Daniel Patrick Moynihan observed:  “Some . . .  deny the existence of evil and others the existence of grace.  The art of  politics is to live with the reality of both.”  With this comment in mind, we take a realistic overview of American politics.  This course aims to:

• Help you understand past and present political events.
• Lay the groundwork for further study of government.
• Sharpen your thinking, writing, and speaking.

In addition to providing general background on American politics, this course also emphasizes certain themes.  One is the continuing relevance of the Declaration of Independence.  Since 1776, Americans have argued about its meaning, particularly the phrase "that all men are created equal."   Another is the central role of religion in America political life.  Tocqueville said that religion is the first of our political institutions, and we shall ponder what he meant by that. A third is the meaning of citizenship and its connection to deliberation and community service. 

Some of the readings are provocative.  Do not assume that your professor agrees with everything in the readings, or that you need to do so.  Feel free to challenge anything you read, but back up what you say.

Classes
 

Classes will include lecture and discussion.  Finish the readings before class because our discussions will involve those readings.  We shall also talk about breaking news, so you must read a good news source such as the RealClearPolitics or Politico
 

Grades

The following will make up your course grade: 

• One 3-page essay 15%
• One 4-page research paper 20%
• One 6-page research paper 25%
• Final exam    25%

• Participation  15%

• The papers will develop your skills in writing, research, and political analysis.  When grading, I do take the quality of writing into account, applying the standards of Strunk and White.  If you object to this approach, do not take this course – or anything else that I teach.

• The final examination will test your comprehension of the readings.

• In addition to the required readings (below), I may also give you handouts and web links covering current events and basic factual information.  The final will cover this material.

• Participation includes your activity in class and online.   I will call on students at random, and if you often miss sessions or fail to prepare, your grade will suffer. In addition, you may volunteer comments and questions.  This experience will hone your ability to think on your feet.  I expect that you will post comments and other material online (see below).

• As a courtesy to your fellow students, please arrive promptly and refrain from eating in class.

• Carefully check the due dates for papers, as well as the date of the final exam.  Arrange your schedule accordingly.  Do not plan on seeking extensions or make-up work.

• Plagiarism will mean referral to the Academic Standards Committee.

Blog

Our class blog is at http://gov20h.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 the blog is on the open Internet. Post nothing that would look bad to a potential employer. If you want more confidentiality, post to the forum on the class Sakai page.

Required Books

• Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals (New York: Vintage, 1989).
• Danielle Allen, Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality (New York: Liveright, 2014).

• Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, The Federalist Papers (New York: Signet, 2003  [1788]).

• Charles Murray, Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010 (New York: Crown Forum, 2013).

• William Strunk and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 4th ed.  (New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1999).

• Alexis deTocqueville, Democracy in America, trans. George Lawrence, ed. J.P. Mayer (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, [1835/40]).  Please use the Lawrence/Mayer edition, which has gone through several printings. Other translations have different wording, which would cause confusion.

Schedule (Subject to change, with advance notice).

In addition to the readings below, I may also supply you with various handouts and Internet links.

Sept 2:  Introduction

"I have a lot of international friends - to them I ask, do you want to know what America is? It's this video. Where a black man and a band made up of Asian men perform a white woman's song so well that a lady in a hijab takes their card - all in front of an Italian restaurant and a waving American flag. I love this place!"  (See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG8Qo-paJ9M) -- Aseem Chipalkatti `15

• Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream," August 28, 1963.  For video, click here.

"A text without a context is a pretext." -- traditional saying in systematic theology

• Allen, prologue, Declaration of Independence,  ch. 1-24.

Sept 14, 16: Equality, Natural Law, and the Declaration

"Thomas Jefferson wrote the most important words in American history: `all men are created equal.' Jefferson was also a slave owner, which made him a hypocrite. But the fact that Jefferson was living a life that was at odds with his principles doesn’t invalidate and shouldn't weaken the principle; it only means that we, as fallen creatures, need to strive harder to live up to what we know to be right." -- Peter Wehner

• Allen, ch. 25-50, and epilogue.
• Fifth Lincoln-Douglas debate (excerpts), http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/pages/faculty/JPitney/lincdoug.html
• Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm
• John C. Calhoun, "Speech on the Oregon Bill," June 27, 1848, http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/oregon-bill-speech/   
• Alexander Stephens, "The Cornerstone Speech," March 21, 1861, http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?documentprint=76 
  

READ STRUNK AND WHITE FIRST!

