wednesday 3-5pm, 311 South Kedzie
Email:
Course Site:
OVERVIEW: The course is a we...
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AMERICAN POLITICS PROSEMINAR
Political Science 820
Spring 2010
Matt Grossmann
Department of Political Science
Michigan State University
Class: Thursday 6-8:50pm, 104 South Kedzie
Office Hours: Wednesday 3-5pm, 311 South Kedzie
Email: matt@mattg.org
Course Site: angel.msu.edu
OVERVIEW: The course is a weekly seminar to familiarize you with the academic literatures
on American politics and government. It should help prepare you to take the field examination as
well as teach and conduct research in related areas.
SEMINAR FORMAT: Every student should come to class prepared to discuss the readings.
Questions and reading reactions are always encouraged. Each seminar will include a discussion
of examination-style questions about each week’s literatures. We will conclude each week with a
brainstorming session for theory development and future research.
ASSIGNMENTS: The major assignment for the course is a final exam that will serve as a
practice field examination. You will also be responsible for weekly reading reactions that allow
you to practice answering questions in the style of field exams. For at least two weeks during the
semester, you need to substitute a proposed original research design for the exam-style essays.
The final course grade will be composed of the following:
1) Weekly Reading Response Essays 30%
2) Two Original Research Designs 10%
3) Final 40%
4) Reading Comprehension & Discussion Participation 20%
COURSE TEXTS: The readings include journal articles and book chapters. I will provide links
to the journal articles on the course website for you to print at home. You can also come by my
office to copy the articles. I will provide copies of book chapters for you. You will also be
required to read, comprehend, and discuss the readings. If you do not participate in discussion or
if it becomes clear that you have not completed the readings, your participation will be judged by
individualized pop quizzes on reading comprehension.
, 2
TOPIC SCHEDULE
Thursday, January 14th Congressional Institutions
Thursday, January 21st Lawmaking & the Policy Process
Thursday, January 28th The Presidency
Thursday, February 4th Administrative Politics
Thursday, February 11th Judicial Politics
Thursday, February 18th Political Parties
Thursday, February 25th Interest Groups
Thursday, March 4th News Media and Politics
Thursday, March 11th Spring Break – No Class
Thursday, March 18th Campaigns & Elections
Thursday, March 25th Midwest Political Science Association Meeting – No Class
Thursday, April 1st Voting Behavior
Thursday, April 8th Public Opinion and Racial Politics
Thursday, April 15th American Political Development
Thursday, April 22nd State Politics & Policy
Thursday, April 29th Local and Urban Politics
, 3
READINGS
Thursday, January 14th - Congressional Institutions
Required:
Fenno, Richard F., Jr. 1973. Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Little, Brown.
Chapter 1.
Polsby, Nelson W. 1968. “The Institutionalization of the U.S. House of
Representatives,” American Political Science Review 62 (March): 144-68.
Schickler, Eric. 2001. Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the
Development of the U. S. Congress. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Chapter 1 and Chapter 6.
Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Barry Weingast. 1994. “Positive Theories of
Congressional Institutions.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 19:149-79.
Davidson, Roger H. and Walter J. Oleszek. 2002. Congress and Its
Members, Eighth Edition. Washington: CQ Press. Chapters 1, 2, 5,
6, 7, & 8. (IF you know this info., this is optional.)
Recommended:
Zelizer, Julian E. 2004. On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences,
1948-2000. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Cox, Gary and Matthew McCubbins. 2007. Legislative Leviathan: Party Government in the
House. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Hall, Richard L. 1996. Participation in Congress. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Fenno, Richard F., Jr. 1978. Home Style: House Members in Their Districts. Boston: Little,
Brown.
Fiorina, Morris P. 1989. Congress: Keystone of the Washington Establishment, 2ndedition, New
Haven: Yale University Press.
, 4
Binder, Sarah A. 2003. Stalemate: Causes and Consequences of Legislative Gridlock.
Washington, DC: Brookings, 2003.
Brunell, Thomas S., and Bernard Grofman. 1998. “Explaining Divided U.S. Senate Delegations,
1788-1996: A Realignment Approach.” American Political Science Review 92 (June): 391-99.
Cain, Bruce, John Ferejohn, and Morris Fiorina. 1987. The Personal Vote: Constituency Service
and Electoral Independence. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Mann, Thomas E., and Norman J. Ornstein. 2006. The Broken Branch: How Congress is Failing
America and How to Get It Back on Track. New York: Oxford University Press.
Krehbiel, Keith. 1991. Information and Legislative Organization. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press.
Mayhew, David R. 1974. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven: Yale University
Press.
Polsby, Nelson W. 2004. How Congress Evolves: Social Bases of Institutional Change. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Barry R. Weingast. 1987. “The Institutional Foundations of Committee
Power.” American Political Science Review 81 (March): 85-104.
Sinclair, Barbara. 2005. “Parties and Leadership in the House.” In The Legislative Branch, ed.
Paul J. Quirk and Sarah A. Binder. New York: Oxford University Press, 224-54.
Smith, Steven S. 2005. “Parties and Leadership in the Senate.” In The Legislative Branch, med.
Paul J. Quirk and Sarah A. Binder. New York: Oxford University Press, 255-78.
Swain, Carol M.1995. Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in
Congress, enlarged ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Tate, Katherine. 2003. Black Faces in the Mirror: African Americans and Their Representation
in the U.S. Congress. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Hurwitz, Mark S., Roger J. Moiles, and David W. Rhode. 2000. "Distributive
and Partisan Issues in Agriculture Policy in the 104th House." American
Political Science Review 95: 911-922.
Nelson Polsby et al. 1969. "The Growth of the Seniority System in the House
of Representatives," American Political Science Review 63: 787-807
Wawro, Gregory J. and Eric Schickler. 2007. Filibuster: Obstruction and
Lawmaking in the U.S. Senate. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
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