CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

Unit 1

Topic 1-The study of politics

WEEK 1
January 6 (M)-Course introduction: What can you expect to learn in this class?

• After class, please read through the full The course syllabus. carefully. Let 's talk this week if you have any questions or concerns your ability to meet the basic requirements of the course. 

• Sometime this week, consider one analyst's perspective--ideas mostly shared by your professor--on the goals behind universal K-12 education and why students are asked to take liberal arts classes like this one at most universities:
  George Packer, "The Grown-Ups Are Losing It" (The Atlantic 2022, 4.5 pp)
  
  Start paying close attention on page 2, with the paragraph that starts with, "What is school for?" Stop and reflect when you arrive at this paragraph (which I have edited a bit to better reflect what I hope you will take away from this course over length of the the term):

  "[College] can’t just be an economic sorting system. One reason we have a stake in the education of other people’s children is that they will grow up to be citizens. Education is a public interest, which explains why parents [or students] shouldn’t get to veto any book they think might upset [themselves or] their child, whether it’s To Kill a Mockingbird or Beloved. Public education is meant not to mirror the unexamined values of a particular family or community, but to expose [students] to ways that other people, some of them long dead, think. In an authoritarian or rigidly meritocratic system, schools select the elites who grow up to make the decisions. A functioning democracy needs citizens who know how to make decisions together."
  

• Handout to review early in the term: How will you earn a high professionalism and participation grade? 

• Handout to review early in the term: How will your papers will be graded?
  

• Handout to review early in the term: When do you need to use citations for work submitted in this class? 

• The syllabus and last three documents listed above are required reading, and the latter two should be completed before you submit any papers in this class.
  

• Some time early in the term, you also should take a quick look to see what other resources also are available under the "Student Resources" tab at the top of this webpage. I have put these resources together to help you to succeed in PSC 1010 from the first day of our class.
  

• One last thing, I want you to think about this week. Come up with a plan on when and how you are doing to do the day-to-day homework for the course. As we start the semester, determine when you are going to study for this class on an ongoing basis. You will make things a lot easier on yourself if you use three strategies:
  (1) Keep up with the homework readings as they are assigned. Each class meeting's reading load is manageable; trying to complete more than a week of homework reading at a time is going to be a big challenge that I would like you to avoid. 
  (2) Know what you are looking for in each reading by frequently reviewing the unit study guide.
  (3) Summarize readings as you complete them and either take reading notes or use a highlighting system so that you don't need to re-read entire documents ahead of exams and paper assignments. You will save yourself much time and energy if you do nothing more than highlight a small portion of what you are reading, including each article's main arguments and examples of supporting evidence. 

Topic 2 -What is political science, and how is this approach to understanding politics different?

January 8, 10 (W, F)-How do we study complex human behavior "scientifically"?

• A draft study guide for the first course unit is waiting for you in the PPT/Assignments file. The first versions of the study guides are draft documents because the course always changes from one year to the next, as new political events take place and I replace some of the readings. I typically will revise the study guides modestly a couple of time during each unit, but for the most part, the final versions of these guides will look much like what you have available from the start of each unit. You will have the final version of each unit's study guide at least a week ahead of the test.
  

•  An outtake from James N. Danziger's A Comparative Introduction to Political Science.
  
  For Friday:
  

• Andrew Gelman and Julia Azari, "19 Things We Learned from the 2016 Election" (Statistics and Public Policy, 2016, 10pp). Don't memorize the 19 things. Instead, read this article quickly, focusing on the tone and approach the political science authors use. This article is dated and was selected because you probably will be familiar with the historical events cited but not emotionally invested in them the way you might be if I assigned a similar article from the most recent election. What are a few of the lessons they see from the 2016 election? What kinds of lessons do they take away? How are they using instances where political scientist predictions were wrong about 2016 election to get better at prediction going forward (i.e., most of the ideas they examine are ones that at least some political scientists were supporting going into the election)? How well did these political scientists' ideas about lessons from the 2016 election work out for accurately predicting how the the 2020 election unfolded?

