THE VERMONT POLITICAL SYSTEM

(POLS 123 A 92011 and VS 123 A 92103)

Fall 2006

Time:	Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:30 – 1:45 pm
Place:	Living/Learning CM 216
Professor	Frank Bryan
Tel:	802-656-0570
Office:	Room 503 Old Mill Building
Office Hours:	Tuesdays and Thursdays 8-9:30 a.m. and by appointment
Web Page:	http://www.uvm.edu/~fbryan
Email:	frank.bryan@uvm.edu
WebCT:	http://www.uvm.edu/webct

Examinations	Date	Weight
First Hour Test	Tuesday, Sept. 26	30%
Second Hour Test	Thursday, Oct. 26	30%
Final Exam	Friday, Dec. 15, 8:00 am	40%

TEXTS:

Frank Bryan and John McClaughry, The Vermont Papers

Frank Bryan and Bill Mares, The Vermont Owner’s Manual

Frank Bryan, Real Democracy: The New England Town Meeting and How it Works

Michael Sherman (ed.) Vermont State Government Since 1965 (on electronic reserve)

Plus assigned readings on reserve. Reserve readings are a key requirement of the course. Be sure to consult the readings list at the end of each section of lectures.

CLASSROOM PROTOCOL

1.	Students are expected to attend and be prepared for ALL regularly scheduled classes.
2.	Students are expected to arrive on time and stay in class until the class period ends. If a student knows in advance that s/he will need to leave early, s/he should notify the instructor before the class period begins.
3.	Students are expected to treat faculty and fellow students with respect. For example, students must not disrupt class by leaving and reentering during class, must not distract class by making noise, and must be attentive to comments being made by the instructors and by peers.
4.	Instructors will inform students of any special alterations to the syllabus.
5.	Students are expected to check their UVM and WebCT email for this course on a regular basis.

Introduction: This course treats the government and politics of the state of Vermont in the context of conceptual frameworks found in political science. It therefore has two goals:

1. To give the student a firm grounding in the governmental institutions and the political processes that make the Vermont political system work.

2. To deal with some of the "great questions" that political scientists seek to answer. Here the intent is to teach basic concepts by using Vermont as a case study.

To do this each section deals with one or more fundamental questions in political science and asks: What light does the Vermont experience shed on this question? Is what we have learned about any given general construct (by studying Vermont) particular to Vermont? Is it different elsewhere? In America at large? In other American states?

Obviously knowing the Vermont case thoroughly is essential. But it is equally essential to be able to think about Vermont in terms of what it teaches us about social science. Examples are:

· Does the coming of a two-party system in Vermont verify the hypothesis that competitive party systems are beneficial to the less fortunate in society?

· Does the proliferation of interest groups in Vermont since the 1960's bear out the hypothesis that as "special interest politics" grows in influence the power of democratically elected legislatures declines?

· Does Vermont's two-year term for governor support the hypothesis that longer terms for executives are more conducive to efficient government?

· Does the Vermont town meeting show that the founders were right when they warned about the dangers of direct democracy?

Method of Instruction: Lecture-Discussion.

