Courses:

Introduction to the American Political Process >> Content Detail



Study Materials



Readings

LEC #TOPICSREADINGS
Part 1: Introduction and Preliminariesa
1What is the Role of Government?Wilson, James. Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It. New York: Basic Books, 1989. Chapter 19.

U.S. Constitution.
Part 2: Institutions and American Politics
2Understanding Institutions: The Median Voter TheoremStewart, Charles. Analyzing Congress. New York: Norton, 2001. Chapter 1.
3Agenda Setting: The Committee ModelKrehbiel, Keith. Pivotal Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Chapters 1-2.

Fenno. Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Boston, Little, and Brown, 1973. Chapter 1.
4Making Legislation: Veto PlayersCameron, Charles. Veto Bargaining. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Chapters 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9.
5Making Legislation: Ideas and Policy EntrepreneursKingdon, John. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. New York: Longman, 2003. Chapters 1, 4, 8 and 9.
6The Preferences of Policymakers: Elections and ResponsivenessFiorina, Morris. "The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics." Daedalus Summer, 1980:25-46.

Ansolabehere, Steve, Jim Snyder, and Charles Stewart. "Candidate Positions in Congressional Elections." American Journal of Political Science 45: 136-159.
Part 3: Public Opinion, Elections, and Democracy
7Campaigns and ElectionsLarry, Bartels. "Candidate Choice and the Dynamics of the Presidential Nominating Process." American Journal of Political Science 31: 1-30.

Gellman, Andrew, and Gary King. "Why Are American Presidential Election Campaign Polls so Variable When Votes Are so Predictable?" British Journal of Political Science 23:409--451.
8The Measure and Meaning of Public OpinionBrady, Henry, and Gary Orren. Media Polls in American Politics. Edited by Mann, and Orren. Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution, 1992. Chapter 4.

Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Chapters 2-4.
9The Structure of Public OpinionKinder, Donald. "Opinion and Action in the Realm of Politics." in Handbook of Social Psychology, 4th Edition. Edited by Daniel Todd Gilbert, Susan T. Fiske, and Gardner Lindzey, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988. pp. 778-867.
10Understanding Public Opinion and American Politics: War and RaceMueller, John. "Trends in Popular Support for the Wars in Vietnam and Korea." The American Political Science Review , 65 (June,  1971), 358-375.

Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion.New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Chapter 9.

Kinder, Donald R. and Lynn M. Sanders. Divided by Color.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Chapters 4 and 7.
Part 4: Personal Interests and Political Equality
11Mobilization of InterestsOlson, Mancur. The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971. Chapters 1 and 2.

Kritzer. "The Government Gorilla: Why Does Government Come Out Ahead?" in In Litigation: Do the 'Haves' Still Come Out Ahead? Edited by Herbert M. Kritzer and Susan S. Silbey,  Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003. pp.342-370.
12Participation and the Political SystemRosenstone, Steven and John Mark Hansen. Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, 1996. Chapters 4-6.

Dahl, Robert. Who Governs. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979. Chapters 1, 19, 24, 27 and 28.
Part 5: American Politics: Bringing it all Together
13The Welfare Implications of GovernmentDahl, Robert. How Democratic is the American Constitution?Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1980. (Entire)
14Conclusions

 








© 2010-2021 OpenCollege.com, All Rights Reserved.
Open College is a service mark of AmeriCareers LLC.