Sept 21, 23:  Equality of Condition and American Civic Culture

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”  -- Not Alexis deTocqueville 

• Tocqueville, 9-20, 231-261, 277-315, 340-363, 525-530.
• Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address.
  

Sept 28, 30: Constitutionalism

• The Constitution, at Hamilton, 542-568.
• Hamilton, Federalist # 1, 8, 9, 10, 39, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51.
• Brutus, Antifederalist #1

October 5, 7: Congress and the Executive I

“Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after 10 years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who doesn’t see the difference.” -- Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) in House of Cards.

• Hamilton, Federalist # 57, 63.
• Tocqueville, 196-230.
• Newt Gingrich, Lessons Learned the Hard Way (New York; HarperCollins, 1998), excerpts on Sakai.
  
• Two chapters in The Evolving Congress, prepared by Congressional Research Service (Washington: GPO, 2014), 95-106. Online:  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CPRT-113SPRT89394/pdf/CPRT-113SPRT89394.pdf:
• Michael J. Koempel, "Being a Member of Congress"
• Mark J. Oleszek, "Collaborative Relationships and Lawmaking in the U.S. Senate."  

Oct 12, 14:  Congress and the Executive II

“The road to power is paved with hypocrisy, and casualties.”  -- Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) in House of Cards

• Hamilton, Federalist # 70, 71, 73
• Tocqueville, pp. 121-138, 690-695
• TR, Taft and Wilson on the presidency.
• Ronald Reagan, Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, March 8, 1983, http://www.bessettepitney.net/2014/10/evil-empire.html
• David Dreyer memo to Lloyd Cutler, June 24, 1994, http://www.bessettepitney.net/2014/10/a-1994-white-house-memo-great-handbook.html 
• Robert Gates, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War (New York: Knopf, 2014), excerpts on Sakai.
  

Oct 21: Law and the Courts

“What we can decide, we can undecide. But stare decisis teaches that we should exercise that authority sparingly. Cf. S. Lee and S. Ditko, Amazing Fantasy No. 15: ‘Spider-Man,’ p. 13 (1962) (‘[I]n this world, with great power there must also come — great responsibility’)."  -- Justice Elena Kagan

• Tocqueville, pp. 99-105, 262-276
• Federalist # 78.
  

Oct 26, 28: Power and Interest Groups I

"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters." -- Frederick Douglass

• Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, pages xiii-97.

• Tocqueville, pp. 189-195, 513-524.

Nov 2, 4:  Power and Interest Groups II

• Alinsky, pp. 98-196.
• Lee Fang, "Where Have All the Lobbyists Gone?" The Nation,  February 19, 2014,  http://www.thenation.com/article/shadow-lobbying-complex/

Nov 9, 11: Parties and Elections 

"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.

• Tocqueville, pp. 174-179, 196-203.
• Michelle Nunn 2014 campaign memo, at http://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/2014/09/235287519-2014-Michelle-Nunn-Campaign-Memo.pdf
• Jonathan Rauch, "Political Realism: How Hacks, Machines, Big Money, and Back-Room Deals Can Strengthen American Democracy,"  Brookings, May 2015, http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Reports/2015/04/political-realism-rauch/political-realism-rauch.pdf    

"I know that a lot of people have hoped and prayed for that moment. A lot of people have come from places where they, of course, did not have freedom. I can empathize with it. I know what they must feel. I retreat to my own moment, when I was given that. The oath of allegiance is very emotional to me— also the flag. I saw the flag going up where the swastika had been flying for years." -- Holocaust survivor Gerda Weismann Klein, reflecting on naturalization ceremonies.

• Martin Luther King, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/frequentdocs/birmingham.pdf
• Federalist # 84
• The Seneca Falls Declaration, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/senecafalls.asp
• Edwards v. Aguillard (482 U.S. 578 (1987)), http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1986/1986_85_1513/.

Nov 23, 25: Equality I

"As late as the 80s, California was democratic in a fundamental sense, a place for outsiders and, increasingly, immigrants—roughly 60 percent of the population was considered middle class. Now, instead of a land of opportunity, California has become increasingly feudal. According to recent census estimates, the state suffers some of the highest levels of inequality in the country. By some estimates, the state’s level of inequality compares with that of such global models as the Dominican Republic, Gambia, and the Republic of the Congo." -- Joel Kotkin

• Murray, prologue, ch. 1-2

Dec 1, 3:  Equality II

• Murray, ch. 3-9

Dec 8, 10:  Equality III

"Ultimately, equality of voice is the most important equality issue of all." -- Deborah Stone

• Murray, ch. 10-17.

 FINAL EXAM:  WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16 AT 9 AM