POLI 320, Govt and Politics of the United States

American Federal Government

POLI 320, Summer 2001
Michael D. Martinez, Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia

Click here for Final Exam Grades!

Course Description and Requirements

What is political power, and how concentrated is it in the United States? What is political culture, and how do the political cultures of the United States and Canada differ? How resistant to change is the United States Constitution, relative to other national constitutions? What influences the level of political participation in the United States? Why is the United States still stuck with the College Without Knowledge, which made George Bush the 43rd President, even though Al Gore got more votes from real people? Did Ralph Nader take more votes away from Gore than Gore took away from Nader? If more people favor gun control than oppose it, why is the NRA so powerful? Are there really "two presidencies", and, if so, will that help or hurt Bush? Just how unusual was the Supreme Court case of Bush vs. Gore?

We will address these and other questions through a survey the structural foundations, political linkage institutions, and governmental institutions in the United States. Our discussions will include some historical references, comparisons and contrasts to other countries' political systems (including Canada's), and comment on current developments. By the end of the course, students should have a basic understanding of the U.S. political system that will enable them to understand the choices that are (and are not) offered to the American people and to be able to critically evaluate claims about the U.S. political system using empirical evidence.

Course Requirements and Grades

First Essay (Monday, July 30)	25%
Second Essay (Tuesday, August 7)	25%
Final Exam (Friday, August 10)	40%
Discussion	10%
Total	100%

Grades will be assigned according to the Grading Practices guidelines in the UBC Calendar.

Essay and Exams

All essays and exams will cover lecture, readings, completed assignments, and The New York Times articles discussed in class. The second exam and the final exam will emphasize material covered in the second and third parts of the course, respectively, but will build on material previously covered.

On July 27 and on August 3, I will circulate an essay question which will require students to synthesize material covered during that week's lecture, discussion, and readings. Responses to that question (which should be the equivalent to 3 pages double spaced text) will be due at the beginning of the next class period (July 30 and August 7).

The final exam will have a similar essay question, in addition to a series of true-false justify short-answer questions.

Other Assignments

Occasionally, I will ask students to spend a few minutes during class or outside of class writing. Assignments may be based on assigned readings, students' personal experiences, and access to the internet sites linked to this page or the webBOOK. I do assume that all students enrolled in this class have access to a computer, and that you can use email and access the internet. Some of these "free writes" will be turned in for a grade, some will be turned in for attendance only, and some will not be turned in but used as a basis for discussion in lecture.

I have two pet peeves. The first and most important is plagiarism. The University setting promotes the exchange of ideas, and that makes the University an exciting place to work and study. The theft of others' work violates the trust between all of us. If you plagiarize in my class, I will seek the harshest remedies available from UBC.

The second is the misuse of apostrophes in possessives and plurals. If you commit this sin, I won't try to have you expelled, but your paper might have teeth marks (and a grade penalty) when I return it to you.

Required Readings

Theodore J. Lowi and Benjamin Ginsberg. American Government: Freedom and Power. New York: W. W. Norton. Sixth Edition. ISBN 0-393-97471-5 UBC Bookstore just ordered this book, and hopes it will arrive July 25.

webBook is a companion website for this text. It provides links to websites associated with each topic, student activities, and quizzes.

Seymour Martin Lipset. 1989. Continental Divide: The Values and Institutions of the United States and Canada. Toronto: C.D Howe Institute. ISBN 0-88806-240-0. Lipset is a leading proponent of the American exceptionalism thesis, and argues that different values in the American and Canadian political cultures coincide with the political institutions in each. This book is out of print. It is on reserve for another course in the Koerner Library, and copies may be available in local used bookstores. Assigned chapters will be made available in a coursepack.

Other readings from The Brookings Review, The Atlantic Monthly, The American Prospect, and other sources are available online

Some of our discussion will be interpretations of current developments in the American political process, so occasionally I will assign articles from The New York Times. Subscription to the internet edition of the Times is free at present. Other readings will be accessible online through links on this webpage.

Office Hours

Mondays thru Thursdays

1:15 - 2:15 p.m

I will not hold office hours on any day on which class is cancelled.

