1. Candidate Selection Rules.
How do we select candidates? What affect do primary election rules have on the number and types of candidates that run for office? How do primary election laws vary in different states?
(ER) L. Sandy Maisel and Kara Z. Buckley, Parties and Elections in America: the Electoral Process 4th edition, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 205-231.
2. General Election Rules.
How are the rules governing American elections different from rules in other countries? How do those rules influence the behavior of political actors?
(ER) David M. Farrell, Electoral Systems: A Comparative Introduction (Palgrave, 2001) pp. 1-12, 19-31, 68-88.
How are district lines drawn for elections to the U.S. House of Representatives? Is there any truly neutral way to draw lines? What are the consequences of the way those lines are drawn?
(ER) Bruce Cain, “Chapter 3: Aesthetic Considerations” and “Chapter 4: The Consistency of Good Government Criteria” from The Reapportionment Puzzle (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1984) Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 32-81.
How has the Supreme Court weighed the various values associated with redistricting? What do they say about partisanship? Race? Would you prioritize the same values that it has?
Complete Redistricting Simulation.
(ER) Warren Richey, “On Demand Redistricting Upheld”, Christian Science Monitor June 29, 2006.
How does the Electoral College affect presidential campaign strategy? How would campaign strategies change if the Electoral College were eliminated?
(ER) Dave Hopkins and Darshan Goux, “The Consequences of Electoral College Reform” Paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., August 28, 2005.
3. Campaign Finance Rules.
How do Campaign Finance Laws affect political behavior? Why do people give money? How do candidates raise money?
(C) Chapter 4.
Feb. 20
What are the behavioral consequences of campaign finance reform?
How would candidate behavior change if elections were publicly financed? Would Clean Elections laws have positive effects on elections in all states? If you were going to reform election laws, how would you do it?
(ER) “Bush Fundraisers got $1.2 billion in public funds” Associated Press, 30 Oct. 2005.
(ER) Martin Zelder and Patrick Basham, “Does Cleanliness Lead to Competitiveness? The Failure of Maine's Experiment with Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns” October 16, 2002, Cato Institute, Policy Analysis no. 456.
Go to the website: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/242/index.html And watch the 1 hour video: “Votes for Sale.”
1. Voters
What do voters know? How do they make up their minds? How can we make sense of the choices they make?
(ER) Samuel L. Popkin, “Voting, Campaigns, and Elections,” excerpt from Samuel Kernell and Steven Smith, Principles and Practice of American Politics (Washington: CQ Press, 2004) pp 475-482.
What are the major belief systems about politics? Why is symbolic language important in campaigns and in politics in general? Why does a moral worldview matter?
(ER) George Lakoff, Moral Politics: How Conservatives and Liberals Think (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002) 1-37
Mar. 5
How does Lakoff argue conservatives think about policies? What do you think of this characterization?
(ER) George Lakoff,Moral Politics: How Conservatives and Liberals Think (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002) 65-107
Mar. 7
How does Lakoff argue liberals think about policies? What do you think of this characterization?
(ER) George Lakoff, Moral Politics: How Conservatives and Liberals Think (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002) 108-152.
3. Groups.
How are interest groups an important part of elite level politics? How do they interact with candidates?
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY PAPER DUE
(ER) Mark J. Rozell, Clyde Wilcox and David Madland, “Interest Groups and Candidates” from Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New face of Electioneering (Washington: CQ Press, 2006) pp. 80-107
(ER) Mark J. Rozell, Clyde Wilcox and David Madland, “Interest Groups and Political Parties” from Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New face of Electioneering (Washington: CQ Press, 2006) pp. 36-52.
4. Parties.
Origins of the mass political party. Why did Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren see a need to create a mass political party? How did they do it?
(ER) John Aldrich, Why Parties? Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995, Chapter 4.
Professionalization of Campaigns: What are the different classes of campaign professionals? How has the business of consulting evolved in recent years?
(ER) James A. Thurber, Candice J. Nelson, and David Dulio, “Portrait of Campaign Consultants,” in James A. Thurber and Candace Nelson, eds., Campaign Warriors (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2000) pp. 10-36.
TV Advertising 1: What are the components of a tv ad? What decisions to candidates have to make when purchasing air time? What are different types of negative ads? Do they work? How has the free media become part of ad strategy?
West, Chapters 1-2, Chapter 3 (only pp. 59-68) and Chapter 4.
TV Advertising 2: How do ads affect voters’ perceptions of candidates? How does the impact of advertising vary with the visibility of the race? How does the existing public agenda affect ad strategy? What role do priming and diffusing play in campaign strategy?
Get Out the Vote: What does this research tell us about the importance of face-to-face mobilization? How should political elites react to this information?
(ER) Alan S. Gerber and Donald P. Green, “Does Canvassing Increase Voter Turnout? A Field Experiment,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Vol. 96, No. 19 (Sept. 14, 1999) 10939-10942.
(ER) Matt Bai, “The Multilevel Marketing of the President” The New York Times Magazine April 25, 2004.
Campaigning to govern? Does campaigning provide an appropriate model for governing? What are some examples of the use of campaign tactics in governing? Are these appropriate?
(ER) Hugh Heclo, “Campaigning and Governing: A Conspectus” from The Permanent Campaign and its Future, eds. Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann (Washington DC: The American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution Press, 2000) pp. 1-37.
Campaign Ethics: What ethical issues confront candidates? Campaign managers? What legal restrictions should be composed to keep politicians honest?
(ER) L. Sandy Maisel, “Promises and Persuasion” excerpt from Kernell and Smith, Principles and Practice of American Politics 2nd edition, Washington: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2004, pp. 483-499.
