American Parties and
Practical Politics
PLSC 307
Fall 2006
Instructor: Dr. Scott Huffmon
Office: 344 Bancroft
Phone #: ext. 4669
(323-4669 from off campus)
email: huffmons@winthrop.edu
Web Page: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/huffmons/
Office Hours: Tuesday 9am – 10am, Wednesday 8am
– 9am, and by appointment
“Political parties created
democracy and…modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of parties.” E.E. Schattschneider
Course Goals
The purpose of this course is, in essence, to find out to what degree Schattschneider’s assertion is true and to what extent it is simply hyperbole. We will examine the history, development, and role of American political parties, the roles they take in campaigns and elections, and the place of interest groups in the American political system. In so doing, we hope to uncover the efficacy of parties (and groups), as a conduit of the public will to government. After all, a government that is disconnected from those it governs can’t exactly be called “democratic” now can it? We will study activists, party organization, party identification, and the activities of parties within the government. We will also study the nature and organization of interest groups and examine the intersection of parties and groups in the realm of campaigns and elections.
Course Requirements
Grades will calculated
using the following formula:
Midterm Exam: 20%
Final Exam: 25%
Volunteer Project: 20%
3rd Party Group Project: 15%
IG Paper: 20%
The exams may be multiple choice, short answer, fill-in-the-blank, essay, or any combination thereof. Material for the exams will be drawn from readings, lectures, and class discussions. Make up exams must be scheduled two weeks in advance in the case of an unavoidable planned absence; otherwise, make ups will be given only in the case of a documented illness or emergency. “Documented” means a legitimate doctor’s note dating from prior to the exam. Any student health center note describing vague symptoms dated the day of or after the exam will not be acceptable. In either case, make up exams will consist entirely of essay questions.
Volunteer Project
You must volunteer a minimum of 20 hours with the political party of your choice. Your political party MUST have a significant presence in the area (definition of “significant presence” will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the instructor). You will write a 5-7 page reaction paper describing your experience being sure to connect your real-world experiences with concepts and theories covered in class (double-spaced with 1 inch margins and a Times New Roman 12pt font, there will be no “headers,” you will use a title page [not counted toward total number of pages], bottom-center pagination, and an upper-lefthand corner staple [no “paper covers”]). Due NO LATER THAN Monday, November 13th. However, you MAY turn this paper in earlier. In fact, I encourage you to do so; I simply wanted to give you the option of turning it in post-election in case you plan to volunteer throughout the entire campaign season. You will have to submit your paper to turnitin.com; details on how to do this will be explained in class.
Interest Group Paper
You must write a 5 – 7 page paper (double-spaced with 1 inch margins and a Times New Roman 12pt font, there will be no “headers,” you will use a title page [not counted toward total number of pages], bottom-center pagination, and an upper-lefthand corner staple [no “paper covers”]). For your paper, you must find an interest group and describe its mission, the major initiatives it is currently focusing on, and its current lobbying efforts. Your best bet it to look through the Encyclopedia of Associations located in the Reference Section at Dacus Library. You may also find links to lists of interest groups on my links page (http://faculty.winthrop.edu/huffmons/links.htm). Note: some of these lists are awkward to search.... neophyte surfers should probably use the Encyclopedia of Associations at Dacus. You will have to submit your paper to turnitin.com; details on how to do this will be explained in class. Due Monday October 23rd.
3rd Party Group Project
You will be assigned to a group which will make a class presentation regarding the background, scope, platform, and beliefs of a randomly selected 3rd party. The party will be chosen by the instructor from the list of parties on my links page (http://faculty.winthrop.edu/huffmons/links.htm). Presentations should be approximately 10 – 15 minutes and should be multi-media in nature. Further details will be discussed in class. Presentations will occur the week of September 25 – 29.
Class announcements will be made via the class
listserv. If you have an active
winthrop.edu email account, you should be automatically added to the listserv, otherwise you must add yourself to the
listserv. You are EXPECTED to regularly
check your email for class announcements!
Any announcement made by the instructor over the listserv carries the
same weight as a statement made in class.
This syllabus may be revised
throughout the semester.
If
you have a disability and need classroom accommodations, please contact Gena Smith, Coordinator, Services for Students with
Disabilities, at 323-2233, as soon as possible.
Once you have your professor notification letter, please notify me so
that I am aware of your accommodations well before the first {test/paper/assignment}.
Required Texts
Hershey, Marjorie Randon. 2007. Party
Politics in
Nownes, Anthony J. 2001. Pressure and Power: Organized Interests in American
Politics.
Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct will not be
tolerated.
Academic
misconduct includes but is not limited to providing or receiving assistance in
a manner not authorized by the professor in the creation of work to be
submitted for academic evaluation including papers, projects, and examinations;
presenting, as one's own, the ideas or words of another for academic evaluation
without proper acknowledgment; doing unauthorized academic work for which
another person will receive credit or be evaluated; and presenting the same or
substantially the same papers or projects in two or more courses without the
explicit permission of the professors involved. In addition, academic
misconduct involves attempting to influence one's academic evaluation by means
other than academic achievement or merit. More explicit definitions of academic
misconduct specific to certain academic disciplines may be promulgated by
academic departments and schools.
I will prosecute cases of academic misconduct to the fullest extent of university policy, and that can mean expulsion from the university. Obviously, any student caught cheating or plagiarizing, in any manner, on an exam or assignment will receive a zero for that assignment in addition to academic prosecution.
|
Topic |
Reading
Assignment |
|
“Hey Bud, Let’s Party!”: Intro to Parties and the American Party System |
Hershey Chpts 1 & 2 Federalist #10 http://faculty.winthrop.edu/huffmons/federalist10.htm |
|
Party
Organization |
|
|
State & Local |
Hershey Chpt 3 |
|
National |
Hershey Chpt 4 |
|
Activists |
Hershey Chpt 5; Clark, Bruce, Kessel, & Jacoby |
|
Party
in the Electorate |
|
|
PID |
Hershey Chpt 6; |
|
Realignment and Party Base |
Hershey Chpt 7; Brown |
|
Voting |
Hershey Chpt 8 |
|
Parties
and Elections |
|
|
Choosing Candidates |
Hershey Chpt 9 |
|
Presidential Nominations |
Hershey Chpt 10 |
|
Campaigns |
Hershey Chpt 11 |
|
Campaign Finance |
Hershey Chpt 12 |
|
Party in Government |
|
|
Legislative |
Hershey Chpt 13 |
|
Executive / Judiciary |
Hershey Chpt 14 |
|
(Ir)Responsible Parties? |
Hershey Chpt 15 |
|
Interest
Groups |
|
|
Intro to Interest Groups |
Nownes Chpt 1 & 2 |
|
Barriers to IG |
Nownes Chpt 3 |
|
Lobbying |
Nownes Chpt 4, 5, 6, & 8 |
|
Campaign $ |
Nownes Chpt 7 |
|
Does it Work? |
|