Political Science 1700: Political Science Research
Ray Wrabley Fall 2003
Krebs 120C 269-2979
Office hours: TTH
Required Texts:
John Gerring, Party Ideologies in
Ira Katznelson
and Martin Shefter, eds. Shaped by War
and Trade: International Influences on American Political Development.
Stephen
Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from
John Adams to Bill Clinton.
Earl Black and
Merle Black, The Rise of Southern Republicans.
Other required reading will be distributed in class.
Overview:
“American party
history and, by extension, American political history at large have been irreducibly ideological... [I]deology
has mattered in American political history.”
John Gerring
“Modern competitive two-party politics [in the South] is grounded in the region’s rapidly growing and immensely diverse population.” Earl and Merle Black
“Since the earliest
days of
“A few [presidents], thrust to the commanding heights of political authority, have found new ways to order the politics of the republic and release the powers of government; but they have done so by building personal parties and shattering the politics of the past, actions the Constitution was supposed to guard against…These presidents soared to commanding heights not by making the system work but by building new systems, some might say entirely new understandings of constitutional government itself, and then saddling their successors with the problem of workability.” Stephen Skowronek
PS 1700 is
a required class for senior political science majors. It examines how such factors as political
ideology, war and trade, demographic change, institutional structures, and
political leadership shape our politics.
It allows us to study both theoretical approaches to politics and
various substantive political developments. The seminar is intended to give
students an understanding of the various methods that political scientists use
to systematically examine, analyze, understand, and generalize about political
phenomena. It is not a “methods” class
in the traditional sense of learning to make and test hypotheses, and to
understand statistical techniques for describing and manipulating data. It is more of an introduction to political
science that aims to have students discover the range of questions that are
addressed by political scientists and the range of techniques used to answer
those questions. It may seem odd to
require an “introduction” to political science for senior political science
majors. But I believe the substance of the course will make more sense to you because you’ve already had classes in
political science. Your background and
experience in political science also allows you to more easily take up the role
of political scientist—to identify political questions of interest to you, to
determine how best to examine those questions, and to
produce a major term paper that is the result of your investigative and
analytic efforts.
All of you by now have had some combination of courses in American political institutions (presidency, congress, parties, elections, etc.), constitutional law, public policy (national policymaking, environmental policy, foreign policy, urban policy, etc.), political philosophy, international organizations (UN, EU, etc.), and the political institutions of other nations (comparative politics). You have confronted some of questions at the center of political science: What difference does a constitution make? How—and why—does it structure the interactions between political institutions and players, and with what consequence for how we are governed? What difference—if any—does it make that the presidency, the congress, the courts, the parties, etc. are structured the way they are and operate with the rules they do? How does it shape our politics and our public policies? What difference does it make how other nations’ political institutions and cultures are shaped, and how nations trade with each other, make war on each other, or cooperate with each other? And, if constitutions and institutions and interactions make a difference, how did they end up like they did? And how do they change? Were they handed down by God or dictated by nature? Do they reflect the wishes and interests of certain people or classes, or are they the products of impersonal social, economic, and historical forces?
These may seem like abstract questions but they are about issues that have real life consequences. They help explain the freedoms you have (to go to school, to make a living, to express yourself) and the restrictions you face. They help explain how much, or how little, influence you have over the decisions that affect your personal safety, economic opportunities, and your civic obligations.
Are there answers to these “questions at the center of political science,” and, if so, how can we discover them? The quotes above reflect various approaches to answering some of these questions: Gerring argues that ideologies, and ideological conflict, are important to explaining American political development. Black and Black argue that demographic changes have played a major part in shaping American politics. Shefter asserts that American political institutions and policies are profoundly influenced by international forces, like war and trade. Skowronek argues that leadership by presidents is a major factor in political change. Each of these arguments reflects the assumption by political scientists that we can accurately describe, explain, and possibly predict political behavior, and develop general explanations for the existence or causes of certain political phenomena, and that a wide variety of methods of inquiry are valid.
Grades:
Final
grades will be based on the following course work:
1. Short writing assignments 30
points
2. Term research paper 50 points
3. Oral presentation of term paper 10
points
4. Class participation
20 points
Total points: 100
1. The Writing Assignments. The first writing assignment will be handed out the first day of class. It will require a summary and analysis of three articles from political science journals. Details are on the hand out.
For each class meeting you will turn in a typed, one page summary of the assigned readings from each book. You should summarize the issues addressed in the readings, the conclusions reached by the author, and list three possible research questions relevant to the issues. You should be prepared to discuss what you have written.
2. The Term Paper. Each student will write a term paper (approximately 20 pages) on a topic of interest to him or her and chosen in consultation with me. I encourage you to select a topic that reflects the course content and your own interest in political science. Some suggestions and examples are described below.
