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PS360 Syllabus - Political Parties and Voting Behavior
Professor Russell Renka - Fall 2002

Introduction
PS360 Course Books and Readings
Course Requirements
Course Expectations
Journal Resources
Reaching me
Weekly Topics and Readings

Introduction                              Next down; Top           

            This course addresses topics at the very core of the practice of American democratic politics:  the behavior of voters and non-voters, the creation and maintenance of political parties, and the conduct of competitive elections for public office.  These are not separate topics, for parties are essential in every democracy (but not in non-democracies) to running elections and governing the polity.  Parties are currently regarded with great suspicion by most middle-class Americans, yet we have found no alternative to them.

             First up is why political parties are essential parts of a democracy.  We start with answers to that, emphasizing the peculiar 160-year American tradition of having just two national political parties with a realistic chance for each to elect a President and control the national Congress.  It is fairly unusual among democracies to do this, as we shall see.  We take a comparative look at party systems (contrasting American to foreign systems) and a historical one (evaluating past American party practices).  We distinguish parties from interest groups, political factions, and political coalitions.  We look at parties as organizations, which run elections, including the complicated American national primary system.  We look at the strange current system of financing parties and candidates.  We look directly at national and state elections, with intensive review of recent national results including the bizarre doings last year in Florida.  We study voters and nonvoters, together with the business of polling by which we learn about it.   We look at parties-in-government, as the central organizing entity of the national legislature and most state assemblies.  Finally, we look closely at the current and future relevance of political parties in the American polity.

Course Books and Readings:             Next down; Top

The text, at Textbook Service, is:  Maisel, L. Sandy.  1999.  Parties and Elections in America:  The Electoral Process.  3d edition.  Lanham, MD:  Rowman & Littlefield.   In the Itinerary, this is labeled "Text."  {For more on the book, see Sandy Maisel's Parties and Elections in America.}

The reader, available at Southeast Bookstore, is:  Cohen, Jeffrey E., Richard Fleisher, and Paul Kantor.  2001.  American Political Parties:  Decline or Resurgence?  Washington, D.C.:  Congressional Quarterly Press.  In the Itinerary, this is labeled "Reader."

Additional readings come from reserve readings at Kent Library, website materials, journal articles, and occasional in-class handouts.

PS360 Course Requirements          Next down; Top

One can earn up to 1000 credit points in the course.  These divide among four categories:
            600 points - three exams worth 200 points each
            200 points - term paper
            100 points - classroom assignments, roundtables
            100 points - Bulletin Board

Examinations :  Each examination has two 100-point sections.  First is an in-class objective type of exam consisting of multiple-choice questions derived from readings and class lecture/discussion (100 points).  Second is a take-home essay of some two and a half to three pages on a specified topic (also 100 points).  The final is not comprehensive; rather, it is really exam no. 3 on the third and last section of the course.  Total valuation of exams is 600 points.

Term Paper (200 points) :  Follow the "ten and ten" rule:  a term paper should be an honest 10-pager with ten or more sources.   Shorter papers and those with few sources are typically the result of casual or last minute efforts.  No one could use that approach to successfully perform in a play, run well in a distance race, maintain a great love relationship, or rise to a new and higher job in the work world.  Neither can a good paper be written that way.   I expect you to select a topic and clear it with me.  You can start this at any time not later than times outlined below.  Here are dates for steps toward completion of the term paper:
             °Monday, September 16 (start of Week 5):  due date for topic selection
            °Monday, October 14 (Week 9):  deadline for topical outline plus sources (with a minimum of ten separate sources).
            °Monday, November 18 (Week 14):  deadline for submitting drafts (I will review and amend a draft if you choose to turn one in.  This is not required and does not involve a grade, but is just about guaranteed to make for a better final paper!)
            °Monday, December 2:  final paper deadline (Seem far away?  It really isn't!)

In-class assignments - 2000 Election and Florida election dispute (100 points):   We're going to reconstruct what happened in the 2000 presidential election.  We'll hold class forums in Week 12 in November where each of you will have prepared a very brief presentation on some aspect of this strangest of elections.  For readings on this, see Week 12 in the Itinerary, or click on Florida and Election 2000.  I will also include an essay question based on this event as part of the third exam.  Value of Florida Forum participation:  100 points.

Forum participation (100 points):  Everyone should read the Forum and make periodic postings there.  This site will include material I covered in class, and any related political or public happenings and news.  It's an ideal place to post queries about what lecture or readings are about.  I'll inventory participation and periodically post it on an entry slot in GradeA gradebook.  Credit applies only to meaningful participation, that is, saying something that contributes to furtherance of a conversation on one or more appropriate topics.    Board Value is 3 points per meaningful posting, up to 100 points total .

