American Political Parties
CMC Gov 123, Spring 2018
Tuesday and Thursday 11 AM - 12:15 PM Classroom:
Roberts South 105
J.J. Pitney -- Office:
232 Kravis
Telephone: 909/607-4224
Office Hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu 1:15-2:15
If
these times are inconvenient, please
make an appointment
Email:
jpitney@cmc.edu
General
In 1885, a political scientist named Woodrow
Wilson wrote: “Neither of the two principal parties is of one
mind with itself. Each tolerates all sorts of difference of creed
and variety of aim within its own ranks ... They are like armies
without officers, engaged on a campaign which has no great cause at its
back. Their names and traditions, not their hopes and policy,
keep them together.” Basic features of
the
American constitutional system -- federalism, bicameralism and the
separation of powers -- tend to fragment and disperse the lines of
party authority.Perhaps even more than in Wilson's time, American
parties are not strict hierarchies but loose networks of ordinary
voters, activists, and officeholders. In this respect, it is
important to examine several dimensions of American parties:
- Parties in the electorate (PIE);
- Party organization (PO);
- Partisan outside groups (POG);
- Party in government (PIG).
In
this course, we shall study all the multiple
dimensions of American political parties and consider what they mean
for democratic government. We shall also consider polarization, the
division between parties along ideological, personal, and even
cognitive lines. And we shall consider how the party system has changed over time.
Classes
Class sessions will include
lecture and discussion. Finish
each week's readings before class because our discussions will involve
those readings. We
shall also talk about breaking news stories about party politics, so you must read a good daily news source such
as Politico or
Real
Clear Politics.
Blog
Our
class blog is at
http://cmc-gov123.blogspot.com/.
I shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material
there. We shall use some of this material in class, and you
may review the rest at your convenience. You will
all receive invitations to post to the blog. (Please let me
know if you do not get such an
invitation.) I encourage you to use the blog in these ways:
-
To
post questions or comments about the readings before we
discuss them in class;
-
To
follow up on class discussions with additional
comments or questions.
-
To
post relevant news items or videos.
Remember
that that blog is on the open Internet. Do not post anything that
you would not an employer to see. If you want more confidentiality,
post to the forum on the class Sakai page.
Grades
The following will make up
your course grade:
- Three 4-page essays: 20% each
- One research paper: 25%
- Class participation, blog: 15%
Details
- The papers
will develop your research and writing skills, and test your comprehension of class materials
In grading your papers, I will take account of the
quality of your writing, applying the principles of
Strunk and
White’s Elements of Style. If
you object to this approach, do not take this course, or anything else
that I teach.
- The research paper
will give you an opportunity to delve into scholarly and primary sources.
- Class participation will hone your ability to think on
your feet, as I shall call on students at random.
If you often miss class or fail to prepare, your grade
will suffer. I shall use the cold
calls to judge how well you are keeping up with the material.
If
you object to this approach, do not take this course. I
also expect you to post relevant material to the blog. In April,
you will each make a very brief oral presentation on a topic of your choice.
- In
addition to the required readings (below), I may also give you handouts,
emails, and web links
covering current events and basic factual information.
- As a courtesy to your fellow students, please arrive on time and refrain from eating in class.
- Check due dates. Plan your schedule accordingly. Do not plan on extensions.
Plagiarism is not a victimless offense, because it hurts fellow students. Please study our Statement of Academic Integrity, which reads in part: "The
faculty of Claremont McKenna College is firmly committed to upholding
the highest standards of academic integrity. Each faculty member has
the responsibility to report cases of academic dishonesty to the
Academic Standards Committee, which has the duty of dealing with cases
of alleged academic dishonesty."
- If you have any questions related to Disability Support Services at Claremont McKenna College, please get in touch with disabilityservices@cmc.edu.
Required Books (make sure that you get the correct edition of each book.)
- James W. Ceaser, Andrew E. Busch, and John J. Pitney, Jr. Defying the Odds: The 2016 Elections and American Politics (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017).
- Marjorie Randon Hershey, Party Politics in America, 17th ed.. (New York: Routledge, 2017).
- Frances E. Lee, Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016).
- Steven E. Schier and Todd E. Eberly, Polarized: The Rise of Ideology in American Politics (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).
Schedule The schedule is subject to change,
with advance notice.
Jan 16, 18: Introduction
“A
zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning Government
and many other points, as well of speculation as of practice; an
attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence
and power, or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes have been
interesting to human passions, have in turn divided mankind into
parties ....”-- James Madison, Federalist 10.
Jan 23, 25: Ideology and the Two-Party System
"Look
at your houses, your parents, your wives, and your children. Are
you prepared to see your dwellings in flames, hoary hairs bathed
in blood, female chastity violated, or children writhing on the pike
and halberd?" -- Connecticut Courant, September 30, 1800, on what the election of Thomas Jefferson would bring.- Hershey, ch. 2.
- Schier, ch. 1.
