Legislative Process
Political Science 311 (CRN 23541)
Chambers 2084
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 8:30 – 9:20 a.m.
Spring 2005
Dr. Patrick Sellers
Chambers 2039
Office Phone: 704-894-2078
Office Hours: Monday 9:30-12:00, Wednesday 3:30-5:30, and by appointment
Email: pasellers@davidson.edu |
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Objectives
The United States Congress is central to American politics. National policy often emerges from the institution, as legislators work to represent constituent interests on policy issues. Congress will play a central and prominent role in national politics during the spring of 2005. As President George Bush works to fulfill campaign promises on Social Security, tort reform, and other issues, Republican and Democratic members of Congress will shape the details of the president's legislative proposals.
This course will examine these developments on three levels. First, we will discuss the details and politics of specific issues such as Social Security reform. Second, we will use those specific issues to illustrate how the institution of Congress operates more broadly. Finally, we will consider how issues and legislators illustrate the importance of language in politics. When writing legislation or speaking publicly, politicians often choose particular words and phrasings in order to increase political support and the likelihood of political success.
Students in the course will develop important skills that can prove useful after graduation. Most obviously, learning the analytical skills of political science leads to improved critical analysis, particularly in identifying problems and solutions. The class also encourages students to develop their skills of written and verbal expression. Finally, students will learn a great deal about political strategy. This knowledge can prove useful when campaigning for any position, from elective office to a job promotion.
Requirements
Each student’s grade for the course will be based on several components:
- A series of four one-page papers
- Paper #1 (15%): Compare the constituencies of the two U.S. senators from a state assigned to each student.
- Paper #2 (15%): Contrast the most recent electoral victories of the two senators, describing how the campaigns are similar and different.
- Paper #3 (15%): Analyze the legislative history of a bill, assessing the reasons for its success or failure.
- Paper #4 (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:
| Letter scale |
Numerical ranges for final grades |
| A |
>92 |
| A- |
>=90, <=92 |
| B+ |
>=87, <90 |
| B |
>82, <87 |
| B- |
>=80, <=82 |
| C+ |
>=77, <80 |
| C |
>72, <77 |
| C- |
>=70, <=72 |
| D+ |
>=67, <70 |
| D |
>=60, <67 |
| F |
<60 |
Assigned Readings
The course requires four books, listed below. The first three books are available for purchase in the college bookstore. The last book (The American Congress) is free and available on-line at congress.wustl.edu/book.html. A hard copy of this book is also available on regular (non-electronic) reserve in the library.
Dodd, Lawrence and Bruce Oppenheimer, Congress Reconsidered, Eighth Edition
Fenno, Richard, Home Style
Herrnson, Paul, Congressional Elections, Fourth Edition
Steven Smith, Jason Roberts, and Ryan Vander Wielen, The American Congress
In addition to these books, students are also expected 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.
Outline
| Date |
Topic |
Reading |
Assignment |
| Jan. 10 |
- Introduction
- The Course
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| Jan. 12 |
- The Congressional Context
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- DO, chaps. 1-3
- S, chaps. 1, 2
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| Jan. 14 |
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| Jan. 17 |
MLK Day |
| Jan. 19 |
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| Jan. 21 |
- The Electoral Connection
- Constituents
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- DO, chaps. 7, 17
- F, Intro., chaps. 1-5
- S, chap. 5
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| Jan. 24 |
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| Jan. 26 |
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| Jan. 28 |
- Electoral Context
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- DO, chap. 6
- H, chap. 1
- S, chap. 4 (1-24)
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| Jan. 31 |
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| Feb. 2 |
- The Decision to Run
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| Feb. 4 |
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| Feb. 7 |
- Organization and Message
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Paper #1 due |
| Feb. 9 |
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| Feb. 11 |
Paper #2 handed out |
| Feb. 14 |
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| Feb. 16 |
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| Feb. 18 |
- Money
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- DO, chap. 5
- H, chaps. 4, 6
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| Feb. 21 |
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| Feb. 23 |
- Results
|
- H, chaps. 9-11
- S, chap. 4 (24-37)
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| Feb. 25 |
Paper #2 due |
| Feb. 28 |
Spring Break |
| Mar. 2 |
| Mar. 4 |
| Mar. 7 |
- The Institution
- Parties
|
- DO, chaps. 8-10
- S, chap. 6
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Paper #3 handed out |
| Mar. 9 |
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| Mar. 11 |
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| Mar. 14 |
- Committees
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| Mar. 16 |
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| Mar. 18 |
- Rules and Procedures
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- S, chaps, 3, 8
- DO, pp.4-16
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| Mar. 21 |
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| Mar. 23 |
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| Mar. 25 |
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| Mar. 28 |
Easter Break |
| Mar. 30 |
- Rules and Procedures (continued)
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| Apr. 1 |
Paper #3 due |
| Apr. 4 |
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| Apr. 6 |
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| Apr. 8 |
No Class |
| Apr. 11 |
- Public Policy
- Judicial Appointments
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| Apr. 13 |
Paper #4 handed out |
| Apr. 15 |
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| Apr. 18 |
- Budgets, Taxes, and Spending
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- DO, chap. 14
- S, chaps. 9, 12
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| Apr. 20 |
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| Apr. 22 |
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| Apr. 25 |
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| Apr. 27 |
Paper #4 due |
| Apr. 29 |
Optional Class Day |
| May 2 |
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| May 4 |
Optional Class Day |
| May 5 |
Reading Day |
| May 6-11 |
Exam Period |
© Davidson College, 2005, Department of Political Science, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035
Send comments, questions, and suggestions to Patrick Sellers
Created: 4/19/2004. Last updated: 4/14/2005.
