Political Science Y490 Senior Seminar
POLITICAL SCIENCE Y490 -- SENIOR SEMINAR
SPRING 2007
VOTING AND VOTER CHOICES
Friday 12-2:15Brian Vargus <>
Cavanaugh Hall 227Cav 504C 274-7226
WHAT IS THIS COURSE ABOUT?
A key problem of political science is understanding the role voters play in a political system. How do people make their decisions to vote, to vote for a particular political party or person, or support a particular policy? Several scholars—political scientists, economists, psychologists, and others – have been researching these questions for almost one century. Still, there are more questions about what seems to be a simple process—casting a vote—than there are answers to all the questions that are raised. Our task this semester is to learn all we can about this issue and explore all the available research on the topic.
At this time there is voluminous research literature from Political Science and most other social sciences that attempts to answer all the issues raised. Issues that are raised run a broad gamut from concern for things such as why people even vote, or social categories such as class and gender and vote choice, to more esoteric concerns such as the role of campaign finance or advertising and campaigns or, even, low information levels among citizens in making an electoral choice. Having just completed the 2004 and 2006 national elections in the United States, in the light of a highly disputed election in 2000, we have the chance to look back at a few actual events in politics and see how different scholars and thinkers might explain the actual event, as well as develope our own considered and research based explanations. In addition, we have access to many other elections in other countries that may reflect on this “normal” act of a citizen—to vote. To cover this material we will work our way through seven scholarly books and several research articles and chapters from other books.
WHAT IS A SEMINAR?
A seminar differs from the typical college course in several ways, of which three are most important.
- First, the role of the instructor is different: instead of taking the primary responsibility for presenting material and leading the discussion sessions, the role of the instructor (better thought of as the “seminar leader”) is virtually limited to nothing but choosing the topics, arranging the readings, and evaluating the work of the seminar participants—the students. The “Seminar Leader” also serves as a “resource” person to direct discussions if they stray from appropriate topics and assigned or related course materials and to assist with research topics.
- Second, the role of the students is different: students in a seminar (better thought of as “seminar colleagues”) take the more active role in leading the meeting of the seminar, during which they participate in exploring the topic through extensive discussions of the assigned readings. (NOTE: Students who complain they do not want to listen and consider their colleagues’ ideas have not benefited from their college education to this point. The object is to learn—not to be taught. The former is an active engagement in the materials you are assigned as reading to consider, debate and evaluate your colleagues’ interpretations of the same things you have read).
- Third, unlike some other courses, in which students can get behind in the reading, miss a class here and there, and catch up through intensive studying prior to exams, a seminar DEPENDS completely upon its members attending each class (seminar meeting) having already done all the reading assigned. A seminar fails—and thus its members all fail—if the members do not make, and keep, a serious commitment to it.
SOME ADDITIONAL WORDS ABOUT YOUR SEMINAR:
Because this is your Senior Seminar or your “capstone” course experience –part gateway to your post-graduate careers and part exit interview and examination—the Senior seminar serves these multiple purposes:
(1). To acquaint you with a political science topic that the seminar leader thinks you should become familiar with before we confer a degree upon you;
(2). By studying one topic, INTENSIVELY, for fifteen (15) weeks, to allow you to “flex” all the intellectual muscles you have been “strengthening” during your entire undergraduate education;
(3) To have you produce a research paper that shows what you have learned about research and writing in the Political Science field and how you can use your intellectual, and especially your critical, skills; and,
(4) To encourage you to reflect upon and evaluate your undergraduate political science major.
This seminar requires you to do all of the assigned readings, attend ALL of the seminar meetings, and participate actively (you must participate in discussions) in the seminar—even with disagreements—as we explore the readings and colleagues’ ideas about various issues. HOWVER, THIS SEMINAR IS “FRONT-LOADED” IN THE SENSE THAT THERE IS A DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT OF WORK IN THE FIRST TEN (10) WEEKS. This is a senior seminar in your major—if you can not be “bothered” to show up PREPARED once a week for 15 weeks, do the assigned reading before coming to the seminar each week, and participate in the seminar, do not expect to receive your bachelor’s degree. You will not have earned it! NOTE: Woody Allen once said that showing up is 95% of life. In this class, 100% of your life is showing up. Medical absences—documented on a medical professionals’ official letterhead—are the only absences allowed! Of course, if there is a special circumstance that I am told about within 24 hours of a seminar meeting, we may make at least one compromise, though you will still need to talk to me and accept some penalty for the absence. Yes, I am as mean and demanding as my reputation.
