I will hold office hours on Monday and Wednesday afternoons 2:00-4:00. I am also available at most other times if you make arrangements with me. I encourage you to come by for any reason whatsoever.
This course is an introduction to interest groups and their role in American politics. It will consider ways to evaluate interest groups systematically and rigorously. The course will include: discussion of theories of interest group formation and maintenance, how interest groups attempt to influence public policy, and the systemic impact of interest groups.
Class attendance is not optional--if you need to miss class, please be prepared to explain why. The course will be run primarily as a lecture. However, 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 or why it was written in the first place!" I urge--indeed, I expect--you to take advantage of the chance to talk to with me during office hours.
Quizzes |
9% |
Précis |
6% |
Midterm Exam |
20% |
Final Exam |
35% |
Research Project |
25% |
Class Participation |
5% |
All assignments are 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 in my box (in the Political Science office--745 SWKT) before class begins. 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.
Approximately once a week, there will be a one-minute quiz at the beginning of class. You are allowed to use any notes that you have taken yourself. (You are not allowed to use the original text.) The quiz will have one short-answer question relating to the main point(s) of the reading(s) for that day's class. If you have done the reading, the quiz should 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.
There are three précis due in the first half of the semester on articles by Hansen, Walker, and Patterson. Each précis should be about one page long, double-spaced. The precis will be graded on these guidelines, as well as the usual grammatical and spelling concerns.
There will be a midterm exam and a final exam. The midterm exam will be administered in the Testing Center (265 HGB) on October 29, 30, and 31. The final exam will be administered in class on Wednesday, December 16 at 3:00 p.m. (as noted on the final exam schedule). I do not grade on a curve. You are allowed to use any notes that you have taken yourself. (You are not allowed to use the original text.) Both exams will have some short-answer questions and essay questions.
Students will write a paper about an interest group actively participating in the 1998 congressional elections. In consultation with the instructor, each student will select a group that actively participated (through issue advocacy and independent expenditures) in the 1996 election and is predicted to actively participate in 1998 as well. Each student should develop detailed factual knowledge--the idea is to become an expert on your specific group. In particular, you want to have details about how the organization makes internal decisions, where it gets money, where it spent its money in 1996, where it spent its money in 1998, etc. You may want to call or write the organization directly for information.
You should apply the theories we have discussed in class. Do the theories fit? Mere description of the group will receive a "C." An "A" paper will apply the theories we have discussed, point out strengths and shortcomings of the theory, suggest revisions of the theory based on the case studied, and integrate the case with the readings. As with all writing, I will also evaluate the logic and organization of the paper, as well as spelling and grammar.
There are a number of deadlines that must be met, noted on the course schedule. I strongly recommend that you consult with me through all phases of your research.
Topic |
5% |
Sources/Outline |
5% |
Detailed Outline |
5% |
Peer Reviews |
10% |
Paper |
75% |
After deciding on an interest group, students will turn in an outline of the paper, as well as a list of the sources found in their research (thus far). Students will then turn in a more detailed outline.
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.) After incorporating the appropriate suggestions and criticisms, students will turn in their final paper.
It is essential that you keep up with the reading. Indeed, I expect you to have completed reading assignments before the class in which we discuss it (thus, the quizzes). The exams draw directly on the required readings. Required texts for the course are available at the University Bookstore (and on two-hour reserve at the Lee Library):
Required readings for the course are listed below in the order in which we will read them. Articles and chapters marked * are found in the required texts or on-line. The remainder of the readings are available to photocopy in the Department of Political Science office (745 SWKT) mailboxes in a box marked "PlSc 313 Readings."
*James Madison. 1788. Federalist Paper #10.
David B. Truman. 1951. "Group Politics and Representative Democracy." in The Governmental Process. Alfred A. Knopf. [Chapter 16]
*Olson [Introduction, Chapters I-II, V-VI]
*Robert H. Salisbury. 1969. "An Exchange Theory of Interest Groups." Midwest Journal of Political Science 13:1-32.
Andrew S. McFarland. 1992. "Interest Groups and the Policymaking Process." In The Politics of Interests, ed. Mark P. Petracca. Westview Press. [Chapter 3]
*Burdett A. Loomis and Allan J. Cigler. 1998. "Introduction." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 1]
John Mark Hansen. 1987. "Choosing Sides." Studies in American Political Development 2:183-229.
*Wright [Chapter 2]
*Berry [Chapter 2]
*Berry [Chapter 4]
*Paul E. Johnson. 1998. "Interest Group Recruiting." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 2]
*Jack L. Walker. 1983. "The Origins and Maintenance of Interest Groups in America." American Political Science Review 77:390-406.
