American Parties and
Practical Politics
PLSC 307 section 001
Fall 2010
3 credit hours
Instructor:
Dr. Scott H. Huffmon
Office: 344 Bancroft Hall (primary office) and 10
Telephone: x4669 (323-4669 from off campus)
e-mail: huffmons@winthrop.edu
web page: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/huffmons/
Office Hours:
Wednesdays 12:30pm – 1:30pm at Social & Behavioral Research Lab office (10 Dinkins Center)
Thursdays 10am – 11am at political science department office (344 Bancroft Hall)
“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.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this course will demonstrate an
understanding of the history and development of the American Party system. Students will acquire knowledge of: the
history of political parties in the U.S.; how rules changes contribute(d) to
the changing role and nature of political parties in the U.S.; the organization
of American political parties; the impact of partisan identification on
political behavior; contributors to an individual’s partisan identification;
the history and current working of the party nominating process; the role of
parties in government; how parties
impact political campaigns; how campaigns are funded; how campaigns have
evolved in the modern media age.
Student Learning Activities
Grades will calculated using the
following formula:
Midterm Exam: 20%
Final Exam: 25%
Volunteer Project: 20%
3rd Party Group Project: 20%
Election Paper 15%
This course employs
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 6 - 8 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 10th. 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 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 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 Friday November 19th.
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 27 – October 1.
This syllabus may be revised throughout the term.
Students with Disabilities
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: PLSC307001).
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!"**
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 22
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. 2011. 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 |
|
|
|
Pol Culture: http://academic.regis.edu/jriley/421elazar.htm
http://faculty.winthrop.edu/huffmons/ElazarMap.htm
FEC Donation Limits: http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/contriblimits.shtml