CLASS CALENDAR

NOTE: All content—including reading materials and the dates assigned for guest speakers—is subject to change.

I.  POLITICS AS SCIENCE / SCIENCE AS POLITICS 

Monday, August 31 – Relevance and the Social Sciences

• No reading assignment.

 Wednesday, September 2 – The State of the Discipline

In the fall of 2000, an anonymous and disgruntled political scientist sent an e-mail to a small group of colleagues, signed with the pseudonym “Mr. Perestroika.”  As Susanne Hoeber Rudolph explained later in a book describing the “raucous rebellion in political science” that followed, the memo “excoriated the APSA and its flagship journal, the American Political Science Review (APSR), for irrelevance, technicism, statistical obsession, third-class economics, domination by East Coast white males, and oligarchical practices…” (Monroe, 2005: 12).

To explore the contours of this debate, read the original e-mail HERE, then select one or more of the following to discuss in class:

• Jonathan Cohn, “Irrational Exuberance: When Did Political Science Forget about Politics?” The New Republic (October 25, 1999): 25.

• Rogers M. Smith, “Should We Make Political Science More of a Science or More about Politics?” PS: Political Science and Politics, 35 (June 2002): 199-201.

• David Laitin, “The Perestroikan Challenge to Social Science,” Politics and Society, 31 (2003): 163-184.

• Robert D. Putnam, “APSA Presidential Address: The Public Role of Political Science,” Perspectives on Politics, 1 (2003): 249-255.

• Kristen Renwick Monroe, ed., Perestroika! The Raucous Rebellion in Political Science (2005): Introduction and Chapters 1-2.

• Ian Shapiro, The Flight From Reality in the Human Sciences (2005): Introduction and Chapter 5.

• Alan Wolfe, “Reality in Political Science,” The Chronicle of Higher Education (November 4, 2005): B19.

• Peter N. Ubertaccio and Brian J. Cook, “Wilson’s Failure: Roots of Contention about the Meaning of a Science of Politics,” American Political Science Review, 100 (November 2006): 573-578.

Friday, September 4 – Putting Problems First

• Harold Lasswell, Politics: Who Gets What, When, How (1935).

• Kenneth Waltz, Man, the State, and War (1959)

• Theodore White, The Making of the President (1960)

• Robert Dahl, Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City (1961)

• Richard Neustadt, Presidential Power: The Politics of Leadership (1962)

• Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations (1963)

• V.O. Key, The Responsible Electorate (1966)

• G. William Domhoff, Who Rules America? (1967)

• Samuel P. Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies (1968)

• Graham T. Allison, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1971)

• David R. Mayhew, Congress: The Electoral Connection (1974).

• James Q. Wilson, Thinking About Crime (1975)

• Richard Fenno, Home Style: House Members in their Districts (1978)

• Samuel P. Huntington, Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996)

• Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone (2000)

• Joseph Nye, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (2004)

• Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, Nudge (2008)

Monday, September 7 – Labor Day

• Class will not meet.

II.  TRUST IN GOVERNMENT

For Democrats, the question is whether this moment is more like 1932—the dawn of the New Deal era and long-term progressive dominance—or more like 1992—prelude to loss of the Congress to Republican control… [t]the answer will depend on whether President-elect Barack Obama and the expanded congressional majority succeed in restoring public trust in government. If he does, he will have the political authority to enact broad swaths of his agenda; if he does not, his political fortunes could be fleeting.

—Bill Galston and Elaine Kamarck, The Third Way (November 2008) 

Wednesday, September 9 – Trust and Why It Matters

• Arthur C. Brooks, “Why Obama’s Ratings Are Sinking,” The Wall Street Journal (August 17, 2009).

• Gary Wills, A Necessary Evil (1999): Introduction, Chapter 9, and Conclusion.

• Marc Hetherington, Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism (2005): Chapters 1-2, 7-8.

Friday, September 11 – What Citizens Want

• Mark Schmitt, “Letting the People In,” The American Prospect (August 12, 2009).

• John R. Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, Stealth Democracy: Americans’ Beliefs about How Government Should Work (2002): Chapters 1, 4-6.

• William A. Galston and Elaine C. Kamarck, “Change You Can Believe in Needs a Government You Can Trust,” The Third Way Middle Class Program (November 2008): 1-33.

