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Political Parties: 314
AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES
Winter Term 2007
Hanes Walton Jr. GSI Instructors
ISR 4240 Khuram Siddiqui (ksiddiqu)
Office Hours: Monday 4-6 Charles Doriean (cdoriean)
734-936-1768Kate Gallagher (kfgall)
The objective of this course is to acquaint the student with the American Party system. We will emphasize the development and operation of our parties as organizational systems, their impact on the political behavior of the public, and the roles or functions they play in the American political process and system. In addition, we will often compare the American party system with party systems in other societies. Throughout the course we will be inquiring about party structures, activist, campaigns, finances and how well they meet the needs of the American people. In this contest, we will naturally consider a variety of proposed reforms of the party system.
This will be a lecture and discussion course. It is hoped that the student will be involved in discussions during the many class sessions. The student is responsible for the assigned text manuals.
Textbooks: Can be found at Shaman Drum and they are:
Eldersveld and Walton, Political Parties in American Society 2nd Edition
Walton, Reelection
Flanigan and Zingale Political Behavior of the American Electorate
11th edition
SuggestedReadings
Mendelberg, The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages and
the Norm of Equality
Chibber & Kollman, The Formation of National Party Systems
Abramson, Aldrich & Rhode, Change and Continuity in the 2004 Elections
West, Celebrity Politics
Important Dates
- Mid-term Exam (30%).……………………………………February 21st, 2007
- Research Paper Due (20%)…………………..………………March 21st, 2007
- Final Exam (30%)…………………………….……………….April 23rd, 2007
Outline of Course: Topics and Readings
Jan 9th, Week 1 Political Parties in Society: What are their Functions and Roles
Eldersveld and Walton text chapter 1; Walton Chapter 1; Flanigan Chapter 1
Other Suggested Readings:
Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory Democracy pg. 24-31
V.O. Key Jr., Southern Politics Chapter 15
Samuel DuBois Cook, Introduction: The Politics of The Success of
Failure,” in H. Walton Jr., Black Political Parties
Tali Mendelberg, The Race Card Chapter 1
Jan 16th, Week 2 The U.S. Party System Viewed Comparatively: How Unique is Our System?
Text chapter 2
Other Suggested Readings:
Arendt Lijphart, Democracies 1984, pg. 106-114.
Russell Dalton, Citizen Politics Public Opinion and Parties Chapter 7
G.B Powell, “Party Systems and Political System Performance,”
American Political Science Review vol. 75 (Dec, 1981).
Chhibber & Kollman, “Party Aggregation and Number of Parties,”
American Political Science Review (June, 1998), pg. 329-42.
Jan 23rd, Week 3 The American Party System’s Origins: Why Did We Develop A Two-Party
System?
Text chapter 3; Walton Chapter 2; Flanigan Chapter 4
Other Suggested Readings:
Richard Hofstadter, The Idea of a Party System Chapter 1
William Chambers, The First Party System pg. 45-56
John Aldrich, Why Parties? Chapter 2
Ted Brader and Joshua Tucker, “The Emergence of Mass Partisanship
in Russia, 1993-96,” American Journal of Political Science
vol 45(Jan, 2001), pg. 63-83.
Donald Stokes and G.R. Iversen, “On the Existence of Forces Restoring
Party Competition,” Public Opinion Quarterly vol. 26 (Summer, 1962).
Seymour Lipset and Stein Rokkan, (eds.) Party Systems and Voter
Alignments pg. 1-56.
Jan 30th, Week 4 Third Parties: What Chances Do They Have?
Text Chapter 4
Other Suggested Readings:
Walton, “African Americans, H. Ross Perot, and Image Politics: The
Nature of African American Third Party Politics,” in Walton,
African American Power and Politics: The Political Context
Variable pg. 282-93.
______, Black Political Parties Chapter 5 and 6
Steven Rosenstone, Roy Behr and Richard Lazarus, Third Parties in
America Chapter 3
Steven Rosenstone and John Hansen, Mobilization, Participation and
Democracy in America pg. 188-210.
Rodolfo O. de la Garza (eds) Awash in the Mainstream: Latino Politics
in the 1996 Election
Feb 6th, Week 5 Our Presidential Nomination System: A New Model
Text Chapter 10; Walton Chapters 9 & 10; Flanigan Chapter 7
Other Suggested Readings:
Bob Woodward, The Choice: How Clinton Won
Paul Abramson, et. al., Change and Continuity in the 2004 Elections
Chapters 3 & 4
John Aldrich, “A Dynamic Model of Presidential Nomination
Campaigns,” APSR pg. 651-69.
Feb 13th, Week 6 Parties and Leadership Recruitment: How Important are the Parties?
Text Chapter 9; Walton Chapters 6, 7, & 8
Other Suggested Readings:
Sandy Maisel, et. al., “The Naming of the Candidates: Recruitment or
Emergence?” in The Parties Respond pg. 137-59.
Chong Lim Kim, et. al, “Partisanship in the Recruitment and Reforms
of AmericanState Legislatures,” in Eulau and Czudnowski,
Elite Recruitment
Kenneth Prewitt, The Recruitment of Political Leaders Chapter 3
Aldrich, “Jacksonian Democracy,” Chapter 4.
