Political Science 310
Theories of American Politics

Course Syllabus
Spring 2003
TR 8:00 - 10:45 a.m. in 280 SWKT


Instructor: Jay Goodliffe
Office: 752 SWKT
Office Hours: R 11 a.m. - 12 noon, or by appointment
Phone: 422-9136
e-mail: goodliffe@byu.edu
Teaching Assistant: Hilary Izatt
Office: 168B SWKT
Office Hours: T 1 - 2 p.m., or by appointment
Phone: 318-9151
email: happyhil27@hotmail.com

Contents:

Home Page
Office Hours
Prerequisites
Objectives
Approach
Requirements
Expectations
Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
Other Notes
Readings
Schedule

Home Page

The home page for Political Science 310 is http://fhss.byu.edu/polsci/Goodliffe/310/. Check the home page often for announcements, corrections, etc.



Office Hours

I will hold office hours on Thursday 11 a.m. to 12 noon. I am also available at most other times if you make arrangements with me. I encourage you to come by for any reason whatsoever.

You should check your email regularly (as well as the course home page) for updates, announcements, corrections, etc. You are responsible for any announcements made in class even if you did not attend. I suggest that you exchange phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses with other students in the class.


Prerequisites

It is understood that students enrolled in this class will have taken at a minimum Political Science 110 (Introduction to American Politics) and Political Science 200 (Political Inquiry). Thus, I expect all students to have a working knowledge of American politics, and to know how to write a paper. If you have not taken both of those courses, take this course after you have. Without these prerequisites you will not be able to succeed in this course. It will also be of great benefit to have taken Economics 110 or Political Science 205.


Objectives

This course is designed to serve as the intermediate theory course for the sub-field of American politics. In the first section of the course, we will study the major approaches to studying political science. Students should be able to identify and apply these approaches to various topics in American politics. In the second section of the course, we will select topics in American politics (one per day), and examine theories that attempt to explain political phenomena, often using seminal readings on the subject. Throughout the course, you will have the opportunity to develop your critical thinking skills through writing assignments and a group presentation. At the conclusion of this course, you should have four distinct skills:


Approach

The course will be conducted primarily as a seminar. Therefore, it is incumbent that you have read the material to be discussed during each class period prior to the class (thus, the quizzes--see below). It is expected that you will attend regularly and come prepared to participate in the discussion. You should anticipate that I will call on you to contribute your opinion. We will also have various in-class activities and exercises designed to stimulate interest and enhance learning.

I actively encourage questions, interruptions, cries for help, protests of disbelief, etc. You will never be penalized for participating--even when this takes the form of vague complaints like, "I've got no clue why we are reading this stuff!" I urge--indeed, I expect--you to take advantage of the chance to talk with me during office hours.


Requirements

A Chinese proverb (supposedly) says, "I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand." This philosophy drives the requirements of the class.

Quizzes and Class Participation

10%

Preliminary Papers

20%

Final Paper 25%
Group Presentation 20%
Final Examination 25%

Quizzes and Class Participation

To encourage reading before class, there will be a short quiz at the beginning of each class. You may use any notes that you have written yourself for the quiz (i.e., you may not bring anyone else's notes, the text, or any articles). The quiz will have (a) short-answer question(s) relating to the main point(s) of the reading(s) for that day's class. If you have done the reading, the quiz will be easy. If you come late to class or miss class altogether, you cannot make up the quiz--you receive a zero. However, since everyone has difficulties at one time or another, I will drop the two lowest quizzes for the semester.

Since this class is a seminar, students should be ready to engage one another in discussion. Of course, in order to participate, one needs to attend class. I am particularly interested in your participation when other groups make their presentations. Active, collaborative learning not only enhances your education, but is more interesting to both student and instructor.

Preliminary Papers

There will be four three-page papers (equally weighted) to help you develop your critical thinking skills and evaluate your understanding of the reading. I strongly encourage you to consult with me and the teaching assistant on your papers. The due dates are noted in the Schedule. If you cannot make it to class, please leave the assignment with the department secretaries (in the Political Science office--745 SWKT) before class begins. You may also submit your assignments via email (as an attachment). I will deduct 20 points per day (including weekends) for late assignments (on a 100 point scale). That said, I am a reasonable person; if you anticipate a problem with submitting an assignment when it is due, speak to me before the assignment is due so that we can try to work out an alternative arrangement.

Final Paper

At the end of the semester, each individual must submit a 7-8 page paper that uses the theories in the section that he or she presented with her or his group (see below). The paper must explain a current practice in American politics using the theories that you covered in your section (and other sections). You will select one event, practice, or institution in American politics that you used during your presentation and specify how the theories explain its occurrence. I strongly encourage you to consult with me and the teaching assistant on your paper. More detailed instructions are found here.

Students will be assigned to a group of three. Each student in the group will distribute his or her paper to the other two students for peer evaluation. (Students will evaluate two peers' papers, and return each of them with an evaluation sheet. Peers will also give grades to the instructor only. Finally, authors will give grades to their peers on how well they were able to constructively criticize authors' arguments, and give specific suggestions on how to strengthen those arguments.) After incorporating the appropriate suggestions and criticisms, students will turn in their final paper. Authors will also grade the peer reviewers. Twenty percent of your final paper grade is determined by your initial submission, 20% of your final paper grade is determined by how well you evaluate your peers, and the final 60% is determined by your final submission to me.

