Daniel Patrick Moynihan observed:  “Some . . .  deny the existence of evil and others the existence of grace.  The art of  politics is to live with the reality of both.”  With this comment in mind, we take a realistic overview of American politics.  This course aims to:

• Help you understand past and present political events.
• Lay the groundwork for further study of government.
• Sharpen your thinking, writing, and speaking.

In addition to providing general background on American politics, this course also emphasizes certain themes.  One is the continuing relevance of the Declaration of Independence.  Historian Pauline Maier has called it "American Scripture," and since 1776, Americans have argued about its meaning.  Another is the central role of religion in America political life.  Tocqueville said that religion is the first of our political institutions.  We shall ponder what he meant by that. A third is political polarization.  We shall explore what it means, and appraise both its costs and benefits. Many of the readings are provocative.  Do not assume that your professor agrees with everything in the readings, or that you need to do so.  Feel free to challenge anything you read, but back up what you say.

Classes

Classes will include lecture and discussion.  Finish the readings before class because our discussions will involve those readings.  We shall also talk about breaking news, so you must read a good news source such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, or The Politico
 

Grades

The following will make up your course grade: 

• One 3-page essay 15%
• One 4-page research paper 20%
• One 6-page research paper 25%
• One sit-down final    30%

• Class participation  10%

• The papers will develop your skills in writing, research, and political analysis.  When grading, I do take the quality of writing into account, applying the standards of Strunk and White.  If you object to this approach, do not take this course – or anything else that I teach.

• The final examination will test your factual knowledge and comprehension of the readings.

• In addition to the required readings (below), I may also give you handouts and web links covering current events and basic factual information.  The final will cover this material.

• Class participation will hone your ability to think on your feet.  This grade hinges on class discussions.  I will call on students at random, and if you often miss sessions or fail to prepare, your grade will suffer.

• As a courtesy to your fellow students, please arrive promptly and refrain from eating in class.

• Carefully check the due dates for papers, as well as the date of the final exam.  Arrange your schedule accordingly.  Do not plan on seeking extensions or make-up work.

• Plagiarism will mean referral to the Academic Standards Committee.

Required Books

• Saul D. Alinsky, Rules for Radicals (New York: Vintage, 1989).

• Ronald Brownstein, The Second Civil War:  How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America (New York: Penguin, 2007).

• Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, The Federalist Papers (New York: Signet, 2003  [1788]).

• Samuel P. Huntington, Who Are We?  The Challenges to America's National Identity (New York:  Simon and Schuster, 2004).

• William Strunk and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 4th ed.  (New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1999).

• Alexis deTocqueville, Democracy in America, trans. George Lawrence, ed. J.P. Mayer (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, [1835/40]).  Please use the Lawrence/Mayer edition, which has gone through several printings.  Other translations have different wording, which would cause confusion.
   

Schedule (Subject to change, with advance notice).

In addition to the readings below, I may also supply you with various handouts and Internet links.

Sept 3:  Introduction

“We’re not Spartans, we’re Americans! With a capital ‘A,’ huh? And you know what that means? Do you? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world!”  -- Bill Murray, in Stripes

• Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, at http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres32.html
• Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream," at http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Sept 8, 10:  Principles of the American Political Order

"Thomas Jefferson wrote the most important words in American history: `all men are created equal.' Jefferson was also a slave owner, which made him a hypocrite. But the fact that Jefferson was living a life that was at odds with his principles doesn’t invalidate and shouldn't weaken the principle; it only means that we, as fallen creatures, need to strive harder to live up to what we know to be right." -- Peter Wehner

• Declaration of Independence, at Hamilton, 528-532.
• Martin Luther King, “Letter from the Birmingham Jail," at http://www.thekingcenter.org/prog/non/letter.html
• Fifth Lincoln-Douglas debate (excerpts) at http://govt.cmc.edu/jpitney/lincdoug.html.
• Huntington, ch. 1-3.

Sept 15, 17: The Constitution

"The Constitution affords all citizens life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Such values must not be limited to paper, but extend to public policy. Americans of all stripes pursue the constitutional rights to earn a living wage, to organize their labor, to have equal and high-quality public education; to have universal access to health care; to have unfettered access to capital, industry and technology; to have a government which protects the needy, rather than providing for the greedy." -- Rev. Jesse Jackson

• The Constitution, at Hamilton, 542-568.
• Charles Kesler, Introduction, in Hamilton, vii-xxi.
• Hamilton, Federalist # 9, 10, 31, 47, 48, 51.
• Anti-Federalist essays: 
•     Brutus #1, at http://www.constitution.org/afp/brutus01.htm;
•     Federal Farmer # 1, at http://www.constitution.org/afp/fedfar01.htm

FIRST ESSAY ASSIGNED SEPTEMBER 15, DUE SEPTEMBER 24.

READ STRUNK AND WHITE FIRST!

