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Department of Political
Science
Case Western Reserve University
(Revised
October 2007)
M.A students are
expected to be able to explain, critique, integrate, and apply the arguments
in the works listed below. Prior to reviewing these materials, students
should seek advice about reading efficiently from faculty members in the
American Government & Politics subfield.
OVERVIEW READINGS
The Federalist Papers #s 10, 51, 62, 63
Robert A. Dahl. 2002/2003. How Democratic Is the American Constitution?
Chapters 1 - 3, pages 1-72.
CONGRESS
Arnold, R. Douglas. 1990. The Logic of Congressional Action. New Haven: Yale
University Press.
Aldrich, John H. and David W. Rohde. 2000. "The Consequences of Party
Organization in the House: The Role of the Majority and Minority Parties in
Conditional Party Government." Pages 31-72 in Jon R. Bond and Richard Fleisher
eds., Polarized Politics: Congress and the President in a Partisan Era (CQ
Press)
Davidson, Roger H. and Walter J. Oleszek. "Congressional Procedures." The
chapter in a recent (10th or later) edition of Congress and Its Members
(probably Chapter 8)
Sarah A, Binder and Stephen S. Smith, Politics or
Principle?, The Politics and Principle of the Filibuster,
Brookings Press, Washington D.C., 1997, 1-36.
David W. Brady, John F. Cogon, and Morris P. Fiorina
(ed.), Continuity and Change in House Elections,
Stephen Ansolabehere and James M. Snyder Jr., Money and Office: The Sources of the Incumbency
Advantage in Congressional Campaign Finance, Stanford
University Press, 2000, 65-77.
David W. Brady and Hahrie Han, Party
Polarization in the Post WWII Era: A Two Period
Electoral Interpretation, paper presented at the Midwest
Political Science Association on April 4, 2003, Chicago,
Illinois, 1-48. David Butler and Bruce Cain,
Congressional Redistricting, Changing Boundaries: Myths
and Realities, MacMillan Publishing Company, NY, 1992,
1-46. David Canon, Race, Redistricting, and
Representation, A Legal Primer on Race and Redistricting,
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1999, 60-77.
David W. Brady, John F. Cogan, Brian J. Gaines, Douglas
Rivers, The Perils of Presidential Support: How the Republicans
Took the House in the 1994 Midterm Elections, Political
Behavior, Vol 18, No. 4, Dec. 1996, 345-367.
Richard
F. Fenno, Jr., U.S.
House Members in Their Constituencies: An Exploration,
The American Political Science Review, Vol.17,
No. 3, (Sep., 1977), 883-917.
Richard F. Fenno, Jr.,
Congressmen in Committees, Little Brown & Co., 1973,
1-14. Helen Dewar, An All-Nighter in the Senate; GOP
Aims to Call Attention to Blocked Judicial Nominees, The
Washington Post, November 13, 1003, A01.
John R.
Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morris,
Congress As
Public Enemy,
Introduction: What is wrong with the American political
system?, Cambridge University Press, 1995,
1-41.
Jacobson, Gary. The Politics of Congressional Elections. Most recent edition.
Lee, Frances E. and Bruce I. Oppenheimer. 1999. "Electoral Competitiveness,
Campaign Fund-Raising, and Partisan Advantage," and "Senate Strategies."
Chapters 4 and 5 (pp. 83-157) in Lee and Oppenheimer, Sizing Up the Senate:
The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation (University of Chicago Press)
David R. Mayhew,
Congress the Electoral
Connection, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT,
1974, 13-77. Anthony King, The Vulnerable American
Politician, British Journal of Political Science,
Vol. 27, No. 1, Jan. 1977, 1-22.
Barbara Sinclair,
Unorthodox Lawmaking, Clean Air: An Introduction to How
the Legislative Process Has Changed, CQ Press,
Washington D.C., 1-50. Richard A. Smith, Interest
Group Influence in the U.S. Congress, Legislative
Studies Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 1, February 1995,
89-139. James L. Sunquist, The Decline and
Resurgence of Congress, The President as Chief
Legislator, Brookings Institution Press, Washington
D.C., 1981, 127-154.
