I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

Monday, August 29:  American Politics Appraised

• Thomas E. Mann (2014). “Admit It, Political Scientists: Politics Really is More Broken Than Ever.” The Atlantic (May 26).

II. THE FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Wednesday, August 31: “A More Perfect Union”

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Introduction and Chapter 1.
• The Constitution of the United States.
• James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers: Number 10 & Number 51.

Friday, September 2: How (Not) to Read the Constitution

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 2.
• Michael Tomasky (2014). “Who Are the Judicial Activists Now?” The Daily Beast (October 7).

  LABOR DAY HOLIDAY: Monday, September 5

Wednesday, September 7: A Legacy under Attack

• Sanford Levinson (2006), “It Is Time to Repair the Constitution’s Flaws," The Chronicle of Higher Education, 53: B10.
• Howard Zinn (1987), “A People’s Constitution:  Some Truths are Not Self-Evident,” The Nation, 245: 87-88.

Friday, September 9: American Federalism

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 3.
• Emma Roller and David Weigel (2013), "Give Me Amendments or Give Me Death," Slate (December 10).

  ^{QUIZ #1: Friday, September 9}

Monday, September 12: Freedom of Speech and Dissent, part 1

• The Bill of Rights.
• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 14.
• Robyn E. Blumner (2005), “Free Speech is Bad Words, Too,” St. Petersburg Times, January 23.

Wednesday, September 14: Freedom of Speech and Dissent, part 2

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 14 (continued).
• Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt (2015). “The Coddling of the American Mind.” The Atlantic (September).
• Sonja West (2013), "Censorship 101: What Schools are Really Teaching Students when we let them Censor their Speech," Slate (December 6).
• "Code of Students Rights and Responsibilities," The University of Vermont.

Friday, September 16: Religion and the Separation of Church and State, part 1

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 14 (continued).
• Edward F. Harrington (2005), “The Metaphorical Wall,” America, 192 (January 17): 10.

Monday, September 19: Religion and the Separation of Church and State, part 1

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 14 (continued).

Wednesday, September 21: The Right to Privacy

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 14 (continued).
• Mark R. Levin (2005), “Death by Privacy,” National Review, March 14.
• Daniel J. Solove (2011), “Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have ‘Nothing to Hide,’” The Chronicle of Higher Education May 15.

 Friday, September 23: Capital Punishment

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 15.
• John Paul Stevens (2010), "On the Death Sentence," New York Times Review of Books (December 23).

 ^{QUIZ #2: Friday, September 23}

III.  LINKAGE INSTITUTIONS

Monday, September 26: Measuring Public Opinion

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapters 4 and 7.
• Shedon R. Gawiser and G. Events Witt, "20 Questions a Journalist Should Ask About Poll Results," National Council on Public Polls.

Wednesday, September 28: Governing by Public Opinion

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 7 (continued).
• Joshua Green (2002), "The Other War Room," Washington Monthly, April: 11-16.

Friday, September 30: Voter Registration and Turnout

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 7 (continued). 
• Jeff Jacoby (1996), “Making It Too Easy to Vote?” The Boston Globe, July 18: A15 .

Monday, October 3: Voting Behavior

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 8. 
• Matthew Robinson (2002), “Party On, Dudes,” The American Spectator, March/April.

Wednesday, October 5: The Two-Party System

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 6.
• Michael Lind (2016), "This is What the Future of American Politics Looks Like," Politico (May 22).

Friday, October 7: Third Parties

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 6 (continued).
• Ezra Klein (2014), "A Third Party Won't Fix What's Broken in American Politics," Vox (December 8).

  FALL RECESS: Monday, September 10

Wednesday, October 12:  Interest Groups

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 5. 
• Lee Drutman (2015), "How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy," The Atlantic (April 20).

Friday, October 14: PACs and the Role of Money in Politics

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 5 (continued).
• Floyd Abrams and Burt Neuborne (2011), "Debating 'Citizens United,'" The Nation, January 13.