Your grade will be based upon my evaluation of your contributions—measured in four components.
- Attendance and quality of participation………………..20%
(NOTE: This is a necessary but not sufficient condition to pass this course—you must have at least no “0” grades for any week and obtain at least 30 points for this over the semester to pass.)
Points are achieved as follows:
Absence……………………………...0
Attend but no contribution…………..1
Average Contribution—2 coherent/
relevant utterances………...... 2
Above Average Contribution………..3
Excellent contribution……………….4
- Leadership of seminar (each student—alone or paired
with another colleague will lead the discussion of
the assigned reading each week—these will be
assigned at the first class meeting)..……….………10%
- Reaction papers……………………………………….. 20%
Each of you will write 3 reaction papers. These
will be between 5-7 pages in length not counting
footnotes or bibliography in normal double-spaced,
normal font. They will be your choice from out of about
ten topics that are listed individually on each specific week’s
assignment.They must be turned in the following
week after the assignment or they will not be accepted.
- Term Research paper………………………………….. 50%
This will be discussed at the first seminar. You
will choose a topic that I must approve and you
will meet with me, frequently, to discuss your research.
Notmeeting the professor per the schedule explained below
is cause for you to fail this paper and the course.
You will receive your participation grade –in points--by the Monday following our seminar on OnCourse. You will receive your grade for leading the seminar at the same time. It will be a letter grade w/o minuses or pluses. NOTE: IF SOME PEOPLE DROP THE COURSE YOU MAY LEAD A SECOND SEMINAR FOR EXTRA CREDIT.
Grades for reaction papers will not be posted until you have received the paper back from me. That means w/in one week of turning it in.
I will assess your performance in each of the components solely in terms of output. What matters to your grade is the quality and thoroughness of what you produce in and for the seminar (something I am in a position to evaluate accurately and fairly) not how many hours you spent producing it or how hard you think you worked on it (something I am not in a position to assess and FRANKLY do not care about). Treat this course as you would a job. You are assigned a task and you do it for some payment, reward etc. You do not do it and you lose your job—you are fired. It is that simple—either do it or fail!
This course demands a minimum of 5-6 hours a week of work outside of class time. If you can’t do it, I assure you that you will not succeed. Either give it the time, or remain in school another semester or two.
All written work will be college-level English, and will have been carefully proof-read. Any grammatical errors or spelling errors and you lose one full grade for each one. Thus, you do more than use your computer’s spell check function. If you have trouble writing, consult the writing center.
THE TERM PAPER
You will have a term paper in this course. It should be publishable length—i.e., 25-35 pages w/o footnotes and bibliography. You will chose the topic IN WRITING by the 2nd week of the semester. At that time you will present me with a written explanation of the topic and at least two bibliographical sources. NOTE: These are not to be selected from the internet. The internet is only used in special ways, as I will explain below, for research papers. I prefer data analysis papers—you all should have completed Y205 by now and know how to use SPSS. If you do not know what data set you need, I will help you locate one. If you have not completed Y205 or your topic does not lend itself to data analysis—and I will decide that—you will be approved ONLY with a comprehensive bibliography.
At week two you will receive instructions on how to write a research paper. Some will be from a book. I will copy pages for you to use. Others will be verbal. If you desire, I suggest you purchase the following: The Political Science Student Writer`s Manual (4th Edition) (Paperback) by Gregory M. Scott, Stephen M. Garrison. Papers will be in APA format. At week 3 you will receive an approved topic—signed by me. If it is not approved, you have 3 days to send me (via e-mail) a new one and have that approved. If you need to talk to me that is fine but if it is not approved by that second time—you fail. After the topic is approved you will make an appointment to see me within the 3rd to 4th week and we will go over a reading list of references. You may bring what you already have but I suggest you use the books assigned, which have comprehensive bibliographies for many things, as a starter list for me to review.Encyclopedias and especially Wikipedia are not acceptable research sources. A similar evaluation applies to newspapers and popular magazines. For your research you MUST use the library and places such as IUCAT and JSTOR. Beyond books for this course, most of your citations should be from academic journals such as The American Political Science Review, Political Behavior, The Journal of Politics, The American Journal of Political Science, and related political science research sources. If you do not know what those are—which is inexcusable in a senior—go to the library and find out. You will schedule meetings with me at a regular time and pace to assist you with your paper. Failure to schedule those is solely your fault. You assume responsibility for doing the research in a guided and responsible fashion. By week 8—as indicated on the schedule—you will submit a preliminary annotated bibliography for your paper and schedule a special meeting to meet with me to discuss it and assist you with improvements.
