THE VERMONT POLITICAL SYSTEM
(POLS 123 A 11555 and VS 123 A 11258)
Spring 2005
Time: |
Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays 12:20 – 1:10 pm |
Place: |
Lafayette
100 |
Professor |
Frank
Bryan |
Tel: |
802-656-0570 |
Office: |
Room 540
Old Mill Building |
Office Hours: |
Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays 8-11 am, and by appointment |
Web Page: |
|
Email: |
|
WebCT: |
Examinations |
Date |
Weight |
First Hour Test |
Friday, February 18 |
20% |
Second Hour Test |
Friday, April 1 |
20% |
Paper Due |
Friday, April 22 |
40% |
Final Exam |
Tuesday, May 10, 4 pm |
20% |
TEXTS:
Frank Bryan and John McClaughry, The Vermont Papers (on
electronic reserve)
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.
TOWN MEETING DAY ACTIVITY (Required) Saturday, February 26 (limited number available); Monday night February 28; Tuesday day March 1; Tuesday evening March 1 (limited number available).
Attendance at class Friday, February 25 and
Monday, February 28 is mandatory.
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. Instructor
will inform students of any special additions.
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, individualized projects (optional) and a
"participant observer" town meeting project.
Writing Assignment: Town
Meeting Paper (10-15 pages) Some library research required plus self-generated
town meeting data.
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
Bryan
& McClaughry, The Vermont Papers–Chapter
3
Frank
Bryan, “The Back Beyond” (on reserve)
Duane Lockard: Vermont:
Political Paradox (on reserve)
Note: Bryan & McClaughry, The Vermont Papers Parts I and II should
be read before the first hour test.
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: Frank
M. Bryan, Real Democracy: The New England
Town Meeting and How it Works needs
to be read in its entirety before the second hour test.
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. 96-97.
Andrew Nuquist, Town Government in
Vermont (Government Research Center, The University of Vermont, 1964).
Frank M. Bryan, “Town Meeting Still Supported in Vermont,” National Civic Review (July, 1972), pp.
348-351.
Part V: Interest Groups,
Parties and Elections
A. The Changing Nature of
Interest Group Politics
B. The One-Party Era
C. Breakthrough Politics
D. New Patterns in the Election
Fabric
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)
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)
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: Frank
Bryan, “The War on Wanda’s: Aging,
Regulatory Policy, and the Public Interest, A Case Study” (video on reserve)
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)