Sept 22, 24:  American Civic Culture

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”  -- Not Alexis deTocqueville 

• Tocqueville, 231-315.
• Huntington, ch. 4-5
• George Kateb, "On Patriotism," March 10, 2008, at http://www.cato-unbound.org/2008/03/10/george-kateb/on-patriotism/
• William Galston, "In Defense of a Reasonable Patriotism," March 17, 2008, at http://www.cato-unbound.org/2008/03/17/william-galston/in-defense-of-a-reasonable-patriotism/

Sept 29, Oct 1:  Citizenship

"There is no country on Earth that treats you like America.  I’ve lived all over the world.  In Europe you will always be a foreigner even if you have a passport.  Here in America you are made to feel part of this place." -- Paul Ribeiro, a half-English and half-Portuguese cardiologist at his naturalization ceremony in July, 2000, in Pomona, California.

• Huntington, ch. 6-9
• Jack Citrin, Amy Lerman, Michael Murakami, and Kathryn Pearson (CMC `93!!), “Testing Huntington: Is Hispanic Immigration a Threat to
  American Identity?” Perspectives on Politics, March 2007, at  http://www.apsanet.org/imgtest/PerspectivesMar07Citrin_etal.pdf

SECOND PAPER ASSIGNED OCT 1, DUE OCT 15

“If forced to tell the truth, most members of Congress would acknowledge that they did not fully or, in many cases, even partially read these bills before casting their votes." -- Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA)

• Hamilton, Federalist # 57, 63.
• Tocqueville, 497-500
• Brownstein, ch. 1-3.
• Rowland Evans and Robert Novak, "The Johnson System," in The Legislative Process in the US Senate, eds. Lawrence K. Pettit and Edward Keynes (Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1969).

Oct 13, 15:  Congress and the President II

“Sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue is 18 acres of sheer utopia, and like Utopia it can be isolated from reality quickly." -- Karl Rove

• Hamilton, Federalist # 70, 71, 73
• Tocqueville, pp. 121-138.
• Brownstein, ch. 4-5

• "The Gulf of Tonkin 1964," at http://tapes.millercenter.virginia.edu/exhibit/gulf-tonkin-1964-perspectives-lyndon-johnson-and-national-military-command-center-tapes

Oct 22:  Interest Groups

"If implemented, this agreement will do more to promote Enron's business than will almost any other regulatory initiative outside of restructuring of the energy and natural gas industries in Europe and the United States ...This agreement will be good for Enron stock!!" -- Enron executive John Palmisano, on the Kyoto Protocol

• Huntington, ch. 10.
• Winter Casey, "Why They Lobby," National Journal, May 31, 2008, 46-48

Oct 27, 29: Parties and Elections I

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization." -- Howard Dean

• Tocqueville, 174-179.
• Brownstein, ch. 6-7
• Tom Davis, "Where We Stand Today," May 14, 2008, at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/post_38.html

THIRD PAPER ASSIGNED OCT 29, DUE NOV 12

Nov 3, 5: Parties and Elections II

"At the end of one of my favorite movies, `The Bridge on the River Kwai,' the doctors simply say `madness.' Just as madness was the running theme of the movie, recent public polls indicate that it aptly describes the obscene level of partisanship in American politics today." -- Donna Brazile 

• Tocqueville, 196-203.
• Brownstein, ch. 8-9.
• Readings on 2008 election, TBA.

Nov 10, 12:  Courts, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights

"I was convinced that the law compelled a result that I would have opposed if I were a legislator." -- Justice John Paul Stevens, explaining why he backed decisions with "unwise" outcomes.

• Hamilton, Federalist # 78, 84.
• Tocqueville, 497-500
• Understanding the Federal Courts," at http://www.uscourts.gov/understand03/
• Gratz v. Bollinger (539 U.S. 244 (2003)), at http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2002/2002_02_516/
• Edwards v. Aguillard (482 U.S. 578 (1987)) at http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1986/1986_85_1513/.

Nov 17, 19:  Federalism and Domestic Public Policy

"It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." -- Louis Brandeis

• Hamilton, Federalist # 39, 45, 46

• Tocqueville, pp. 690-695.

• IRS, "Understanding Taxes" at http://www.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/student/index.jsp
• Pitney and Bessette, "Federalism"

Nov 24, 26:  Media and Popular Culture

"Follow the money." -- Not "Deep Throat"

• Tocqueville, pp. 180-188.

• Ruckus Media Manual, at http://www.ruckus.org/article.php?list=type&type=18

• Rachel Smolkin, "What the Mainstream Media Can Learn from Jon Stewart," American Journalism Review, June/July 2007, at http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4329

Dec 1, 3:  Political Warfare and the Future of American Politics I

"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters." -- Frederick Douglass

• Alinsky, prologue, pp. 3-97

• Brownstein, ch. 10.

Dec 8, 10:  Political Warfare and the Future of American Politics II

"Anger is more useful than despair."-- Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Terminator 3

• Alinsky, 98-196.

• Huntington, ch. 11-12.