PS360 - Parties and Voting Behavior Syllabus
Essay is worth 100 points. Write on one of these topics. The essay should be a paper of approximately 2½ to 4 normal, honest pages in length. Be sure to properly cite all source material, including regular class readings. If you quote from something I wrote on the Forum, that's fine, but be sure to cite which Forum item it is (with author, title of Forum article, and date of its posting). It's A-OK to use the assigned reading as sources on all papers and assignments; in fact, I actively encourage it. Same for anything I have written on our Forum.
Due: W, Oct. 4, by class time in print form. I'm gone to Austin for the wedding until Wednesday, October 4, so you'll have plenty of time to work on this and polish it. I'm therefore extra hopeful of a batch of A and high B results. I strongly prefer a printed document, so if you need a last-minute printer, go to the second floor of Crisp Hall for their small university lab. If you cannot avoid missing the class, then send the document to rdrenka@semo.edu.
1. The median voter theorem says power-seeking candidates of the two major parties will converge on the ideal position of the median voter. But in the real world of American elections, we witness lots of failure to do that. First, explain why convergence is presented as an expectation. Failure to do so is labeled as divergence. Using the evidence, cite what candidates actually do in the context of recent and contemporary American national elections (for president, or for seats in the Congress). What reasons are given by Morton for any divergence that occurs?
2. Morton in Ch. 5 asks whether there is a "war between the states," and firmly denies that there is. What evidence is there to affirm that ideological polarization now exists at the political leadership level (high elected offices) in America? What evidence is there to show that polarization on important issues prevails among the rank and file voting public in America? Is elite polarization coming from polarization among the rank and file?