The paper is due at the beginning of class on the day designated in the course Schedule. If you cannot make it to class, please leave the assignment with the department secretaries (in the Political Science office--745 SWKT) before class begins. You may also submit your assignments via email (as an attachment). I will deduct 20 points per day (including weekends) for late assignments (on a 100 point scale). That said, I am a reasonable person; if you anticipate a problem with submitting an assignment when it is due, speak to me before the assignment is due so that we can try to work out an alternative arrangement. The papers may be picked up in the Political Science office (745 SWKT) after they are graded. The papers will be discarded at the end of the Fall 2003 semester.

Group Presentation

To facilitate discussion of the issues, each student will participate in a group presentation at some point during the semester. A group presentation should identify the one or two most important questions that the readings seek to answer, consider alternative explanations and answers from other theoretical approaches, examine recent occurrences in American politics and what the theories say about them, and analyze their importance for the future of American democracy. You must use a visual aid for your presentation ("I see and I remember"). You can be as creative as you wish in your approach to the group presentation. You can use video clips from news programs or movies to illustrate a particular point. You may want to use music that expresses the same themes found in the readings. You are responsible for helping us to understand why these theories and the questions they raise explain such persistent patterns in American politics. The first presentation will be May 13th to give you time to think about what you might want to do. The groups will be small to minimize the "free-rider" problem. However, 40% of your grade for the group presentation will depend upon the evaluation of the other members of the group. If the other students do not think that you contributed significantly and meaningfully to the presentation, they can penalize you. After your presentation, you must turn in a self-reflection within 24 hours, as well as grades of your peers. Peer grades will influence, but not constrain the instructor's grades. More details on the self-reflection can be found here.

Each person in the group must apply a theory to a recent example in American politics during the presentation. Each person must use a different example; this example will be used in the final paper (see above).

Each group must meet with me before their presentation to discuss their plans, and to examine the readings. I also strongly encourage you to meet with the teaching assistant.

At the end of the semester, each student will turn in a ranking of all group presentations (excluding her/his own), with written justification. In addition, there will be questions on the final exam that will refer to the group presentations.

More substantive details on the group presentation can be found here. Further suggestions on presentations generally can be found here and here.

Final Exam

There will be a final examination that will be comprehensive. The final exam will be administered in the Testing Center (265 HGB) June 18-19 (as noted on the final exam schedule). Do not ask to take the final examination early. It is against university policy to give final examinations outside of the scheduled time. You should not make any plans that interfere with the final exam schedule. Please do not ask for exceptions. I am not authorized to grant them.

You may bring any notes that you have written yourself into the exam (i.e., you may not bring anyone else's notes, the text, or any articles). There will be no time limit. The exam will consist primarily of short-answer questions and essay questions that assess the skills listed in Objectives. The examination will be difficult. I expect you to be able to apply the material that we have covered in class, to recall definitions, and to answer questions about different groups' presentations. You have the opportunity to suggest questions for the exam here. A mock-up of a previous semester's final can be found here. The exams may be picked up in the Political Science office (745 SWKT) after they are graded. The exams will be discarded at the end of the Fall 2003 semester.


Expectations

I do not grade on a curve.

I include the following information from the BYU 2002-2003 Undergraduate Catalog which guides how I grade and determine workload:

"The grade given in a course is the teacher's evaluation of the student's performance, achievement, and understanding in that subject as covered in the class. The following adjectives indicate the meaning of the letter grades:
A Excellent
B Good
C Satisfactory
D Minimum passing
E Unacceptable
"Hence, the grade A means that the student's performance, achievement, and understanding were excellent in the portion of the subject covered in the class.
"There are prerequisites that qualify students to be admitted to the more advanced classes offered by a department. A senior has added experience, understanding, and preparation and, consequently, progresses in courses that would have been impossible when the student was a freshman. The level of performance, achievement, and understanding required to qualify for each grade that carries credit (any grade other than E, UW, I, IE, or WE) is higher in a more advanced class than in those classes that precede it, and the student is prepared to work at this higher level" (p. 48).
"The expectation for undergraduate courses is three hours of work per week per credit hour for the average student who is appropriately prepared; much more time may be required to achieve excellence" (p. 46).

Putting these two statements together, the university expects an "average student" to work "much more" than 9 hours a week to receive an 'A' (= "excellence") in a 3 credit-hour course. This is my expectation as well. Of course, in the spring/summer term, since two weeks of a semester are covered each week of the term, this means that the university expects an "average student" to work "much more" than 18 hours a week to receive an 'A.'

This workload has been affirmed by President Bateman in two of his recent devotional addresses. On 7 September 1999, he stated, "It takes approximately three hours of study outside class for every hour in the classroom. If you take 15 hours of credit, you should allocate upward of 45 hours for study per week." On 19 September 2000, he advised, "Study daily--at least three hours for every hour in class."

