Emergency Changes

Because of the emergency, I am revising the syllabus for the second half of the course. Note some changes.

First, because oral presentations might be tough for those with uncertain Internet connections, you will instead simply do blog posts about your research papers (example here: http://cmc-gov123.blogspot.com/2018/04/mckenzie-oral-presenation.html). Even aside from these posts, I encourage you to step up your use of the blog as a form of class participation. There will be a great deal to think about in the weeks ahead, and the blog will be a good vehicle for sharing thoughts and information.

Second, because the Congress simulation is now going to be a much shorter class exercise via Zoom, we will not have witnesses or administration officials. I regret that participation will no longer be an option for this course.

Third, I have reorganized the schedule (scroll down).

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the research assignment

Pick one:

• Appraise President Trump's performance as leader of the Republican Party.  What are his goals for the party?  In light of political and institutional constraints, how well has he done?
• Analyze the use of "message votes" (Lee, ch. 6) in 2018 and 2019. What challenges and opportunities faced each party in each chamber?  Who used these votes most successfully?  And how would you know that a message vote has succeeded?
• Pick any state legislature.  Has it become more or less polarized over the past decade?  Why?
• I may think of others!  Keep an eye on this space.  You may also write on another topic of your choice, subject to my approval.

The specifications:

• Essays should be typed (12-point), double-spaced, and no more than six pages long. I will not read past the sixth page. Please submit papers as Word documents, not pdfs.
• Cite your sources. Please use endnotes in the format of Chicago Manual of Style. Endnotes do not count against the page limit. Please do not use footnotes, which take up too much page space. 
• Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you. Return essays (in Word format) to the Sakai dropbox for this class by 11:59 PM, Friday, April 17. Papers will drop one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.

========================================================================

Mar 31, Apr 2:  Party in Congress I

"On ordinary legislative matters, most members of Congress don’t think anymore. They just follow whatever they’re told by their leadership."  -- Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI)

• Lee, ch. 1-4

Apr 7, 9:  Party in Congress II"This is a Washington, D.C. kind of lie. It's when the other person knows you're lying, and also knows you know he knows." - Henry Fonda in Advise & Consent

• Lee, ch. 5-9.

Apr 14, 16:  Party in the States I 

"So, I am to receive thirty percent for finance, for legal protection and political influence. Is that what you're telling me? I said that I would see you because I had heard that you were a serious man, to be treated with respect. But I must say no to you and let me give you my reasons. It's true I have a lot of friends in politics, but they wouldn't be so friendly if they knew my business was drugs instead of gambling which they consider a harmless vice." -- Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) in The Godfather  

• Hershey, ch. 13-14.
• Grossmann, ch. 1-2 

RESEARCH PAPER DUE IN SAKAI DROPBOX BY FRIDAY APRIL 17

THIRD 4-PAGE ESSAY ASSIGNED APR 17, DUE IN SAKAI DROPBOX BY MAY 6

 Apr 21, 23:  Party in the States II

“Democrats are...the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller and get the chickweed out of your lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it.” -- P.J. O’Rourke

• Grossmann, ch. 3-6

April 28, 30:  Appraisal and Reform I
 

“We're like a Third World country when it comes to some of our election practices.” – Donna Brazile
 

• Hershey, ch. 15
• Lee Drutman, "The Case for Proportional Voting," National Affairs, Winter 2018, https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-case-for-proportional-voting.
• Elaine Kamarck, “The Urgent Need for Peer Review in the Presidential Nominating Process,” Brookings, October 29, 2019, https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/bigideas/the-urgent-need-for-peer-review-in-the-presidential-nominating-process/
• Other readings TBD by consultation with class.

 May 5: Appraisal and Reform II

“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.” – C.S. Lewis

• Hershey, ch. 16.