3. Participation.
You should be prepared to make comments and ask questions in class. I will periodically ask you to put yourself
in my position by grading your own participation (if you were me, how many
points out of 20 would you give yourself for
participation?). This should not be
intimidating. Everyone is in the same
boat and roughly equal in experience at these kinds of things. I hope to maintain a relaxed seminar
environment in which everyone feels comfortable speaking.
Schedule:
September 23: Statement of paper topic is due. Describe your paper topic in several
sentences and list at least 5 sources.
You should be prepared to discuss the topic in class and everyone should
be prepared to ask questions or make suggestions related to each topic.
October 14: Outline of paper is due. The outline must
include an introductory paragraph that clearly describes the paper topic and a bibliography
of at least 10 sources.
December 5: Final copy of the paper is due.
The paper must be typed.
The style of the paper should be consistent with the requirements of the
American Political Science Association
Style Manual, which I will distribute in class.
Each
student will sign up for a date to make a presentation (10-15 minutes) of her
research paper. You may use handouts,
videos, overhead transparencies, etc. if you would like. Presentations will be done during the final
three class periods, including December 2.
All students will be required to
attend and participate on these
dates.
The purpose of the term paper is to allow you to explore a
topic in political science in some detail and to present your results in
writing and in an oral presentation to the class. The following is a description of several
possible types of papers you may choose to write.
1. A
legislative history/analysis.
Choose
a piece of legislation to analyze, using approaches and information developed
earlier in the semester, as well as material gathered from independent
research.
The
following items should be dealt with in the paper:
The
problem/issue that the bill is intended to address, as well as a general
history of other legislative responses (if any).
A general history of
the bill, including a list of its sponsors, a description of its general
provisions, and a basic history of its journey through Congress.
An analysis of the
passage (or defeat) of the bill.
Who won, who lost, and why? Who
supported it, who opposed it, and how? What
does the process say about the role of “policy entrepreneurs,” bureaucracies,
interest groups, political parties, presidential leadership, etc.
This is the central part of the paper.
Among the interesting
and somewhat controversial bills that have been passed over the last dozen
years are the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the 1991 Americans with
Disabilities Act, the Motor Voter bill, the Family Leave Act, the Brady Bill,
the 1994 budget, the NAFTA legislation, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,
Welfare Reform, the Balanced Budget, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, the
Bush tax cuts, the Patriot Act. You are not restricted to laws passed in the last
dozen years.
2.
History of a political issue.
Choose
an issue on the contemporary political agenda (affirmative action, school
reform, welfare reform, abortion, gay rights, political corruption, campaign
finance reform, "law and order," media and culture, etc.). In your paper you should:
·
describe the emergence of the issue as a
political issue;
·
describe
the political/social groups, interests, or players on all sides of the issue
and explain their positions on the issue;
·
describe the political and/or legislative
responses to the issue over the past several decades;
·
analyze the
implications of the issue and the political developments surrounding the issue
for contemporary politics.
3. An
ideological analysis of a current political issue (abortion, affirmative
action, endangered species protection, school prayer, the family, education,
national health insurance, welfare, homeland security, energy exploration, etc.)
Explain the issue (why is it an issue, how long has it been an issue, what is the controversy, what groups, if any, are
on what side(s) of the issues, etc).
From the basic assumptions, values, and perspectives of liberals (or
conservatives) what analysis would be made about the issue? What prescriptions?
4. For those students with primary interests in comparative politics or international relations: You may wish to compare some aspect of American political development to that of another nation, examine the development of American foreign policy, or assess how particular international events have shaped domestic American politics, etc.
Note on plagiarism and academic
integrity: It should go without saying that UPJ’s
guidelines on academic integrity should be strictly adhered to. The list of violations includes ‘presenting
as one’s own, for academic evaluation, the ideas, representations, or words of
another person or persons without customary and proper acknowledgment of
sources;’ submitting the work of another person in a manner which represents
the work to be one’s own;’ ‘knowingly permits one’s work to be submitted by
another person without the instructors authorization,’ etc. (These are
paraphrased from the UPJ Student Handbook).
I will reserve the right to ask to see a rough draft, notes, and other
evidence that the paper you turn in is your own work.
Tentative Outline and
1. American Political Development
Skowronek, Part I (Chs 1-3)
Gerring, Part I (Chs 1-2)
2. Antebellum
Skowronek, Part II (Chs 4-5)
Gerring, Part II (Ch 3), Part III (Ch 5)
3. Industrialization and World War
Skowronek, Part II (Ch 6)
4.
Skowronek, Part II (Ch 7)
Gerring, Part II (Ch 4), Part III (Chs 6-7)
Black and Black, Chs 1-11