POLS 41: POLITICAL PARTIES & ELECTIONS

FALL SEMESTER 1996
3 semester hours

This term we will explore one of the most significant and one of the most troubled subjects in democratic politics, that of choosing our elected rulers. In this course we will examine the purposes and the processes of American national elections, and we will analyze the nature and performance of American political parties. Along the way we will take a hard look at the character and behavior of the electorate---those who vote and those who donât---as well as the role of the mass media and the development of new techniques of electioneering in the modern age.

The current presidential election campaign will serve as our "guinea pig," or our laboratory for experimentation in the course. In particular, we will be following the major senatorial campaigns through the fall. Each of you will conduct a term research project that focuses upon an election campaign in one of the fifty states. This project must be completed by Friday, December 6 (I will describe this project in detail in a later handout). In addition, each of you will make a presentation to the class about your research.

A number of themes or assumptions will run throughout the course, and it is useful to note these as a kind of road map so that you may know where you are and what is important to note along the way:

• Political parties are essential to mass democracy; if parties are weak, so too is political democracy.
• The Constitution---especially the features of the separation of powers and federalism-- -creates a political system that is not conducive to strong political parties.
• The political culture---especially the fear of power and the ethic of individualism--- breeds suspicion of political parties as agencies of democratic government.
• Democratic reformers of this century, in their passion to promote direct citizen democracy, have crafted a political system that is not hospitable to strong political parties.
• Modern campaign methods---polling, television, the marketing of individual candidates---present additional problems for the integrity of political parties.
• The tremendous increase in the number of private associations in national affairs--- professional, occupational, ideological---makes the job of parties in government more difficult.
• All politics is organization, and all political organizations are biased toward the interests they serve.
• The question in a democracy, then, is not whether politics will be organized, but how--- and in whose interests.

I have chosen the following assigned books for the course and they are available in the Bookstore:

John F. Bibby, Politics, Parties, and Elections in America, 3rd edition, Nelson-Hall, 1996
E. J. Dionne, Why Americans Hate Politics, Simon & Schuster, 1992
Wilson Carey McWilliams, The Politics of Disappointment: American Elections, 1976-94, Chatham House, 1995

This is a lecture course, but one that will encourage discussion and comment wherever feasible. It is important that you attend class regularly. Your class participation grade will include assessment for attendance, so I will take note of absences.

I ask that you read the assigned material in advance of class and be prepared to reflect upon it in class from time to time. There will be a midterm exam and a final, as well as the research project. Your final grade will be based upon the following formula:

Midterm examination 15%
Final examination 25%
Term Project: background report 10%
Final analysis 30%
Class participation 20%

THE SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

DATE TOPIC READINGS

August 30 Introduction ---------------

September 2, 4 The nature of political parties Bibby, Ch. 1

September 6, 9 Party systems in American History Bibby, Ch. 2

September 11, 13 Characteristics of American Parties Bibby, Ch. 3

September 16, 18, 20 Parties in Disarray: the Last McWilliams (entire) Twenty Years

September 23 BACKGROUND REPORT DUE

September 23, 25, 27 Party Organization Bibby, Ch. 4

September 27, 30, Voters and Voting Bibby, Ch. 8 October 2, 4

October 7, 9 The Nomination Process: State Bibby, Ch. 5 & Congressional

October 11-14 The Nomination Process: Bibby, Ch. 6 Presidential

October 16 MID-TERM EXAMINATION

October 17, 18 MID-TERM BREAK

October 21, 23, 25, 28 The General Election: Rules Bibby, Ch. 7 of the Game

October 30, Nov. 1, 4 The General Election: Campaign Bibby, Ch. 7 Strategies

November 6, 8 Reprise of the 1996 Elections ------------------------

November 11, 13, 18 The Party in Government Bibby, Ch. 9 (no class on 15th)

November 20, 22, 25, Why Americans Hate Politics Dionne (entire) December 2

December 4 FINAL RESEARCH PAPER DUE

December 4, 6, 9, 11 STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS

December 13 Conclusions Bibby, Ch. 10

FINAL EXAMINATION, Thursday, December 19