The School of Liberal Arts has adopted the following policy regarding plagiarism: "Plagiarism is the use of the work of others without properly crediting the actual source of the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, entire articles, music or pictures. Using the work of other students, with or without their permission, is plagiarism if there is no indication of the source of the original work. Plagiarism, a form of cheating, is a serious offense and will be severely punished. When plagiarism is suspected, the instructor will inform the student of the charge; the student has the right to respond to the allegations. Students whose work appears to be plagiarized may be asked to produce earlier drafts of work as well as the books and the articles used in a paper or speech. Students should, for this reason and as a protection in cases of lost papers, retain rough drafts, notes, and other work products for 2 or 3 weeks after the end of each semester. The penalties for plagiarism include reprimands, receiving a failing grade (for a particular take-home exam, paper, project, or the entire course), disciplinary probation, or dismissal.” For further information, see the IUPUI "Student Rights and Responsibilities". Since few of you are athletes and this is not IUB, you will not CHEAT!
A further note here. I am aware of the use of internet materials in plagiarism so any paper submitted in this class is subject to review at and other internet sources to get purchased papers or copied materials that are not cited. NOTE: All papers will follow the APA citation format. If you do not know what that is, find a recent copy of the American Political Science Review and it will show you the format. NOTE: for IUB students, I know this is tough since you have limited cognitive abilities and attend a university which is widely rated as at best second-rate, but you have to go to the library to find that journal. No, the library is not a party or a bar! TOUGH!
Please be aware of campus policy on Administrative Withdrawals: If you miss more than half our class meetings within the first four weeks of the semester without explanation, you may be administratively withdrawn from this section. Our class meets once a week, so if you miss more than two classes in the first four weeks, you will be withdrawn. Administrative withdrawals take place after the full refund period, so you would not be eligible for a tuition refund. Administrative withdrawals may also have academic, financial, and financial aid implications. If you have questions about the policy, please contact me.
WHAT ARE THE READINGS?
There is considerable reading in this course. The books and articles that are required include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. J. A. J. Evans. Voters and Voting: An Introduction. (Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage Publications, 2004).
2. G. Niemi and H.F. Weisberg, eds. Controversies in Voting Behavior. (Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 2001). 4th edition.
3. H. F. Weisberg and C. Wilcox, eds. Models of Voting in Presidential Elections: The 2000 U.S. Election. (Stanford: StanfordUniversity Press, 2004).
4. S. I. Popkin. The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994) 2nd Edition.
5. R. Johnston, M.G. Hagen, and K.H. Jamieson. The 2000 Presidential Election and the Foundation of Party Politics. (New York: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2004).
6. P.R. Abramson, J.H. Aldrich, and D. W. Rohde. Change and Continuity in the 2004 Elections. (Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 2006).
7. R. S. Erikson, M.B. Mackuen and J.A. Stimson. The Macro Polity. (New York: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2002).
**The following readings will be provided on-line or in copies for each student:
L. Bartels. “Partisanship and Voting Behavior, 1952-1996.” American Political Science Review. Volume 44, Pp. 35-50, 2000.
J. Zaller. “Floating Voters in U.S. Presidential Elections, 1948-2000.” Pp. 166-212 in W. E. Saris and P.M. Sniderman, eds. Studies in Public Opinion. (Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 2004).
Two – three chapters from R.B. Morton. Analyzing Elections. (New York: Norton Press, 2006).
Each of these contains extensive bibliographies that will assist you in your reaction papers and term paper. There will also be some recommended readings at times depending upon the seminar topics and your discussions of the issues. Further, I will provide you with an additional bibliography of useful sources at the first class meeting.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
I am by nature a talkative person. I also love teaching courses about political behavior. Recent course evaluations have been remarkably positive. Most people complain only that my courses are “hard” and “time-consuming,” but they all say it was “worth it.” Thus, this is up to you. I have office hours of course, BUT, students in my seminar have a legitimate claim on my time. You may e-mail on OnCourse or by regular e-mail and I will respond—normally within a few hours. You can also call me at home in an emergency at 317-826-7486. Do not be shy in stopping to see me at any time. My office is 504C Cavanaugh Hall and students in this seminar do not need an appointment—though you may have to wait some if I have someone in my office so it is better to make one. E-mail is always the best way to reach me. Welcome to your SENIOR SEMINAR! I am eager to get to know each of you. I suspect we will all learn a lot from each other.