Monday, September 14 – News That Matters

• Sarah Palin, “Statement on the Current Health Care Debate” (August 7, 2009).

• Howard Kurtz, “Journalists, Left Out of the Debate,” The Washington Post (August 24, 2009).

• Shanto Iyengar and Donald R. Kinder, News That Matters: Television and American Opinion (1987): Chapters 1, 3, and 7.

Wednesday, September 16 – The People and the Press

• The Pew Research Center, “Audience Segments in a Changing News Environment” (August 17, 2008).

• Cass Sunstein, Republic.com (2001): Chapter 1, “The Daily Me."

III.  INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS

…[A] wiser West Wing ought to have seen this train wreck coming. For months polls have shown a huge gap between the popularity of the president and the unpopularity of his policies. Sooner or later, one of these had to give.

— William McGurn, “Saving the Obama Presidency: Obama Needs to Move to the Right,” The Wall Street Journal (August 24, 2009).

Friday, September 18 – Setting the Agenda

• “Remarks of President Barack Obama—Address to Joint Session of Congress” (February 24, 2009) AND “GOP Response to President Obama’s Address” (February 24, 2009).

• Jeffrey M. Jones, “Domestic Priorities Top Americans’ To-Do List for Obama,” The Gallup Organization (January 19, 2009).

• The State of the News Media: An Annual Report on American Journalism” (2009).

Monday, September 21 – The Perils of Bipartisanship

• Steven Stark, “Too Representative Government,” The Atlantic Monthly (May 1995).

• Jonathan Chait, “What’s So Great About Bipartisanship?” The New Republic (January 15, 2001): 17.

• Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, The Broken Branch: How Congress is Failing America and How it Get it Back on Track (2006): Chapter 1, pp. 1-13.

• David R. Mayhew, "Is Congress the Broken Branch?" Boston University Law Review, 89 (2009): 357-369.

Wednesday, September 23 – Class Visit (Professor Garrison Nelson)

• Garrison Nelson, The Austin-Boston Connection: Leadership in the U.S. House (2009): Chapters 1 & 9, plus other included material.

Friday, September 25 – Presidents and the Power of Persuasion

• Michael Link, “Obama, You're No Machiavelli,” Salon.com (August 18, 2009).

• Gene Healy, “The Cult of the Presidency,” Reason (June 2008).

• Richard Neustadt, Presidential Power: The Politics of Leadership (1962): Chapters 3-5.

• Samuel Kernell, Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership, 4th edition (2006): Chapters 1, 4.

Monday, September 28 – The Limits of Likeability

• Robert B. Reich, “The Limits of Likeability,” The American Prospect, August 17, 2009.

• William McGurn, “Saving the Obama Presidency: Obama Needs to Move to the Right,” The Wall Street Journal (August 24, 2009).

Wednesday, September 30 – Class Visit (Professor John Burke)

• John P. Burke, "The Obama Presidential Transition: An Early Assessment," Presidential Studies Quarterly, 39 (2009): 574-604.

Friday, October 2 – Playing Politics with the Court

• Dahlia Lithwick, “Sotomayor in 60 Seconds: A Guide to the Confirmation Hearings,” Newsweek (July 20, 2009).

• James McGregor Burns, Packing the Court: The Rise of Judicial Power and the Coming Crisis of the Supreme Court (2009): Prologue, Chapters 1-2 & 12, Epilogue.

Monday, October 5 – Class Visit (Professor Lisa Holmes)

• Lisa M. Holmes, “Why “Go Public”? Presidential Use of Nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, 38 (2008): 110-122.

IV.  POLICY INERTIA

President Obama's collision with reality continues apace today, as his signature initiatives hit snags—or what Nancy Pelosi calls "the legislative process"—on a variety of fronts.

—Ben Pershing, “As Obstacles Abound, Obama Dismisses ‘Cynicism,’” The Washington Post (June 19, 2009)  

Wednesday, October 7 – Health Care

• Transcript, “Remarks by the President at the Annual Conference of the American Medical Association,” June 15, 2009.

• Transcript, “News Conference by the President,” July 22, 2009.

• Jonathan Cohn, “Diagnosis: Inertia,” The New Republic, August 18, 2009.

