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: 

• One 2-page analytic essay 10%
• One 3-page analytic essay 15%
• Two research assignments 15% each
• One sit-down final   30%
• Class participation  15%

• 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 assignments 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

• Daniel J. Boorstin, ed., The American Primer (New York:  Meridian, 1995).

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

• John J. Pitney, Jr., The Art of Political Warfare (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2000).

• 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

“A new national survey released today at a US Senate hearing shows that when asked, more American teenagers can name three of the Three Stooges than can name the three branches of government (59% to 41%)” -- http://www.constitutioncenter.org/sections/news/releases/teen.asp
 

• Federalist # 31
• Boorstin 83-93 (Declaration of Independence), 336-359 (Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”), 376-384 (Seneca Falls Declaration)
• Martin Luther King, “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” at http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/
• 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

“In our Constitution we have the right to pursue happiness; we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” -- Barbara Boxer, 5/18/99.  

• Boorstin, 101-170 (The Constitution)
• The 25th, 26th, and 27th Amendments, at http://supreme.findlaw.com/constitution/index.html (Read text and annotations.)
• Federalist # 1, 9, 10, 47, 48, 51.

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

• Boorstin, 258-273 (McCulloch v. Maryland), 696-709 (Plunkitt of Tammany Hall)
• Federalist # 14, 37, 39, 45, 46.
• National Conference of State Legislatures, The Case for Representative Democracy: What Americans Should Know About Their Legislatures, at http://www.ncsl.org/public/trust/casefront.htm
• 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)
• Boorstin, 451-455 (oaths), 477-482 (Lazarus, “New Colossus”)
• The “Bowling Alone” debate:  Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone:  America’s Declining Social Capital,” Journal of Democracy 6 (January 1995): 65-78, at http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/journal_of_democracy/v006/putnam.html; Everett Carll Ladd, “Bowling with Tocqueville: Civic Engagement and Social Capital,” American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research September 15, 1998, at http://www.aei.org/bradley/bl091598.htm.

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

• Tocqueville, 277-315, 442-458, 528-530.
• Boorstin, 26-35 (John Winthrop, “A Modell”), 238-245 (Jacob Henry, “On Religion and Elective Office), 399-404 (“Battle Hymn of the Republic”), 435-440 (Gettysburg Address), 441-445 (Lincoln’s Second Inaugural), 751-761 (Rauschenbusch, “Prayers of the Social Awakening”).
• Richard Parker, “Progressive Politics and, uh . . . God,” The American Prospect, January 17, 2000, at http://www.prospect.org/print/V11/5/parker-r.html
• John Podhoretz, “The Liberal Imagination,” The Weekly Standard, March 27, 2000.
•  

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
• Frank Newport, Lydia Saad, David Moore, “How Polls Are Conducted,” at http://www.gallup.com/poll/faq.asp
• Take the “Where Do You Fit?” test at http://www.people-press.org/fit/fit.htm
• Ruckus Society Media Manual, at http://ruckus.org/man/media_manual.html

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 

• Tocqueville, 196-203
• Federalist  # 52, 68
• Boorstin, 533-541 (People’s Party Platform), 593-604 (Bryan, “Cross of Gold”)
• Eric Fischer, "Voting Technologies in the United States," Congressional Research Service, March 21, 2001, at http://www.cnie.org/nle/rsk-55.html

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
• Take the long form of the “road test” at http://www.destinationdemocracy.org.
• Look up the campaign contributions of a nonpolitical celebrity (e.g., Steven Spielberg) at http://www.tray.com/fecinfo. (Go to “Look Up Contributors by Name”)
• Bessette and Pitney, “Political Parties” and “Interest Groups”

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.
• Bessette and Pitney, “Congress”

Nov 12, 14, 16:  The Presidency and Bureaucracy

“Respect my authority!” – Eric Cartman

• Federalist # 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 72.
• Tocqueville, pp. 121-138, 205-230, 690-695.
• Boorstin, 230-237 (Jefferson First Inaugural), 862-870 (FDR First Inaugural), 937-943 (JFK Inaugural).
• Fill out tax forms for hypothetical taxpayer at http://www.irs.gov

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.

“Our constitution is color-blind.”
-- John Marshall Harlan 

• Edwards v. Aguillard (482 U.S. 578 (1987)).
• Federalist # 84
•  Boorstin, 171-188 (Bill of Rights and Civil War amendments), 685-695 (Holmes dissents in Lochner and Abrams), 927-936 (Brown v. Board of Education) 944-955 (LBJ on voting rights).

THREE-PAGE ESSAY ASSIGNED NOV 26, DUE DEC 5

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

• Pitney, ch. 1-5.

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

• Pitney, ch. 6-10.

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