Daniel Patrick Moynihan has 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.

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 New York Times, the Los Angeles Times or
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/

Grades

The following will make up your course grade: 

• Two 3-page analytic essays  15% each

• One research assignment   25%

• One sit-down final  35%

• Class participation  10%

• The essays will develop your writing and analytic ability.  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 research assignment will polish your ability to work the library and the Internet.

• The final examination will test your factual knowledge and 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.

• Class participation will hone your ability to think on your feet.  This grade hinges on class discussions and short written exercises.  I will call on students at random, and if you often miss sessions or fail to prepare, your grade will suffer.

• 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.

Required Books

• Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, The Federalist Papers (New York:
  Mentor, 1999 [1788]).

• Theodore J. Lowi and Benjamin Ginsburg, American Government: Freedom and Power, 6h ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 2000).

• Chris Matthews, Hardball, rev. ed. (New York:  Touchstone, 1999).

• 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 (Garden City, New York:  HarperCollins, 1969 [1835/40]).
   

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 5, 7:  Introduction

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.”
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Martin Luther King, introductory material & “I Have a Dream,” at
  http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

Sept 10, 12, 14:  Principles of the American Political Order

“Whatever interests the rest interests me ... politics, churches, newspapers, schools...”-- Walt Whitman

• Federalist # 31
• Declaration of Independence, at http://www.founding.com/declare/index.cfm
• Matthew Spalding, “Independence Forever,” at http://www.heritage.org/library/backgrounder/bg1451.html
•  Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., “Harrison Bergeron,” at http://www.crosslink.net/~jbloom/harrison.html
• Tocqueville, 31-60. (In Reeve trans, chapter 2, chapter 3, and chapter 4
• Fifth Lincoln-Douglas debate (excerpts) at http://academic.mckenna.edu/jpitney/lincdoug.html

“My political curiosity, exclusive of my anxious solicitude for the public welfare, leads me to ask who authorized them to speak the language of We, the People instead of We, the States?” -- Patrick Henry

• Federalist # 1, 9, 10, 47, 48, 51.
•  Lowi & Ginsburg, ch. 1-2
• The Constitution (in Lowi & Ginsburg).

•  

Sept 24, 26, 28:  Federalism

“Well there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn’t advise you to try to invade.”
-- Humphrey Bogart, in Casablanca

• Federalist # 14, 37, 39, 45, 46.
• Lowi and Ginsburg, ch. 3.
• Take the survey at http://www.ncsl.org/public/trust/trustsurvey.htm and compare your responses with national results.  

Oct 1, 3, 5: American Citizenship

“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 on association (188-195, 503-528), on public spirit (231-245), on majority tyranny (246-276)
• Walter Berns, excerpt from Making Patriots, at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/044378.html

“THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.”
-- The X-Files 

• Tocqueville, 277-315, 442-458, 528-530.
• Bessette & Pitney, "Religion and Popular Culture"

Oct 14, 16, 18: Public Opinion and News Media

Emily:  “Really, Charles, people will think ...”
Kane:  “What I tell them to think.”
-- Orson Welles, Citizen Kane 

• Tocqueville, pp. 180-188
• Lowi & Ginsburg, ch. 9, 13.
• Take the “Where Do You Fit?” test at http://www.people-press.org/fit/fit.htm

Oct 24, 26: Elections

“Are you prepared to see your dwellings in flames, hoary hairs bathed in blood, female chastity violated, or children writhing on the pike and the halbert?”
-- An anti-Jefferson editorial, September 3, 1800 

• Lowi & Ginsburg, ch. 10
• Tocqueville, 196-203
• Federalist  # 52, 68

SECOND THREE-PAGE ESSAY ASSIGNED OCT 26, DUE NOV 5

Oct 29, 31, Nov 2: Parties and Interest Groups

“The interests—the violent, extremist interests in this country that are trying to keep health care out of the reach of ordinary American working people are a disgrace to the American Dream.”
-- President Clinton, 1994 

• Tocqueville, 174-179
•  Lowi & Ginsburg, ch. 11,12.

Nov 5, 7, 9:  Congress

“When one enters the House of Representatives at Washington, one is struck by the vulgar demeanor of that great assembly.”
-- Tocqueville 

• Federalist # 55, 57, 58, 59, 62, 63.
• Tocqueville, 497-500.
• Lowi and Ginsburg, ch. 5.

Nov 12, 14, 16:  The Presidency and Bureaucracy

“Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:

‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’”

• Federalist # 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 72.
• Tocqueville, pp. 121-138, 205-230, 690-695.
• Lowi & Ginsburg, ch. 6, 7.

Nov 19, 21:  Judiciary

“And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you—where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?  This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast—man’s laws, not God’s—and if you cut them down ... d’you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?”
-- Thomas More, in Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons 

• Federalist # 78.
• Tocqueville, pp. 99-105.
• Lowi and Ginsburg, ch. 8.

District Attorney:  “Where does it say that you have the right to kick down doors, torture  

            suspects, deny medical attention and legal counsel? Where have you been? Does

            Escobedo ring a bell? Miranda? Why surely you've heard of the Fourth Amendment?

            What I'm saying is that man had rights.”
Dirty Harry: “Well, I'm all broken up over that man's rights.” -- from Dirty Harry

• Edwards v. Aguillard (482 U.S. 578 (1987)).
• Federalist # 84
• Lowi and Ginsburg, ch. 4.

Dec 3, 5, 7:  The Art of Political Warfare I

“Beware the politically obsessed.  They are often bright and interesting, but they have something missing in their natures; there is a hole, an empty place, and they use politics to fill it up.”
-- Peggy Noonan

• Matthews, ch. 1-7.

Dec 10, 12, 14:  The Art of Political Warfare  II

“We’re not Spartans, we’re Americans! With a capital ‘A,’ huh? And you know what that means? Do you? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world!”
-- Bill Murray, in Stripes

• Matthews, ch. 8-14.

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