- American
Political Science Association, "Toward a More Responsible
Two-party System. A Report of the Committee on Political Parties" (supplement to American Political Science Review 44, 3 (September, 1950)),http://www.uvm.edu/~dguber/POLS125/articles/apsa.pdf.
- William
F. Connelly, Jr., "Partisan, Polarized, Yet Not Dysfunctional?" Paper
prepared for delivery at the State of the Parties Conference, Akron,
Ohio,
November 7 – 8, 2013,
https://www.uakron.edu/dotAsset/9a154d5d-3e6a-4c51-b6d0-301dfba31b5e.pdf
Jan 30, Feb 1: Party Organization
"To
divide their county into small districts, and to appoint in each a
subcommittee, whose duty it shall be to make a perfect list of all the
voters in their respective districts, and to ascertain with certainty
for whom they will vote. If they meet with men who are doubtful as to
the man they will support, such voters should be designated in separate
lines, with the name of the man they will probably support." -- Abraham Lincoln, Whig circular, 1840
FIRST FOUR-PAGE ESSAY ASSIGNED BY FEB 1, DUE IN SAKAI DROPBOX BY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16.
READ STRUNK AND WHITE FIRST.
Feb 6, 8: Outside Groups
"And you can't talk to the campaigns directly. You can't coordinate with to them. But you can play bridge." -- Karl Rove
- Kenneth Vogel, Big Money (New York: Public Affairs, 2014), ch 4. On Sakai.
- Joshua Green, Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency (New York: Penguin, 2016), ch. 6-7. On Sakai.
- Alexander Hertel-Fernandez and Theda Skocpol, "How the Right Trounced Liberals in the States," Democracy 39 (Winter 2016).
Feb 13, 15: Party in the Electorate I
"What
that suspicion and cynicism produce is a huddling effect among
partisans. Convinced that the honest brokers simply don’t exist, they
tend to seek political sustenance from those who affirm their points of
view. They watch the same TV shows, listen to the same radio stations,
shop at the same places and live in the same neighborhoods as people
who believe like they do. Interactions with people with which they
disagree and entities like Congress or the news media dwindle." --Chris Cillizza
Feb 20, 22: Party in the Electorate II
"You are a Democrat. What's the matter with you? Are you wicked?" -- Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) in Lincoln
- Schier, ch. 2-3.
- Carroll Doherty, "The
Partisan Divide on Political Values Grows Even Wider," Pew Research
Center, October 5, 2017,
http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/10/05162647/10-05-2017-Political-landscape-release.pdf
- David Hopkins, Red Fighting Blue: How Geography and Electoral Rules Polarize American Politics
(New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017), ch. 2,
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/red-fighting-blue/solid-states-the-regional-bases-of-the-american-parties/EDB3371B3FC89C68F0F400A9BA73BBD2/core-reader. And on Sakai.
SECOND FOUR-PAGE ESSAY ASSIGNED FEB 22, DUE IN SAKAI DROPBOX BY FRIDAY, MARCH 9.
Feb 27, Mar 1: Nominations and Elections
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned . . ."
-- William Butler Yeats
Mar 6, 8: Finance
"We
are under no illusion that BCRA will be the last congressional
statement on the matter. Money, like water, will always find an
outlet." -- Justices Stevens and O'Connor in McConnell v. FEC
- Hershey, ch. 12.
- Michael E. Toner and Karen R. Trainer, "The $7 Billion Election," in Trumped, ed. Larry J. Sabato, Kyle Kondik, and Geoffrey Skelley (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017). On Sakai.
- Readings on current campaign finance, TBA.
Mar 13, 15: Spring Break
Mar 20, 22: Party in Government I
“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- Hershey, ch. 13.
- Schier, ch. 4.
- Lee, ch. 1-2
Mar 27, 29: Party in Government 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 - Schier, ch. 5
- Lee, ch. 3-5.
April 3, 5: Party in Government III
"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
- Lee, ch. 6-8.
- Hershey, ch. 14.
- Schier, ch. 6
RESEARCH PAPER DUE IN SAKAI DROPBOX BY FRIDAY APRIL 6
April 10, 12: The 2016 Campaign I
"Well, you'd be shocked if I said that in many cases I probably identify more as Democrat." -- Donald J. Trump, 2004
- Ceaser, ch. 1-3.
- Oral presentations
April 17, 19: The 2016 Campaign II
"I love the poorly educated." -- Donald J. Trump, 2016
- Ceaser, ch. 4-6.
- Oral presentations
THIRD FOUR-PAGE ESSAY ASSIGNED APR 17, DUE IN SAKAI DROPBOX BY MAY 1
April 24, 26: Appraisals I
“Always kick `em when they’re down.” -- Lee Atwater- Schier, ch. 7
- Lee, ch. 9
- Hershey, ch. 15
- Oral presentations
May 1: Appraisals II
Joe Cantwell: I don't understand you.
William
Russell: I know you don't. Because you have no sense of responsibility
toward anybody or anything. And that is a tragedy in a man, and it is a
disaster in a president. -- Cliff Robertson and Henry Fonda in The Best Man
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