PRESIDENCY
Edwards, George C. and Desmond King eds.
2007. The Polarized Presidency of George W. Bush. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Hargrove, Erwin C. 1984. Presidents, Politics, and Policy. New York: Knopf.
Neustadt, Richard E. 1991 edition. Presidential Power: The Politics of
Leadership. New York: Free Press
THE SUPREME COURT
Epstein, Lee and Jack Knight. 1998. The
Choices Justices Make. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Books.
O'Brien, David M. Storm Center: The Supreme
Court in American Politics. Most recent edition.
Segal, Jeffrey A. and Harold J. Spaeth. 2002. The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTEREST
GROUPS
Baumgartner, Frank and Beth Leech. 1998. Basic Interests.
Princeton University Press
Cigler, Allen J. and Burdett A. Loomis. Interest Group Politics. 7th edition.
Hershey, Marjorie and Paul Allen Beck. 2003. Party Politics in America, 10th
ed. (Longman)
Mayhew, David. 2004. Electoral Realignments. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Sundquist, James L. 1983. Dynamics of the Party System. Washington, DC: The
Brookings Institution.
PUBLIC OPINION
Fiorina, Morris P. 2006. Culture War? The
Myth of a Polarized America. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson Longham.
Kellstedt, Paul. 2000. "Media Framing and the Dynamics of Racial Policy
Preferences" American Journal of Political Science 44 (2): 245-260
Key, V.O. Jr. Public Opinion and American Democracy
Zaller, John R. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion New York:
Cambridge University Press.
BUREAUCRACY
Pressman, Jeffrey and Aaron Wildavsky. 1984.
Implementation 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press
Wilson, James Q. 1989. Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They
Do It. New York: Basic Books
STUDY QUESTIONS FOR AMERICAN GOVERNMENT &
POLITICS
These questions are to
help you learn the material. Exam questions may differ substantially.
1) To what extent do citizens control their
representatives? Why and how?
2) What role(s) do the party organizations play in congressional elections? How
does the candidate-centered nature of political campaigns affect the internal
operation of Congress?
3) In what sense is the political system "democratic" ― or not?
4) The American President has been called an "elective king," a "clerk," and a
party leader, among other things. How would you describe the nature and extent
of presidential power?
5) How and why has the role of the president in congressional policymaking
changed over the course of American history? What are the sources of
presidential influence upon Congress?
6) Is the Bush Presidency unique or typical? How so?
7) What is Segal and Spaeth's critique of the "legal model"? Do you agree or
disagree with that critique? What is Segal and Spaeth's critique of the
"attitudinal model?" Do you agree or disagree? How do the attitudinal and legal
models differ?
8) Write an essay describing how the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court decide
cases, starting with the cases they accept for oral argument and going right
through to the announcement of the decision in open court. Then, drawing on
Epstein and Knight, explain the political factors that are integral to their
decision making.
9) What is party realignment theory? What does it explain? What doesn't it
explain?
10) Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the various ways that people
participate in American politics.
11) "American politics is driven by those who care enough to participate most
actively." Is this true? If so, what are the effects? If not, what is the
alternative?
12) How do political opinions diffuse through large populations? How do
individuals evaluate political information in light of their values and
predispositions? How are these evaluations converted into answers to poll
questions? What role does the mass media play in the formation of public
opinion? Considering your answers to these questions, what is the utility of
"public opinion" as a concept?
13) How do the constraints on managers in private and public bureaucracies
differ? What does this tell you about American government?
14) James Q. Wilson provides a typology of bureaucratic agencies, according to
the distribution of the costs and benefits of their programs. What
administrative problems are likely to arise in each type of agency? More
generally, what can you predict from this typology about the politics
surrounding such programs, including the roles of other institutions?
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