Gradebook posts interim grades and the eventual course grade on line, to let you keep up with your assignments and grades.  Your Username is your Social Security number.  You get that and a default password mass-mailed to your Southeast e-mail account at the start of class.  Since you probably use personal e-mail only, you might miss this message unless you link from Southeast e-mail to your Personal E-Mail so any message sent to Southeast e-mail reaches your personal e-mail.  Also, Change Student Password and E-Mail lets you install a new e-mail account, and lets you change that default password to something of your choice.  Both go to my Online Instructor Suite file, so I will get them--but they stay strictly sequestered there for no one else to see.

PS360 Course Expectations:                 Next down; Top

Attendance:  Attend all class sessions unless there's a valid reason to miss, including personal illness, ill or injured child, death in immediate family, motorcycle wreck, full blown Midwestern blizzard, reopening of the Florida vote count, or any New Madrid Fault disturbance of 6.0 or greater on Richter Scale.  That does not include:  incredibly hot concert in St. Louis last night, Cardinals playing Cubs at home, or winsome call from a POSSLQ seeking affection.

We often use class discussion for short writing assignments and/or assignments to find relevant information from journals, the library, or websites.  Some of these are impromptu, and it’s often difficult or impossible to compensate by asking later that I email you the assignment details.  Use email or telephone voice mail to advise me if you will miss or have missed class.  On being late:   just come on in.  I don’t encourage deliberate lateness, but traffic, weather, and professors in earlier classes all can cause you to arrive at six after the hour.

  On plagiarism: You should review the Student Handbook on the problem of plagiarism.  Most of you are familiar with the chronic problem of someone passing off another’s work as his or her own, yet it still crops up with distressing regularity.  I cannot accept any work except your own.  In academic circles, proper recognition of authorship is the coin of the realm.  We are all required to maintain the currency.  Distinguish what’s yours from what is borrowed from and attributed to someone else.  See More about Plagiarism from Dr. Dennis Holt; or to illustrate what this sin's about, see Danke Schoen, Mr. Las Vegas from Anna Quindlen at Newsweek.

Journal and On-line Resources:                   Next down; Top

    The best work on political parties and elections is in the broadly defined political science journals.  These are filled with articles on topics relevant to us.  Among these are American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, American Politics Quarterly, and Political Research Quarterly.  Also see Parties and Elections.  Access the first three of these via JSTOR Journals Browser for Political Science at JSTOR Journals Browser#Political Science .  You'll find nine major journals there.

     Among monthly magazine journals, nuts-and-bolts practice of politics by campaign professionals is shown in Campaigns and Elections.  Weekly journals of considerable value for regular Washington watchers are Congressional Quarterly Weekly (for stuff from the Hill, chiefly), and National Journal (especially useful for stuff “downtown” in the executive agencies and White House).  All are on Kent Library's open shelves.

    For on-line resources, see my PS360 Links - Russell D. Renka. 

Reaching me:              Next down; Top

    I have an open door policy, and I normally lurk very near my office computer in Room 211L of the Department of Political Science office suite on Floor 2 of the Carnahan (Social Science) Building.  You can leave messages for me there if I am absent.   In general, I can be reached as follows:
        a) Leave a message at my Department mailbox or with the department office.
        b) Leave a message at the drop outside my door at Carnahan 211L.
        c) Place a voice mail message at (573)651-2692.
        d) Email me at rdrenka@semo.edu.
        e) If you’re out of town and cannot send a paper or assignment by email, then FAX it to 573/651-2695.
        f) Consult my website at Home Page (or http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/renka) for other details about myself and my courses, including this syllabus.

PS360 Weekly Topics and Readings - Fall 2002                      Top

°Master Calendar - click at upper left corner for Academic Calendar

Week 1 - August 19-23, 2002              What are parties? Why are they essential in democracies?
        ° Maisel text (Text), Ch. 1 - Elections and Political Parties, pp. 2-28
        °Jeffrey E. Cohen and Paul Kantor, The Place of Parties in American Politics, Reader Introduction, pp. 1-8

Week 2 - August 26           Creation and growth of the American two-party system
Note:  I will miss class on Wednesday and Friday due to participation in the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association.  We'll discuss some out-of-class work for that period, once class is started.
        °Text Ch. 2 - The Development of the American Parties, pp. 30-63
        °Website source review
        °Comparative perspective on parties in democracy

Week 3 - September 4, 6      Political parties as organizations
(Monday, September 2:  Labor Day holiday, no class for us)
        °Text Ch. 3 - Party Organization, pp. 66-90      
        °Matthew Crenson and Benjamin Ginsberg, Party Politics and Personal Democracy, Reader 4, pp. 78-99

Week 4 - September 9-13                  Political campaigns and parties
    Note:  we observe a special date on Wednesday, September 11.  We'll reserve time for that, and I may add a website link or two pertaining to this.
        °James E. Campbell, Presidential Election Campaigns and Partisanship, Reader 1, pp. 11-29
        °David G. Lawrence, On the Resurgence of Party Identification in the 1990s, Reader 2, pp. 30-54