Monday, October 17: The News Media

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 9.
• Paul Starr (2010), “Governing in the Age of Fox News,” The Atlantic, January/February.

 ^{QUIZ #3: Monday, October 17}

Wednesday, October 19: Exam Review

• No reading assignment.

   ^{MIDTERM EXAM: Friday, October 21}

IV.  INSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT

Monday, October 24: Congress as a Representative Body

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 10.
• 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. 

Wednesday, October 26: Congress as a Lawmaking Body

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 10 (continued).
• Todd S. Purdum (2010), "The Audacity of Nope," Vanity Fair (October).

Friday, October 28: Responsiveness without Responsibility? 

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 10 (continued).
• Lee H. Hamilton (2004), “The Case for Congress,” The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Fall): 12-17.

Monday, October 31: Presidential Powers

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 11.
• Garrett Epps (2009), “The Founder’s Great Mistake,” The Atlantic, January/February.
• Todd S. Purdum (2010), "Washington, We Have a Problem," Vanity Fair (September).

Wednesday, November 2: Electing the President

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 11 (continued).
• Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins (2001), “Who Should Elect the President?  The Case Against the Electoral College,” National Civic Review, Summer 2001: 173.

Friday, November 4: Campaigning vs. Governing

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 11 (continued).
• Binyamin Appelbaum and Michael D. Shear (2016), "Once Skeptical of Executive Power, Obama Has Come to Embrace It," The New York Times (August 15).

Monday, November 7: The Rise of the Bureaucratic State

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 12. 
• Roberta Lynch (1994), “Can Markets Govern?” The American Prospect, December 1. 

Wednesday, November 9: Post-Election Discussion

• To be determined.

Friday, November 11: The Courts and Judicial Review

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 13. 
• James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers: No. 78.

Monday, November 14: The Court as Politician

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 13 (continued). 
• Howard Bashman (2002), “Poll-Tergeist: Why the Supreme Court Shouldn’t Care What You Think,” Slate.

Wednesday, November 16: The Least Dangerous Branch?

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 13 (continued).
• Laurence Tribe (2012), “Chief Justice John Roberts’s Ruling Restores Faith in the Court’s Neutrality," The Daily Beast, June 28 [online].

    QUIZ #4: Wednesday, November 16

V.  POLITICS AND PUBLIC POLICY

Friday, November 18: Social Welfare Policy, Part 1

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 17.

 THANKSGIVING RECESS:  November 23-27

Monday, November 28: Social Welfare Policy, Part 1

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 17.
• Alana Semuels (2016), "The End of Welfare as We Know It," The Atlantic (April 1).

Wednesday, November 30: Social Security

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 17 (continued).
• Jim Tankersley (2012), "Who Destroyed the Economy? The Case against Parasitic Baby Boomers," The Atlantic (October 5).

Friday, December 2: Health Care, part 1

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 17 (continued).
• Margot Sanger Katz (2015). “No, Giving More People Health Insurance Doesn’t Save Money.” The New York Times (August 5).

Monday, December 5: Health Care, part 2

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 17 (continued).
• Sarah Kliff (2016), "Is Obamacare Failing?" Vox (August 24).

Wednesday, December 7:  Economic Policy and the Budget

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Chapter 16.
• James K. Galbraith (2010), “In Defense of Deficits,” The Nation, March 4.
• Fred Barbash (2011), “What They Don’t Know about the Deficit,” CQ Weekly (June 11).

 ^{QUIZ #5: Wednesday, December 7}

VI. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Friday, December 9: American Democracy Imperfectly Realized

• Magleby, et al. (2016): Conclusion: "Sustaining Constitutional Democracy."
• Paul Krugman (2014). “When Government Succeeds.” The New York Times (November 16).

   ^{FINAL EXAM: Monday, December 12 from 9:25-10:15 AM in Lafayette Hall, room 108}