Feb 20th, Week 7 The Public Support for the Parties: Is It Really Declining?
Text Chapter 5; Walton Chapter 12; Flanigan Chapters 3, 4, 5 & 6
Other Suggested Readings:
Dalton, Citizen Politics 4th Edition Chapter 9
Bruce Keith, et al The Myth of the Independent Voters
Chapter 5, 10, & 2
Walter Devries and Lance Tarrance, The Ticker Splitters
Warren Miller, “Party Identification, Realignment, and Party Voting:
Back to the Basics,” APSR pg. 557-68.
Angus Campbell, et al., The American Voter Chapter 5 & 6
David Mayhew, Electoral Realignments: A Critique of An American Genre pg. 1-47
Spring Break
Mar 6th, Week 8 National Party Organizations: Stronger Than Ever?
Text Chapter 6; Walton Chapter 12
Other Suggested Readings:
Austin Ranney, Curing the Mischief’s of Faction pg. 22-57
Paul Herrnson, Party Campaigning in the 1980s Chapters 2 & 3
Shea and Green, The State of Parties, 1994 “The Politics of Cohesion:
The Role of The National Party Committees in the 1992 Election”
______, The State of Parties, 1994 “The Democratic Leadership
Council: Institutionalizing Party Factions.”
Mar 13th, Week 9 State and Local Party Structures: How Effective are the Activits?
Text Chapter 7 & 8; Walton Chapters 4 & 5
Other Suggested Readings:
William Crotty, Political Parties in Local Areas Read the Chapters on
Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Nashville
Raymond Wolfinger, “Why Political Machines Have Not Withered
Away,” Journal of Politics (1972), pg. 365-98.
Mike Royko, Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago
Ronald Rapoport and Walter Stone, “Ross Perot is Alive and Well and
Living in the Republican Party: Major Party Co-optation of the Perot Movment and The Reform Party” in Green and Farmer The State of Parties 4th Edition Chapter 21.
John Frendeis, “Voters, Government Officials, and Party Organization,”
Shea and Green, pp. 147-162.
Mar 20th, Week 10 The Campaign Process: Are the New Strategies and Technologies Working?
Text chapter 11 & 12; Walton Chapter 10; Flanigan Chapter 6
Other Suggested Readings:
Paul Herrnson Party Campaigns in the 1980s Chapter 4
Shanto Iyengar and Donald Kinder, News that Matters
Laryy Sabato, The Rise of Political Consultants: New Ways of
Winning Elections
Tali Mendelberg, The Race Card Chapter 5
Keith Reeves, Voting Hopes or Fears?
Herbert Asher, Polling and the Public 5th Edition
Keneth Warren, In Defense of Public Opinion Polling
Mar 27th, Week 11 Money and Political Campaigns: Why the Rise of the 527s?
Text chapter 12
Other Suggested Readings:
Anthony Corrado, Thomas Mann, and Trevor Potter (eds)
Finance Battle: Court Testimony on the New Reforms.
Janet Grenzke, “Pacs and the Congressional Supermarket,” American
Journal of Political Science vol 33 (1989), pg. 1-24.
Darrell West, Checkbook Democracy: How Money Corrupts Political
Campaigns
Ross K. Baker, The New Fat Cats: Members of Congress
Apr 3rd, Week 12 Part 1: Parties and the Electoral Process: Why is Turnout So Low?
Text Chapter 13; Walton Chapters 2 & 3; Flanigan Chapter 2
Other Suggested Readings:
Richard Brody, “The Puzzle of Participation in America” The New American System.
Arend Lijpart, “Unequal Participation: Democracy’s Unresolved
Dilemma,” APSR vol 91 (March, 1977).
Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation and Democracy
Chapters 5, 6, & 7
Week 12 Part II: Contested Presidential Elections: What is the Role of the Courts?
Other Suggested Readings:
Donald Stephenson Jr. Campaign and the Courts: The United States
Supreme Court in Presidential Elections
Apr 10th, Week 13 Parties and Governance: How Effective are Parties in Congress?
Text Chapter 15
Other Suggested Readings:
Gary Cox and Mathew McCubbins, Legislative Leviathan: Party
Government in the House Chapters 5 & 10.
David Rhode, Parties and Leaders in the Post Reform House pg. 17-34.
Green and Farmer, The State of Parties. Chapters 14 & 15 & 19.
Apr 17th, Week 14 Parties and the Race Problem: Is it a Factor in Elections?
Text Chapter 16; Walton Chapter 5
Other Suggested Readings:
Paul Frymer, Uneasy Alliance: Race and Party Competition In America
Ronald Walters, Freedom is Not Enough: Black Voters, Black
Candidates and American Presidential Politics
Edward Carmines and James Stimson, Issue Evolution: Race and the
Transformation of American Politics pg. 27-58.
Donald Kinder and Lynn Sanders, Divided by Color Chapter 5 & 6.
Katherine Tate, From Protest to Politics: The New Black Voters In
American Elections. Chapters 7 & 8.
Michael Dawson, Black Visions pg. 44-84.