*Anthony J. Nownes and Allan J. Cigler. 1998. "Corporate Philanthropy in a Political Fishbowl." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 3]
*Brian Anderson and Burdett A. Loomis. 1998. "Taking Organization Seriously." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 4]
*Constance E. Cook. 1998. "The Washington Higher Education Community." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 5]
*Kelly Patterson. 1998. "The Political Firepower of the National Rifle Association." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 6]
*"Crime Package." Case Study in Lobbying Congress. [Part II:3]
*Berry [Chapter 3]
*Paul S. Herrnson. 1998. "Parties and Interest Groups in Postreform Congressional Elections." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 7]
*Wright [Chapter 5]
*Berry [Chapter 7]
*Wolpe and Levine [Part I:4]
*"Cable TV Reregulation." Case Study in Lobbying Congress. [Part II:4]
*James L. Guth et al. 1998. "Thunder on the Right?" In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 8]
*Wolpe and Levine [Introduction, Part I:1-3,5,7]
*Wright [Chapter 3]
*"Family and Medical Leave." Case Study in Lobbying Congress. [Part II:8]
*Wright [Chapter 4]
*"Bork Nomination." Case Study in Lobbying Congress. [Part II:5]
*Richard L. Hall and Frank W. Wayman. 1990. "Buying Time: Moneyed Interests and the Mobilization of Bias in Congressional Committees." American Political Science Review 84:797-820.
*Beth L. Leech and Frank R. Baumgartner. 1998. "Lobbying Friends and Foes in Washington." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 10]
*Andrew Rich and R. Kent Weaver. 1998. "Advocates and Analysts." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 11]
*"Health-Care Reform." Case Study in Lobbying Congress. [Part II:1]
*Robert H. Salisbury and Lauretta Conklin. 1998. "Instrumental versus Expressive Group Politics." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 13]
*Berry [Chapter 6]
*Wolpe and Levine [Part I:8]
*John Tierney and William Frasure. 1998. "Culture Wars on the Frontier." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 14]
*"Grazing Fees." Case Study in Lobbying Congress. [Part II:7]
*Laura R. Woliver. 1998. "Abortion Interests." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 15]
*Eric M. Uslaner. 1998. "All in the Family?" In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 17]
*William P. Browne. 1998. "Lobbying the Public." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 16]
*Berry [Chapter 8]
*Wolpe and Levine [Part I:6]
*Ronald G. Shaiko. 1998. "Reverse Lobbying." In Interest Group Politics. [Chapter 12]
*"NAFTA." Case Study in Lobbying Congress. [Part II:2]
*Terry M. Moe. 1985. "Control and Feedback in Economic Regulation: The Case of the NLRB." American Political Science Review 79:1094-1116.
*Berry [Chapter 9]
Theodore L. Lowi. 1979. "The New Public Philosophy: Interest-Group Liberalism" and "The End of Liberalism: A Four-Count Indictment." In The End of Liberalism, 2nd ed. W.W. Norton & Company. [Chapters 3,11]
E.E. Schattschneider. 1975. "The Scope and Bias of the Pressure System" and "The Displacement of Conflicts." In The Semisovereign People. The Dryden Press. [Chapters 2,4]
Robert A. Dahl. 1982. "Remedies." In Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy. Yale University Press. [Chapter 8]
LC=Lobbying Congress
Date |
Author(s) |
Assignments |
|---|---|---|
August 31 |
Introduction |
|
September 2 |
Madison |
|
4 |
No Class |
Read Truman |
7 |
No Class |
|
9 |
Olson [Introduction, I-II] |
|
11 |
Olson [V-VI] |
|
14 |
Salisbury |
|
16 |
McFarland |
|
18 |
Loomis and Cigler |
|
21 |
Hansen |
Précis |
23 |
Wright [2] |
|
25 |
Berry [2] |
|
28 |
Berry [4] |
Paper Topic Due |
30 |
Johnson |
|
October 2 |
Walker |
Précis |
5 |
Nownes and Cigler |
|
7 |
Anderson and Loomis |
|
9 |
Cook |
|
12 |
Patterson; LC [II:3] |
Précis |
14 |
Berry [3] |
|
16 |
Hernnson |
|
19 |
Wright [5] |
Paper Outline/Sources Due |
21 |
Berry [7]; LC [I:4,II:4] |
|
23 |
Guth et al. |
|
26 |
LC [Introduction, I:1-3] |
|
28 |
LC [I:5,7] |
|
30 |
Wright [3]; LC [II:8] |
Midterm Exam (29, 30 or 31) |
November 2 |
Wright [4]; LC [II:5] |
|
4 |
Hall and Wayman |
|
6 |
Leech and Baumgartner |
|
9 |
Rich and Weaver; LC [II:1] |
Updated Paper Outline Due |
11 |
Salisbury and Conklin |
|
13 |
Berry [6]; LC [I:8] |
|
16 |
Tierney and Frasure; LC [II:7] |
Peer Paper Draft Due |
18 |
Woliver; Uslaner |
|
20 |
Browne |
|
23 |
Berry [8]; LC [I:6] |
Peer Reviews Due |
25 |
No Class |
|
27 |
No Class |
|
30 |
Shaiko; LC [II:2] |
|
December 2 |
Moe |
|
4 |
Berry [9] |
|
7 |
Lowi |
Paper Due |
9 |
Schattschneider |
|
NOTE! 10 |
Dahl |
|
11-12 |
Reading Period |
|
16 |
|
Final Exam |
This page is http://fhss.byu.edu/polsci/courses/fall98/313s001.htm