American Parties and
Practical Politics
PLSC 307
Fall 2008
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 10am – 11am, Wednesday 1pm
– 2:30pm, 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 political campaigns and examine the intersection of parties and campaigns with a focus on the role of parties in elections.
Course Requirements
Grades will calculated
using the following formula:
Midterm Exam: 20%
Final Exam: 25%
Volunteer Project: 20%
3rd Party Group Project: 15%
Election 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 Wednesday, November 12th. 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.
Election Paper
You must write a 6 – 8 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 will randomly be assigned a state gubernatorial election or a U.S. Senate election. Using news sources and accounts from state and national news sources you will describe the race and the participants being sure to incorporate your own analysis drawn from material from this course. You will have to submit your paper to turnitin.com; details on how to do this will be explained in class. Due Monday November 24th.
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 29 – October 3.
This syllabus may be revised throughout the term.
Students with Disabilities
Winthrop University is
dedicated to providing access to education. If you have a disability and
need accommodations, please contact Gena Smith, Coordinator, Services for
Students with Disabilities, at 323-3290, as soon as possible. Once you
have your Professor Notification Form, please tell me so that I am aware of
your accommodations well before the first {test/paper/assignment}.
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!
Announcements made over the listserv are considered "official" class
announcements. If you are not on the class listserv, go HERE for instructions on how to sign up (the
course designator to sign up is: PLSC350001).
Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct will not be tolerated. Winthrop’s Conduct Code
defines academic misconduct as:
”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. Additionally, I reserve the right to award the
student an "F" in the course for ANY act of academic misconduct if I
feel it is warranted. This is in addition to academic prosecution by the
Dean of Students.
**ADDITIONALLY, the
Department of Political Science has it's own policies on plagiarism and
academic misconduct: Poli Sci Statement on Plagiarism In the immortal
words of Brad Hamilton: "Learn it; Know it; Live it!"**
PLSC 307: American Political Parties and Practical Politics fulfills a number of Winthrop’s General Education program goals: Specifically, Goals 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 5.1, 7.1, 7.2, & 7.4. For more information of General Education Goals, go to: http://www.winthrop.edu/universitycollege/GenEd/GNED%20Goals.htm
Class Policies:
Please provide a respectful learning environment for your fellow students. Repeated tardiness, cell phone disruptions, reading materials unrelated to the course (such as the student newspaper), and use of communication technologies (e.g., web browsing/ IMing/ texting during class) during class will adversely affect your grade.
Attendance Policy: Beginning with the third time a student is declared absent, the student will lose a full letter grade for each absence. Any student caught IMing, texting, or browsing the web will be declared “Absent” for that class. Since I don’t take roll, this is the only way to be declared absent.
Please arrive at class on time and switch off all pagers, cell phones, and alarms during class. The only exceptions to this rule are if you have children or an emergency family situation (e.g. family member in surgery). For these circumstances, you may leave your phone on vibrate and you must leave the class to answer a call.
I do not provide lecture notes for students under any circumstances.
Grade Appeals: If you wish to dispute a grade on a particular assignment for any reason other than an obvious arithmetic error on my part, you will need to type a one-page explanation of your position and turn it in, along with the original graded assignment, at least one week after the assignment is returned to you. I will then consider your appeal and make a determination.
Appeals must be submitted in hard copy format; no appeals submitted via email will be considered.
For appeals regarding your final grade in the course, please consult the Student Handbook and Catalog for procedures.
October 24, Friday
Last day to withdraw from a fall semester course. (Automatic N grade is
issued.) Students may not withdraw from a course after this date
without documented extenuating circumstances.
Required Texts: There are two required texts for this class
Hershey, Marjorie Randon. 2008. Party
Politics in
|
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 & Hollihan Chpt 10 |
|
Party in Government |
|
|
Legislative |
Hershey Chpt 13 |
|
Executive / Judiciary |
Hershey Chpt 14 |
|
(Ir)Responsible Parties? |
Hershey Chpt 15 |
|
Campaigns & Elections |
|
|
Intro |
Hollihan Chpts 1 & 3 |
|
Candidate Image |
Hollihan Chpt 4 |
|
Political Advertising |
Hollihan Chpt 6 |
|
Campaigns and the News |
Hollihan Chpt 5 |
|
Campaigns and New Technology |
Hollihan Chpt 8 |
|
Campaigns and Polling |
Hollihan Chpt 7 |