LECTURES

Part I:	Vermont Politics in a Systems Context
	A. ". . . I shan't be gone long" Does the “real Vermont” exist?
	B. Living in the Backbeyond—Historical Footprints
	C. Above the “Optimum Climatic Area”–the Socio-Economic Setting
Required Reading:	Bryan & Mares, The Vermont Owner’s Manual
	Frank Bryan, “The Back Beyond” (on reserve)
	Duane Lockard, Vermont: Political Paradox (on reserve)
	Frank Bryan, The Vermont Papers, chapters 1-5
	IMPORTANT NOTE: At this time you should begin reading Real Democracy. More specific assignments on this reading will be made later in the syllabus. You will be tested on it in its entirety on the first hour test on September 26.
Suggested Reading:	Earle Newton, The Vermont Story
	Charles Morrissey, Vermont: A History
Part II:	The Constitutional Context—Constraints on Political Action
	A. Vermont in the Federal Matrix
	B. The Vermont Constitution
	C. Changing the Vermont Constitution
Required Reading:	Frank M. Bryan, “Reducing the Time Lock on the Vermont Constitution” Vermont History (Winter, 1976), pp. 38-47 (on reserve).
	Hill, in Sherman 17-30 (on reserve)
Suggested Reading	Murray Bookchin, The Vermont Constitution
Part III:	Political Socialization
	A. The Political Culture of Ruralism
	B. Country Mouse and City Mouse
	C. Technology and the Axioms of Conflict
Required Reading:	Frank Bryan, Politics in the Rural States–Introduction (on reserve)
	Frank Bryan, “How to Preserve the Vermont Character,” (on reserve).
	Porter and Terry, in Sherman 107-137 (on reserve)
Part IV:	Town Meeting
	A. The Town's Role in Vermont Politics
	B. The Nature of Town Meeting
	C. Patterns in Attendance and Participation
	D. What the Future Holds
Required Reading:	Real Democracy: The New England Town Meeting and How it Works
	Frank Bryan, The Vermont Papers, chapters 6-8
Suggested Reading:	Jane J. Mansbridge, “Town Meeting Democracy” in Peter Collier (ed.) Dilemmas of Democracy (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1976), pp. 148-177.
	John Guy LaPlante, “What Killed the Town Meeting.” Nation 180 (February, 1958), pp. 96-7.
	Andrew Nuquist, Town Government in Vermont (Government Research Center, The University of Vermont, 1964).
Part V:	Interest Groups, Parties and Elections
	A. The Changing Nature of Interest Group Politics
	B. The One-Party Era
	C. Breakthrough Politics
	D. Controlling Campaign Spending
Required Reading:	Bryan, in Sherman 53-76 (on reserve)
	Clark Bensen and Frank Bryan, “Strengthening Democratic Control: Vermont’s 1986 Election in Historical Perspective,” Vermont History (Fall, 1988). (on reserve)
	Graff, in Sherman 77-91 (on reserve)
	Supreme Court Case Randall, et al v. Sorrell, et al (on reserve)
	Bryan, Yankee Politics, “Party Politics in a Rural Setting” (on reserve)
Suggested Reading:	Bensen and Bryan (two other articles on the elections of 1984 and 1982, published in Vermont History, fall of 1985 and fall of 1983).
	Edward P. Brynn, “Vermont’s Political Vacuum of 1845-1856 and the Emergence of the Republican Party,” Vermont History 38 (1970), pp. 113-123.
	George T. Mazuzan, “Vermont's Traditional Republicanism vs. the New Deal: Warren R. Austin and the Election of 1934,” Vermont History39 (1971), pp. 128-141.
	Melvin S. Wax, “Vermont’s New Dealing Yankee,” Nation (1949) pp. 659-660.
Part VI:	The Legislature
	A. The Reapportionment Revolution
	B. Correlates of Voting 1947-1982
	C. The Politics of Innovation and Metamorphosis Denied
Required Reading:	Frank Bryan, “Pivot Point for Democracy,” (on reserve)
	Sanford and Doyle, in Sherman 31-52 (on reserve)
	IMPORTANT NOTE: The Vermont Papers, chapters 9-10, should be read for Parts VI -VIII
Suggested Reading:	Frank Smallwood’s Free and Independent (in paper) published by Stephen Greene press (1976) is the best account of legislative politics in Vermont. It is enjoyable reading and should be on the shelf of every serious scholar of the Vermont political process.
	Vic Maerki, “A Vermont House Gets Remodeled,” Reporter 33 (October, 1965).
	William J. Smith, “My Poetic Career in Vermont Politics,” Harper's Magazine 228 (January, 1964), pp. 54-62.
Part VII:	The Governorship
	A. The Governor in Comparative Perspective
	B. Ranking the Governors
Required Reading:	Fitzhugh, in Sherman 91-106 (on reserve)
Suggested Reading:	Frank Bryan, “The Governorship: People, Position, and Power” in Joseph Milbourn (ed.) New England Politics (on reserve)
Part VIII:	The Bureaucracy: Implementing Policy
	A. The Structure of Bureaucracy
	B. Overlays of Confusion
	C. Where is the buck, anyway?
Required Reading:	Douglas, in Sherman 137-156 (on reserve)
Part IX:	The Judiciary, Adjudicating Policy
	A. The Judicial System
	B. Choosing Judges
Required Reading:	Dooley, in Sherman 187-242 (on reserve)