30. Topics in American Politics
This course will enable regular or visiting faculty members to examine topics in American Politics not treated in the established curriculum. Subjects may therefore vary each time the course is offered.
American Elections and Voting Behavior
This course will introduce students to the study of elections and voting behavior. Topics to be covered include partisanship in the electorate, voter turnout, nomination rules and procedures, campaign organization and strategy, and the effects of campaigns on voters. Although we will focus on the United States, throughout the course comparisons will be made with other industrialized democracies in order to better understand the peculiar features of elections in the U.S. The course will also provide a non-technical introduction to some of the methods used by political scientists to study public opinion, elections and voting behavior. Because of the timing of the course, special attention will be paid to the results of the 2004 presidential and congressional elections and the outlook for the 2006 midterm elections. Dist: SOC; WCult: NA/W.
Gender and American Politics
31. Campaigns and Elections
This course examines two major areas of American politics: the behavior of voters in elections and the behavior of candidates in campaigns. The first few weeks of the course focuses on the fundamental questions of voting behavior. Why do people vote in elections? Does Party affiliation mean anything to voters? Do issues matter in elections? Do candidate traits make a difference to voters? Which of these things matters most? Finally, do campaigns matter to election outcomes? This question motivates the second portion of the course. Campaign institutions such as debates, advertisements, media coverage, polls, nominations, voting rules, and financing are discussed. Potential reforms are debated. Prerequisite: Government 6 or 3 or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: NA.
32. American State Politics
A study of the American federal system of government in which authority is distributed between the national and state governments. Readings, lectures, and discussions will focus specifically on likely explanations of the origins, maintenance, and/or changes in public policies in the states. Specific topics include the original and changing federal relationship, cooperative, competitive, and `free rider' relationships among the states, public policy preferences of the public in the states, and similarities and differences among major political institutions in the states. Prerequisite: Government 3, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: NA.
34. Congress and the American Political System
This course introduces students to the analysis of public policymaking in the U.S. Congress. Special attention is paid to the evolution of the House and Senate as institutions, to elections and to the interactions among elections, institutional arrangements, and policymaking. Prerequisite: Government 3, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: NA.
36. The Making of American Public Policy
This course examines the process through which public policy is made in the United States. Topics covered include the nature and goals of public policy, the various stages of the policy process, and the different models of and factors involved in policy making. The course seeks to explain why policy making in the U.S. is mostly `incremental' in character, i.e., involves only marginal departures from the status quo. The course also explores the conditions under which non-incremental change is feasible or even likely. Prerequisite: Government 3, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: W.
37. Public Opinion
This course examines the connection between public opinion and political behavior, primarily in the contemporary American setting. The first part of the course focuses on the nature and origins of public opinion. The second part explores the links between public opinion and political behavior with particular attention paid to election outcomes, policy making, and issues of tolerance. Prerequisite: Government 3 or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: NA.
38. Government and Business
A study of the interrelationship of government and business, analyzing governmental assistance to, and regulation of, business. Readings and discussion will focus on the economic and political forces which shape governmental assistance and regulation, and the consequences of assistance and regulation on business activities and the attitudes and beliefs of business leaders. Specific topics examined will be the political business cycle, economic and political theories of regulation, inter-state mobility of business, and the influence of business in shaping American public policy. Prerequisite: Government 3, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: NA.
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