Friday, October 9 – Fall Recess

• Class will not meet.

Monday, October 12 – Class Visit (Professor Bert Rockman, Purdue University)

• Terry M. Moe, "The Revolution in Presidential Studies."

• Bert A. Rockman, "Does the Revolution in Presidential Studies Mean 'Off with the President's Head?'"

Wednesday, October 14 – Class will not meet

• No reading assignment.

Friday, October 16 – Class Visit (Professor Alex Zakaras)

• Alex Zakaras, “Expensive Speech, Illegitimate Power: Corporations and Free Expression” (2009).

Monday, October 19 – Learning from Harry and Louise

• Theda Skocpol, Boomerang: Health Care Reform and the Turn against Government (1997): Introduction and Chapters 1, 5-6.

• Atul Gawande, “Getting There from Here: How Should Obama Reform Health Care,” The New Yorker (January 26, 2009). 

Wednesday, October 21 – Energy Policy

• Transcript, “Obama speech on Energy Plan, Lansing, Michigan, August 4, 2008.”

• Matthew C. Nisbet, “Communicating Climate Change: Why Frames Matter for Public Engagement,” Environment (March-April 2009): 12-23.

• Susanne C. Moser and Lisa Dilling, “Making Climate Hot: Communicating the Urgency and Challenge of Global Climate Change,” Environment (December 2004): 32-46.

Friday, October 23 – Class Visit (Professor Bob Bartlett)

• Walter F. Baber and Robert V. Bartlett, Global Democracy and Sustainable Jurisprudence: Deliberative Environmental Law (2009): Chapter 1.

Monday, October 26 – Civil Rights

• “Remarks by the President at LGBT Pride Month Reception” (June 29, 2009).

• Dan Gilgoff, “It’s Slow Going on Gay Rights Issues for Obama,” U.S. News and World Report (June 23, 2009).

• John Cloud, “Obama, the Gay Marriage Flip-Flopper,” Time (August 19, 2009).

Wednesday, October 28 – The Battle Over Same-Sex Marriage

• Gerald N. Rosenberg, The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?, 2^nd edition (1991): Chapter 1.

• Thomas M. Keck, "Beyond Backlash: Assessing the Impact of Judicial Decisions on LGBT Rights," Law & Society Review, 43 (2009): 151-185.

Friday, October 30 – Class Visit (Professor Ellen Andersen)

• Ellen Ann Andersen, “The Gay Divorcée: The Case of the Missing Argument.” In, Queer Mobilizations: LGBT Activists Confront the Law, edited by Scott Barclay, Mary Bernstein, and Anna-Maria Marshall (2009).

V.  AMERICA ABROAD

[E]ach nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable, and more successful than governments that do not.

—Barack Obama, Speech to Ghana's Parliament, July 11, 2009

Monday, November 2 – The Democratic Peace

• John M. Owen IV, “Iraq and the Democratic Peace,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 2005).

Wednesday, November 4 – Promoting Democracy:  Iraq and Beyond

• James Traub, The Freedom Agenda: Why America Must Spread Democracy (Just Not the Way George Bush Did) (2008): Introduction, Chapters 5-6, 9.

Friday, November 6 – Class Visit (Professor Greg Gause)

• F. Gregory Gause, III, The International Relations of the Persian Gulf (forthcoming 2010): Chapter 6.

VI.  REINVIGORATING THE PUBLIC SPHERE

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes we can.

—Barack Obama, speech following the New Hampshireprimary, January 8, 2008

 

Monday, November 9 – Class Visit (Professor Alec Ewald)

• Alec C. Ewald, The Way We Vote: The Local Dimension of American Suffrage (2009): Chapter 4.

Wednesday, November 11 – Class Visit (Professor Frank Bryan)

• Frank Bryan, Real Democracy: The New England Town Meeting and How It Works (2003): Preface, Chapters 1-2, 12.

Friday, November 13 – Class Visit (Professor Patrick Neal)

• Assorted material.

VII.   STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

Student presentations—based on the seminar papers you prepare—are scheduled for Monday, November 16 through Monday, December 7.

VIII.   POLITICS AS SCIENCE REDUX

Wednesday, December 9 – Concluding Remarks

• No reading assignment.