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.  Historian Pauline Maier has called it "American Scripture," and since 1776, Americans have argued about its meaning.  Another is the central role of religion in America political life.  Tocqueville said that religion is the first of our political institutions.  We shall ponder what he meant by that.

Many 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 New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, or The Politico
 

Grades

The following will make up your course grade: 

Four 3-page essays	15% each
One sit-down final	30%
Class participation	10%

• 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 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.  I will call on students at random, and if you often miss sessions or fail to prepare, your grade will suffer. There is also a class blog: http://gov20h.blogspot.com.   I shall regularly post material on the blog (e.g., links that we shall discuss or have discussed in class).  During the semester, I expect each student to add at least four comments to the blog.  Although there will not be a separate grade for these comments, failure to take part will bring down your class participation grade.

• I also expect students to start a Fantasy Congress team.  The name of our class league is "CMC Gov 20H."  I shall provide you with the class code and class ID, and then you may pick your team by going to http://www.fantasycongress.com/edu.

• 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

• Saul D. Alinsky, Rules for Radicals (New York: Vintage, 1989).

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

• Samuel P. Huntington, Who Are We?  The Challenges to America's National Identity (New York:  Simon and Schuster, 2004).

• Larry J. Sabato, ed., The Sixth-Year Itch: The Rise and Fall of the George W. Bush Presidency (New York: Longman, 2007).

• 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 5:  Introduction

“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

• Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, at http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres32.html
• Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream," at http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Sept 10, 12:  Principles of the American Political Order

"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

• Declaration of Independence, at Hamilton, 528-532.
• Martin Luther King, “Letter from the Birmingham Jail," at http://www.thekingcenter.org/prog/non/letter.html
• Fifth Lincoln-Douglas debate (excerpts) at http://govt.cmc.edu/jpitney/lincdoug.html.
• Huntington, ch. 1-3.
• Alinsky, pp. 3-47.

FIRST ESSAY ASSIGNED SEPTEMBER 12, DUE SEPTEMBER 26.

READ STRUNK AND WHITE FIRST!

Sept 17, 19: The Constitution

"The Constitution affords all citizens life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Such values must not be limited to paper, but extend to public policy. Americans of all stripes pursue the constitutional rights to earn a living wage, to organize their labor, to have equal and high-quality public education; to have universal access to health care; to have unfettered access to capital, industry and technology; to have a government which protects the needy, rather than providing for the greedy." -- Rev. Jesse Jackson

• The Constitution, at Hamilton, 542-568.
• Charles Kesler, Introduction, in Hamilton, vii-xxi.
• Hamilton, Federalist # 9, 10, 31, 47, 48, 51.
• Anti-Federalist essays: 
•     Brutus #1, at http://www.constitution.org/afp/brutus01.htm;
•     Federal Farmer # 1, at http://www.constitution.org/afp/fedfar01.htm

Sept 24, 26:  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, 231-245, 277-315, 513-530.
• Huntington, ch. 4-6
• Alan Wolfe, "Native Son," Foreign Affairs May/June 2004, at http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501fareviewessay83311/alan-wolfe/native-son-samuel-huntington-defends-the-homeland.html

Oct 1, 3:  Citizenship, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights

"The main civil liberty I'm looking to protect is the 'me not getting blown up' one. I don't know if it's written down anywhere in Tom Paine's crib sheets, but that's my big one." -- Dennis Miller

• Hamilton, Federalist # 84
• Huntington, ch. 7-8
• Reread the interactive version of the Bill of Rights (along with Monk's phrase explanations) at http://www.constitutioncenter.org/explore/FoundingDocuments/BillofRights.shtml

SECOND ESSAY ASSIGNED OCT 3, DUE OCT 17

"It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." -- Louis Brandeis

• Bessette and Pitney, "Federalism"
• Hamilton, Federalist # 39, 45, 46
• Sabato, ch. 4, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27

