I.  INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

Tuesday, January 15:  American Politics Appraised

• No reading assignment.

II.  THE FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Thursday, January 17: “A More Perfect Union”

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 1.
• The Constitution of the United States (reproduced in Magleby, et al.).
• James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers:  Nos. 10 & 51 (reproduced in Magleby, et al.).

Tuesday, January 22: How (Not) to Read the Constitution

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 2.
• Howard Zinn (1987), “A People’s Constitution:  Some Truths are Not Self-Evident,” The Nation, 245: 87-88.

Thursday, January 24: American Federalism

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 3.
• Pamela Winston, et al. (2006), "After Katrina: Federalism After Hurricane Katrina."

  ^{QUIZ #1: Thursday, January 24}

Tuesday, January 29:  Freedom of Speech and Dissent

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapters 4 & 15.
• The Bill of Rights (In, Magleby, et al.).
• "Code of Students Rights and Responsibilities," The University of Vermont.
• John Leo (2007), "Free Inquiry? Not on Campus," City Journal, Winter.

Thursday, January 31:  Religion and the Separation of Church and State

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 15 (continued).
• Jon Meacham (2007), "A New American Holy War," Newsweek, December 17.

Tuesday, February 5:  The Right to Privacy

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 16.
• Katherine Mangu-Ward (2007), "Is Privacy Overrated?" Reason, January 9.

Thursday, February 7:  The Death Penalty

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 16 (continued).
• Adam Liptak (2007), "Does the Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate," The New York Times, November 18.

 ^{QUIZ #2: Thursday, February 7}

III.  LINKAGE INSTITUTIONS

Tuesday, February 12:  Measuring Public Opinion

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 8.
• Chris Suellentrop (2000), “Why Online Polls are Bunk, Slate, January 12.

Thursday, February 14:  Voter Registration and Turnout

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 8 (continued). 
• Jeff Jacoby (1996), “Making It Too Easy to Vote?” The Boston Globe, July 18: A15 .

Tuesday, February 19:  Voting Behavior

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 8 (continued). 
• Patricia Cohen (2007), "Counseling Democrats to Go for the Gut," The New York Times, July 10.

Thursday, February 21:  Political Parties in Theory and Practice

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapters 5 & 7.
• Kurt Andersen (2006), “Introducing the Purple Party,” New York, April 17 [online].
• Ryan Lizza (2006), “But is a Third Party Possible?” New York, April 17 [online].

Tuesday, February 26:  Is the Party Over? Third Parties and Party Decline

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 7 (continued).

Thursday, February 28:  Interest Groups

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 6. 
• Ann Reilly Dowd (1993), “How to Get Things Done in Washington,” Fortune, 128 (3): 60-62.

  TOWN MEETING DAY:  Tuesday, March 4

Thursday, March 6:  The News Media

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 10.
• Jacob Weisberg (2001), “War and Commentary,” Slate, October 3.

 ^{QUIZ #3: Thursday, March 6}

  ^{SPRING BREAK:   March 10-14}

IV.  INSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT

Tuesday, March 18:  Congress as a Representative Body

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 11.
• Ross K. Baker (2002), “Why Your Vote Often Means So Little,” The Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2002: 11.

   ^{MIDTERM EXAM: Thursday, March 20}

Tuesday, March 25:  Congress as a Lawmaking Body

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 11 (continued).
• John R. Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse (1998), “Too Much of a Good Thing: More Representative is Not Necessarily Better,” PS: Political Science & Politics, 31 (1): 28-31.

Thursday, March 27:  Presidential Powers

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 12.
• Noah Feldman (2006), "Who Can Check the President?," The New York Times, January 8.

Tuesday, April 1:  Electing the President

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 12 (continued).
• Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins (2001), “Who Should Elect the President?  The Case Against the Electoral College,” National Civic Review, Summer 2001: 173.

Thursday, April 3:  The Rise of the Bureaucratic State

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 13. 
• Roberta Lynch (1994), “Can Markets Govern?” The American Prospect, December 1.
• Charles R. Kesler (2002), “Is Big Government Back?” National Review, May 14.

Tuesday, April 8:  The Courts and Judicial Review

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 14. 
• James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers: No. 78 (reproduced in Magleby, et al.).

Thursday, April 10:  The Least Dangerous Branch?

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 14 (continued).
• Christopher Shea (2007), "Supreme Downsizing," The Boston Globe, October 7.

    ^{QUIZ #4: Thursday, April 10}

V.  POLITICS AND PUBLIC POLICY

Tuesday, April 15:  Social Welfare Policy

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 19 (continued).
• Ron Haskins and Isabel V. Sawhill (2007), "Using Carrots and Sticks," The American Prospect," April 22.

Thursday, April 17:  Social Security

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 19 (continued).
• Century Foundation, “Social Security Reform: The Basics” (skim).

Tuesday, April 22:  Health Care

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 19 (continued).
• Paul Starr (1995), “What Happened to Health Care Reform?”  The American Prospect, no. 20: 20-31.

Thursday, April 24:  Economic Policy and the Budget

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Chapter 18.
• Office of Management and Budget, "Budget of the United States Government, 2007" (browse).

 ^{QUIZ #5: Thursday, April 24}

VI. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Tuesday, April 29:  American Democracy Imperfectly Realized

• Magleby, et al. (2006):  Epilogue.

    ^{FINAL EXAM:  Thursday, May 8 at 3:30 PM}