Courses:

Introduction to the American Political Process >> Content Detail



Study Materials



Readings

Amazon logo When you click the Amazon logo to the left of any citation and purchase the book (or other media) from Amazon.com, MIT OpenCourseWare will receive up to 10% of this purchase and any other purchases you make during that visit. This will not increase the cost of your purchase. Links provided are to the US Amazon site, but you can also support OCW through Amazon sites in other regions. Learn more.

This section features a list of books required for the course as well as the readings by week.



Required Texts


Amazon logo Brady, David W., and Craig Volden. Revolving Gridlock: Politics and Policy from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780813343204.

Amazon logo Dahl, Robert Alan. Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in American Society. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1961 or 1963. ISBN: 9780300000511 (1989 edition).

Amazon logo Kinder, Donald R., and Lynn M. Sanders. Divided By Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1996. ISBN: 9780226435732.

Amazon logo Olson, Mancur. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1965 or 1971. ISBN: 9780674537507 (1971 edition).

Amazon logo Mayhew, David R. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1975. ISBN: 9780300018097.

Amazon logo Schattschneider, E. E. Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. ISBN: 9780030133664.



Readings by Week



WEEK #TOPICSREADINGS
Introduction and Politics of the American Constitution
1Introduction and Organization(no readings)
2Theories and Theoretical Tools

Session 1


Amazon logo Stewart, Charles. Analyzing Congress: The New Institutionalism in American Politics. New York, NY: Norton, 2001, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780393976267.



Session 2


Articles of Confederation and U.S. Constitution

Federalist Paper 51: Madison, James. "The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments." Independent Journal (February 6, 1788).

Federalist Paper 84: Hamilton, Alexander. "Certain General and Miscellaneous Objections to the Constitution Considered and Answered." Independent Journal (July 16, July 26, August 9, 1788).

Pluralism and Its Critiques
3Pluralism

Federalist Paper 10: Madison, James. "The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (continued)." Daily Advertiser (November 22, 1787).

Dahl. Books I and IV in Who Governs?

4Economic Interests

Amazon logo Beard, Charles A. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 2004, chapters 1, 6, and 9. ISBN: 9780486433653.

Schattschneider. Semisovereign People. Chapters 1-5.

5RaceKinder and Sanders. Divided by Color.
6Collective ActionOlson. The Logic of Collective Action. Especially chapters 1-2.
Voting and Elections
7Party and Ideology

Amazon logo Campbell, Angus, Phlip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes. The American Voter: Unabridged Edition. Reprint ed. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, 1980, chapter 6. ISBN: 9780226092546.

Amazon logo Fiorina, Morris P., Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Pearson Longman, 2005. ISBN: 9780321366061.

8Responsiveness

Ansolabehere, Steve, Jim Snyder, and Charles Stewart. "Candidate Positions in Congressional Elections." American Journal of Political Science 45 (January 2001): 136-159.

Fiorina, Morris. "The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics." Daedalus (Summer 1980): 25-46.

9Retrospective Voting Issue Ownership

Session 1: Retrospective Voting


Achen, Christopher, and Larry Bartels. "Blind Retrospection: Electoral Responses to Drought, Flu, and Shark Attacks." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA, August 28, 2002.



Session 2: Issue Ownership


Petrocik, et al. "Issue Ownership and Presidential Campaigning, 1952-2000." Political Science Quarterly 118, no. 4 (December 1, 2003): 599-626.

10Voting and Seats Election Reading

Session 1: Voting and Seats


Tufte, Edward. "Determinants of the Outcomes of Midterm Congressional Elections." The American Political Science Review 69, no. 3 (September 1975): 812-826.

Law Making
11RepresentationMayhew, Congress: The Electoral Connection
12-13Policy Making

Session 1


Brady and Volden. Revolving Gridlock. Chapter 3.

Note: Starting with chapter 3, this book is an easy and mostly informative read.



Session 2


Brady and Volden. Revolving Gridlock. Chapters 6-7.

Media and Politics
14Zaller's Theory

Session 1


Zaller, John. A Theory of Media Politics: How the Interests of Politicians, Journalists, and Citizens Shape the News. Unpublished book manuscript, October 1999, chapters 1-4.



Session 2


Zaller, John. A Theory of Media Politics: How the Interests of Politicians, Journalists, and Citizens Shape the News. Unpublished book manuscript, October 1999, chapters 5-7.


 








© 2017 Coursepedia.com, by Higher Ed Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.