Students are welcome to send questions to my email address, mmartine@interchange.ubc.ca

My Home University and Department

Other Political Science Classes on the Net

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Thanks for visiting the homepage for this class! If you are enrolled in the class, and would like to introduce yourself electronically, feel free to drop me an email (mmartine@interchange.ubc.ca).
Last updated: 23 July 2001

	Topics	Readings
July 23	Introduction to the Course: Are we separated by a Continental Divide?	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 1
July 24	Framing the Constitution: Horizontal fragmentation	Read: Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 2 and Federalist No. 51 (Lowi and Ginsberg, pp. A34-36) John P. Roche. (1961). "The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action." American Political Science Review 55 (4, December), pp. 799-816. Bruce G. Kauffmann (1997). "James Madison: "Godfather of the Constitution." The Early America Review 2 (1, Summer).
July 25	Federalism: Vertical fragmentation	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 3 Federalist No. 39 McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) Martha Derthick. 2000. "American Federalism: Half-Full or Half-Empty?" Brookings Review 18 (1, Winter): 24-27. Richard P. Nathan and Thomas L. Gais (2001). "Federal and State Roles in Welfare Is Devolution Working? Brookings Review 19 (3, Summer): 25-29.
July 26	Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: Can Free Speech Hurt?	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 4 Reno v. ACLU (1997) (optional)Marshall (1998). Will Free Speech Get Tangled in the Net? The American Prospect. Texas v. Johnson (1989)
July 27	Political Culture: Who governs and why?	Lipset (1989). Continental Divide. Chapters 1, 2, 5, 11, 12. Gary Burtless. 1999. "Growing American Inequality: Sources and remedies." Brookings Review 17 (1, Winter): 31-35. Alan Wolfe. "The Power Elite Now" The American Prospect.
July 30	Congress: Can 535 people represent and govern simultaneously?	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 5 Sarah A. Binder. 2000. "Going Nowhere: A Gridlocked Congress." Brookings Review 18 (1, Winter): 16-19. Steven Stark. (1995). "Too Representative Government." Atlantic Monthly. Rough Ride in House: G.O.P. Hustles on Patients' Rights (NYT July 27) "In the House, He's the Man in the Middle, and Loving It" (NYT July 30)
July 31	Presidency: Why were "The Two George Bushes" Time's Men of the Year?	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 6 Steven Stark. "The First Postmodern Presidency." Atlantic Monthly. "Teamsters May Stall Bush Goals for Mexican Trucks and Trade" (NYT July 30)
August 1	Executive Branch: Is the Bureaucracy tyrannical?	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 7 Woll, "Constitutional Democracy and Bureaucratic Power" in Woll, American Government E.J. Dionne, Jr. 2001. "'Political Hacks' v. 'Bureaucrats': Can't Public Servants Get Some Respect?" Brookings Review 19 (2, Spring): 8-11.
August 2	Judiciary: What Am I? A Potted Plant?	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 8 Marbury v Madison (1803) Bryden "A Conservative Case for Judicial Activism"
August 3	Public Opinion: Fundamental Values and not-so-fundamental beliefs	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 9 and 13 E.J. Dionne. 2000. Why Americans Hate Politics: A Reprise. Brookings Review 18 (1, Winter): 8-11. Robert J. Blendon, et al. 1999. "The 60s And the 90s: Americans' Political, Moral, and Religious Values Then and Now." Brookings Review 17 (2, Spring): 14-17. Beatty (2001) "Prime Time Propoganda" Atlantic Monthly
August 3	Media: Lackeys for the System or Lefty Pinkoes?
August 6	B.C. Day Holiday
August 7	Political Parties: Why two?	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 11 Michael Lind (1992). "A Radical Plan to Change American Politics". Atlantic Monthly. Robin Toner (NYT, Dec 27, 2000). "Revival Helps Mask a Party's Flaws" Democratic Party , Republican Party , Green Party , Reform Party
August 8	Mass Participation and Elections: Who votes? Who gives? Who protests?	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 10 Robert Putnam (1996). "The Strange Disappearance of Civic America." The American Prospect. Sidney Verba et al. (1997). "The Big Tilt: Participatory Inequality in America." The American Prospect.
August 9	Interest Groups: Did Madison's plan work?	Lowi and Ginsberg, Chapter 12 and 17 Federalist No. 10 (Lowi and Ginsberg A30-34) Confessore (2000). Lost Causes. The American Prospect. Schlozman (1984). What Accent the Heavenly Chorus? Journal of Politics
August 10	Review and Epilogue: "A Republic, if you can keep it."	Lowi and Ginsberg, Epilogue (optional) Anthony King (1997). "Running Scared" Atlantic Monthly. Anthony Lewis (1999). The Prosecutorial State: Criminalizing American Politics. The American Prospect.
August 10	Final Examination	Regular classroom