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

From the Academic Honesty section of the BYU Honor Code: "The first injunction of the BYU Honor Code is the call to `be honest.' Students come to the university not only to improve their minds, gain knowledge, and develop skills that will assist them in their life's work, but also to build character. `President David O. McKay taught that character is the highest aim of education' (The Aims of a BYU Education, p. 6). It is the purpose of the BYU Academic Honesty Policy to assist in fulfilling that aim.

"BYU students should seek to be totally honest in their dealings with others. They should complete their own work and be evaluated based upon that work. They should avoid academic dishonesty and misconduct in all its forms, including but not limited to plagiarism, fabrication or falsification, cheating, and other academic misconduct." Read the full version here (parts attached to the original paper syllabus).

A colleague (Professor Mitch Sanders of Notre Dame) has already explicated these issues specifically for political science. Please read here (also attached to the original paper syllabus).

If you write a paper for another course (past or present) that uses the same topic as a paper for this course, you need to approve it with me first, and then you must turn in to me a copy of the paper from your other course.


Other Notes

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds. The act is intended to eliminate sex discrimination in education. Title IX covers discrimination in programs, admissions, activities, and student-to-student sexual harassment. BYU’s policy against sexual harassment extends not only to employees of the university but to students as well. If you encounter unlawful sexual harassment or gender based discrimination, please talk to your professor; contact the Equal Employment Office at 422-5895 or 367-5689 (24-hours); or contact the Honor Code Office at 422-2847.

Brigham Young University is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere which reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have any disability which may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the University Accessibility Center (422-2767). Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified documented disabilities. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by the UAC office. If you need assistance or if you feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through established grievance policy and procedures. You should contact the Equal Employment Office at 422-5895, D-282 ASB.


Readings

The text for the course is

There is also a recommended text:

Both are available through the BYU Bookstore (also on reserve at the Lee Library). (You can also obtain these books through an on-line bookstore. The following websites search out several bookstores simultaneously: TextbookLand.com or AllBookStores.com or Campusbooks4less.com or StudentMarket.com or CampusI.com or Direct Textbook.)

The vast majority of the readings are from journal articles or book chapters. These will be available for checkout (and to photocopy) in the Department of Political Science office (745 SWKT). As the office keeps regular business hours (8 a.m. - 5 p.m.), please plan ahead to obtain the readings. There will also be an opportunity to copy all of the required readings (besides the book) at once. Many of the readings may be accessed through the internet via links provided below (on a BYU computer, or off-campus, if you know how to work through the library off-campus access here). To view or print most documents, the computer must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader (downloadable free here).

You should read a national newspaper daily. Knowledge of current events will help you in your group presentation, preliminary and final papers, and active participation in class. I suggest subscribing to a national paper, or at the very least, reading on the web the national news of The New York Times (free with registration), The Washington Post (free), The Los Angeles Times (free), or The Wall Street Journal (not free).

I may add, subtract, or change readings during the semester.

Study questions for the whole semester are here (updated as new questions are added).

Page numbers added for required book chapters are placed in {braces} and do not include endnotes or references.

Progress in Political Science (April 29)

Causality and Knowledge (May 1)

Research Traditions in Political Science (May 6 - 8)

Behavioralism

Rational Choice

Institutionalism

Feminism

Interpretivism

Marxism

Applications of Theories to American Politics

Power (May 13) [questions]

Constitution (May 15) [questions]

Political Culture (May 20) [questions]

Voting (May 22) [questions]

Interest Groups (May 27) [questions]

Social Movements (May 29) [questions]

Bureaucracy (June 3) [questions]

Representation (June 5) [questions]

Congress (June 10) [questions]

Critique (June 12)


Schedule (subject to change)

Date Topic Assignments
April 29 Introduction; Progress Ball
May 1 Causality; Knowledge Little 1-2; Elster; Marsh and Furlong; Maxwell
6 Behavioralism; Rational Choice;
Institutionalism
Stoker and Marsh; Sanders; Ward; Lowndes
8 Feminism;
Interpretivism; Marxism
Randall; Bevir and Rhodes; Marsh
Writing #1 Due
13 Power Polsby; Bachrach and Baratz; Gaventa
15 Constitution Beard; Roche; Riker
Writing #2 Due
20 Political Culture Hartz; Taylor; Weingast
22 Voting Downs; Campbell et al.; Fiorina
Writing #3 Due
27 Interest Groups Truman; Olson; Teske
29 Social Movements Killian; McAdam; Taylor and Whittier
Writing #4 Due
June 3 Bureaucracy Block; Wilson; Kelly and Newman
5 Representation Fenno; Stimson, MacKuen, and Erikson; Tamerius
Peer Paper Draft Due
10 Congress Weatherford; Weingast and Marshall; Cooper and Young
Peer Reviews Due
12 Critique Blyth; Marsh and Stoker; Little 11; Johnson
Final Paper Due
17 Reading Period  
18-19 Final Exam Final Exam

Jay Goodliffe's home page


This page is http://fhss.byu.edu/polsci/Goodliffe/310/syllabus.htm