Requirements

Each student’s grade for the course will be based on several components:

• A series of group assignments associated with an election simulation:
  • A campaign plan (5%), spelling out a candidate's background, message, and a general outline of the candidate's campaign efforts.
  • A campaign fundraiser (5%), designed to attract contributors and raise as much money as possible.
  • A 30-second campaign advertisement (5%), extolling a candidate's strengths or attacking an opponent's weaknesses.
  • An actual election (5%), in which each candidate attempts to win the most support among the Davidson student body.
• Three one-page papers, completed individually by each student:
  • Paper #1 (10%): Use course concepts to explain the outcome of the election simulation.
  • Paper #2 (15%): Analyze the legislative history of a bill, assessing the reasons for its success or failure.
  • Paper #3 (15%): Illustrate how different types of policy proposals produce different types of legislative coalitions.
• Partisan differences in current events (5%): Each student will join two other individuals in the class to search currents events for examples of differences between Democrats and Republicans. Each week, each three-person group will find and submit to me an example of a difference in how the two parties take positions or discuss issues. Each submitted example should include a link to a news article or press release illustrating the difference. These submitted examples will provide the basis for regular class discussions about differences between the two parties.
• Final exam (35%), taken during self-scheduled exams.

Students will receive more details about each assignment in class.  All the paper assignments are due at the start of class on the assigned date (unless noted otherwise).  Assignments turned in more than 10 minutes after the start of a class period will be considered late.  For each 24-hour period that an assignment is late, the grade on that assignment will be penalized by 10 points.  Exceptions to the late penalty will be considered for medical and other emergencies; computer problems are not acceptable excuses for late work. 

The Honor Code binds all work in the course.  In accordance with the Honor Code, all paper assignments must provide appropriate citations for any sources or information included in the paper; failure to provide these citations is a violation of the Honor Code.  If you have questions about the appropriate format for citations, make sure that you ask me before turning in the paper.  You can also visit the Campus Writing Center for additional assistance with citations.  Unless stated otherwise in class, all work for the course must be completed individually, with each student responsible for his or her own work.  Students can often improve their papers by getting classmates to read and comment on them.  I encourage this peer review, but students must cite in their paper the names of any other students who have read and commented on that paper.

The numerical grade for any assignment may range from outstanding (above 90) to failing (55).  Note that the failure to turn in any assignment will result in a numerical grade of 0 for that assignment.  When calculating final grades, I calculate the overall numerical averages and use the following table to convert them to letter grades:
 

Assigned Readings

The course requires three books, listed below, which are available for purchase in the college bookstore.

Dodd, Lawrence and Bruce Oppenheimer, Congress Reconsidered, Eighth Edition
Fenno, Richard, Home Style
Herrnson, Paul, Congressional Elections, Fourth Edition

In addition to these books, I have placed readings on electronic reserve at the library; an asterisk ("*") denotes these readings in the outline below. I also expect students to read the New York Times regularly, particularly articles involving Congress. Each day's edition is available for purchase in the college bookstore. I may also assign additional articles to read throughout the semester.

Date	Topic	Reading	Assignment
Jan. 9	Introduction The Course
Jan. 11	Problems with Collective Action	Olson, 1-11* Hardin, 12-24* Putam, 29-37*
Jan. 13
Jan. 16	MLK Day
Jan. 18	The Electoral Connection Campaign Organization and Plan	H, chap. 3 Faucheux (WE), chaps. 3, 8, 13, 122-124, 126-128	Begin writing campaign plan
Jan. 20	The Decision to Run	H, chap. 2
Jan. 23			Initial candidate biography due
Jan. 25	Money	DO, chap. 5 H, chap. 6 Faucheux (WE), chaps. 40, 41, 44, 45
Jan. 27			Complete campaign plan due; begin planning fundraiser
Jan. 30	Message	H. chaps. 7, 8 Faucheux (WE), chaps. 65-69, 71, 73, 74, 79 Faucheux (RFO), chaps. 4, 5, 14	Fundraiser held this week
Feb. 1
Feb. 3
Feb. 6	Electoral Context	H, chap. 1, 4	Begin creating campaign ad
Feb. 8
Feb. 10
Feb. 13
Feb. 15	Constituents and Dimensions of Representation	DO, chaps. 4, 7, 17 Fenno, Intro., chaps. 1-5	Campaign ad due; begin planning campaigning
Feb. 17
Feb. 20
Feb. 22	Election Results	H, chaps. 9-11	Election
Feb. 24
Feb. 27	Spring Break
Mar. 1
Mar. 3
Mar. 6	The Institution Parties	Hamilton* DO, chaps. 8-10	Paper #1 handed out
Mar. 8
Mar. 10
Mar. 13			Paper #1 due
Mar. 15	Committees	DO, chap. 11
Mar. 17			Paper #2 handed out
Mar. 20
Mar. 22	Rules and Procedures	Dolan and Ezra* DO, chaps. 1, 2 House and Senate Rules of Procedure
Mar. 24
Mar. 27
Mar. 29
Mar. 31
Apr. 3			Paper #2 due
Apr. 5
Apr. 7	Public Policy Judicial Appointments	DO, chap. 13
Apr. 10
Apr. 12
Apr. 14	Budgets, Taxes, and Spending	DO, chap. 12, 14 Smith et al., chap. 12	Paper #3 handed out
Apr. 17	Easter Break
Apr. 19	Budgets, Taxes, and Spending (continued)
Apr. 21	No Class
Apr. 24	Budgets, Taxes, and Spending (continued)
Apr. 26
Apr. 28	Optional Class Day		Paper #3 due
May 1	Optional Class Days
May 3
May 4	Reading Day
May 5-10	Exam Period

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© Davidson College, 2006, Department of Political Science, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035
Send comments, questions, and suggestions to Patrick Sellers
Created: 4/19/2004. Last updated: 4/19/2006.

Political Science 311 Legislative Process