Week 5 - September 16-20 **                 Political participation by the citizenry
        °Text, Ch. 4 - Political participation, pp. 92-123
        °Richard Fleisher and Jon R. Bond, Evidence of Increasing Polarization Among Ordinary Citizens, Reader 3, pp. 55-77
    **Friday, Sept. 20 - Examination no. 1**

Week 6 - September 23-27         The Voters
        °Text, Ch. 5 - Theories of Voting Behavior, pp. 126-155
        °Gerald M. Pomper, Party Responsibility and the Future of American Democracy, Reader 8, pp. 162-183

Week 7 - September 30 - October 4               The Nonvoters
        °M. Wattenberg article in October 1998 issue of The Atlantic, entitled Should Election Day Be a Holiday? - 98.10.
        °L. Sandy Maisel, American Political Parties:  Still Central to a Functioning Democracy?, Reader 5, pp. 103-121
        °review of website source materials on nonvoting, from U.S. Bureau of the Census (spec's forthcoming soon)

Week 8 - October 7, 9            Organized Groups
(October 10-11:  Fall Break, no classes)
        °Text, Ch. 6 - Organized Groups in the Political Process, pp. 158-185

Week 9 - October 14-18          Elections other than the presidency
         °Text, Ch. 7 - State and Local Nominations, pp. 188-217
        °Text, Ch. 8 - State and Local Elections, pp. 220-263

Week 10 - October 21-25    **       Presidential Nominations; start of Presidential Elections
        °Text, Ch. 9 - Presidential Nominations, pp. 266-317
        °Renka, R. on line:  Primary Predictions
        °Text, Ch. 10 - Presidential Elections, pp. 320-369
    **Friday, Oct. 25 - Examination no. 2**

Week 11 - October 28 - November 1                Presidential Elections
        °Text, Ch. 10 - Presidential Elections, pp. 320-369
        °Crotty, William, Policy Coherence in Political Parties:  The Elections of 1984, 1988, and 1992, Reader 6, pp. 122-137
        °Renka, R. on line:  Presidential Elections through 2000
         °website:  Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - 2000 election results, with each state shown county by county for the 3055 U.S. counties

Week 12 - November 4-8              Florida and Election 2000
    Note:  Wednesday, November 6, is the day after the 2002 midterm election, which sees the election of a 108th Congress and of the majority of the nation's state governors.  We'll devote the day to review and discussion of those findings.  The Florida election material may take part of Week 13 as a result.  If so, we'll let it!  I've built a little time into the syllabus to allow for that.
        °Brady, H. et al., on line:  Law and Data: The Butterfly Ballot Episode from PS Online, March 2001; see a copy of the infamous Palm Beach County ballot itself, at The Sun-Sentinel Virtual Ballot
         °website:  Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - 2000 election results, with each state shown county by county for the 3000-plus U.S. counties
        °website reference sources:  Florida Ballot Project, released 12 November 2001; see my subfile and links at PS360 Links - Russell D. Renka; see also for numerous links, Elections 2000 - Florida election recount, from U of Michigan Documents Center (assignment pending)
        °website:  U.S. Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore (00-949) decision of 12 December 2000; you may also want to see some background, per Cornell Law School's LII's Focus on Election 2000

Week 13 - November 11-15               Money and the Media - the roots of all political evil?
        °Text, Ch. 11 - Campaign Financing, pp. 372-415
        °Text, Ch. 12 - The Media and the Electoral Process, pp. 418-443
        °Victoria Farrar-Myers and Diane Dwyer, Parties and Campaign Finance, Reader 7, pp. 138-161

Week 14 - November 18-22           The Elite in Washington
        °Binder, Sarah A.  Can The Parties Govern?,  Reader 10, pp. 209-228
        °Pomper, Gerald M.  Party Responsibility and the Future of American Democracy, Reader 8, pp. 162-183

Week 15 - November 25                Partisanship and Governing from Washington
W through F, Nov. 27-29:  Thanksgiving Break - no class
        °Text, Ch. 13 - The Party in Government, pp. 446-481
        °Roger H. Davidson, Congressional Parties, Leaders, and Committees:  1999, 2000, and Beyond, Reader 9, pp. 187-208
        °Renka, R., on line:  Presidents and Congresses
        °Sinclair, B. on line:  Bipartisan Governing: Possible Yes; Likely, No from PS Online, March 2001

Week 16 - December 2-6                The Future of Parties in a Candidate-centered Democracy
        °Text, Ch. 14, Conclusions:  The Role of Political Parties at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century, pp. 484-499
        °Theodore J. Lowi, Political Parties and the Future State of the Union, Reader 11, pp. 229-240
        ° Cohen and Kantor, Decline and Resurgence in the American Party System, Reader 12, pp. 243-263       

Final Examination Week - December 9-13   Final Examination is 12:00 noon - 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, December 11.  Remember that this is "exam no. 3" rather than a comprehensive 16-week exam.
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