Oct 15, 17: Opinion and the Media

"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

• Pew Center for People and the Press, "Public Knowledge of Current Affairs Little Changed by News and Information Revolutions
  What Americans Know: 1989-2007," April 15, 2007 at http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=319
• Take the “Where Do You Fit?” test at http://people-press.org/fit/
• Tocqueville, pp. 180-188, 246-261.
• Sabato, ch. 7, 8.
• Alinsky, pp. 48-97

Oct 24:  Interest Groups

"If implemented, this agreement will do more to promote Enron's business than will almost any other regulatory initiative outside of restructuring of the energy and natural gas industries in Europe and the United States ...This agreement will be good for Enron stock!!" -- Enron executive John Palmisano, on the Kyoto Protocol

• Tocqueville, 188-195, 503-528.
• Huntington, ch. 9-10.
• Ben Adler, "Inside the Higher Ed Lobby," Washington Monthly, June 2007, at http://www2.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.adler.html

Oct 29, 31: Parties and Elections I

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization." -- Howard Dean

• Tocqueville, 174-179.
• Sabato, ch. 1, 6, 15, 19
• Go to http://www.fundrace.org/neighbors.php and discover which federal candidates got contributions from your neighbors.

THIRD ESSAY ASSIGNED OCT 31, DUE NOV 14

Nov 5, 7: Parties and Elections II

"At the end of one of my favorite movies, `The Bridge on the River Kwai,' the doctors simply say `madness.' Just as madness was the running theme of the movie, recent public polls indicate that it aptly describes the obscene level of partisanship in American politics today." -- Donna Brazile 

• Tocqueville, 196-203.
• Play the Redistricting Game at http://redistrictinggame.org
• Sabato, ch. 2, 3, 5, 17
• Michael Uhlmann, "Direct Popular Election of the President," at http://www.ashbrook.org/articles/electoralcollege-directpopular.html
• National Popular Vote -- FAQs, at http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/npv/

Nov 12, 14:  Congress

“If forced to tell the truth, most members of Congress would acknowledge that they did not fully or, in many cases, even partially read these bills before casting their votes." -- Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA)

• Tocqueville, 497-500
• Hamilton, Federalist # 57, 63.
• Play "How a Member Decides to Vote" at http://congress.indiana.edu/learn_about/launcher.htm
• Bessette and Pitney, "Congress"

Nov 19, 21:  The Presidency

“Sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue is 18 acres of sheer utopia, and like Utopia it can be isolated from reality quickly." -- Karl Rove

• Hamilton, Federalist # 70, 71, 73
• Tocqueville, pp. 121-138.

• "The Gulf of Tonkin 1964," at http://tapes.millercenter.virginia.edu/exhibits/tonkin/

• "A Day in the Life of the President," at http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/exhibits/daylife/dayinthe.htm

FOURTH ESSAY ASSIGNED NOVEMBER 19, DUE DECEMBER 3.

Nov 26, 28:  The Executive Branch and Public Policy

"The budget should be balanced. Public debt should be reduced. The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered, and assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt." -- Not Cicero

• Tocqueville, pp. 690-695.

• The 9/11 Commission Report, ch. 1( http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm)

• The 9/11 Commission Report, ch. 11 (http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch11.htm)

• IRS, "Understanding Taxes" at http://www.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/jsp/s_student_lessons.jsp; student tutorials at http://www.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/jsp/s_student_tutorials.jsp; and one of the simulations at http://www.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/jsp/s_student_simulations.jsp

Dec 3, 5:  Judiciary

"I was convinced that the law compelled a result that I would have opposed if I were a legislator." -- Justice John Paul Stevens, explaining why he backed decisions with "unwise" outcomes.

• Hamilton, Federalist # 78.

• "Understanding the Federal Courts," at http://www.uscourts.gov/understand03/

• Tocqueville, pp. 99-105, 261-276.

• Edwards v. Aguillard (482 U.S. 578 (1987)) at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=482&invol=578.

Dec 10, 12:  Political Warfare and the Future of American Politics

"Anger is more useful than despair."-- Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Terminator 3

• Alinsky, 98-196.

• Huntington, ch. 11-12.

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