WEEK 2
Topic 3-Should we be worried about how angry Americans are?
January 13 (M)- How angry are Americans and why?

• Focus questions and writing topic for this week. Remember, you need write an 1500-word essay on one discussion-week topic essay before the end of the first course unit. Is this the topic you want to write on? If so, start it after our first discussion section, which will be the last day in this bloc of material.
  

• Read This very brief summary (3pp) of the core assumptions of two classic, western visions of government (3pp) , which see unchecked authoritarianism (in the case of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan) and very limited citizen participation (John Locke) as the only alternative to perpetual social violence

• Craig Helmstetter and Eric Plutzer, “Mood of the Nation: Angry” (APM Research, 2024), 3pp.

• PBS Newshour, "Why are Fear and Anger so Effective in Politics?" (2024). 8-min video.

• Steven W. Webster, an outtake from American Rage: How Anger Shapes Our Politics (Cambridge Press, 2020, 27pp). Make sure to use the focus questions (i.e., the study guide in the PPTs & Assignments folder) to identify what parts of this chapter you should carefully read.

January 15, 17  (W, F)-Is anger in American politics a new problem?

• Read This very brief summary (3pp) of the core assumptions of two classic, western visions of government (3pp) , which see unchecked authoritarianism (in the case of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan) and very limited citizen participation (John Locke) as the only alternative to perpetual social violence

• Federalist 10 (5 pp). This is a difficult reading so please read it closely, outlining the main ideas as they related ). Why did our Founders see democracy as inherently prone to violence? What "two methods" did they see as potential "cures"? Is there anything surprising about what our founders thought about everyday citizens? Why did Madison think moving power further away from the people and local government was a good idea? Why did he favor putting power in the hands of  a small rather than large national legislature? What founding assumptions about the character of citizens and leaders have proven to be wrong?

• Daniel M. Shea and Alex Sproveri, "The Rise and Fall of Nasty Politics in America" (PS 2012, 7pp). Rather than reading this article very closely, outline the main ideas and the methodology being used.

• Phillip Bump, "The Ominous Rise of Congressional Anger" (Washington Post 2024, 4pp). Bump is an analyst for the WP's, "The Fix" unit. His writing consistently leans left. This short piece is assigned because it updates other readings' charts on support for violence in politics and patterns of "Nasty Politics" over time.

WEEK 3
January 20 (M)- No class -- MLK Day

• Martin Luther King, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (10 pp). Make sure to read through the focus questions, so you have a sense about what you are supposed to get out of this reading. Why does King argue that anger is necessary in American politics? What forms of anger-based actions does he see as acceptable?

January 22 (W)-Discussion seminar 1: Would America really be better off with less political and ideological conflict? 

Recall that you must write an essay on one (and only one)  of the discussion session topics from the first course unit (You will have three choices; the other two will focusing on political ideology and ideas about constitutional change).

If you choose to write a paper on the week's topic, it will be due at the start of class the Monday after our discussion seminar meeting, Read the paper instructions and prompt very closely before you start. In addition to reading the handout on this week's topic, below are several articles that should be carefully read ahead of this class so that we can break out into groups and talk about the day's topic. Keep in mind that both our discussion and the unit 1 exam later on will cover the entire week's material whether or not you choose to write on this week's topic:

• Paul Starobin, "The Angry American" (Atlantic Monthly, 2004, 9pp)

• Excerpts from Steven W. Webster, Elizabeth C. Connors Betsy Sinclair, “The Social Consequences of Political Anger” (2022). Read just these three sections:“Why Should Political Anger Influence Social Polarization?,” “Experimental design,” and “Conclusions and Implications”
  

• Pew Research Center, "How partisans view each other" (2019, 8pp).

• L. Sandy Maisel, "The Negative Consequences of Uncivil Political Discourse" (PS, 2012, 8pp)
  

• Meryl Kornfield and Mariana Alfaro. 2022. "1 in 3 Americans say violence against government can be justified, citing fears of political schism, pandemic" (Washingon Post, 3pp). What would Dr. King think about the data and analysis in this article? If that link won't work for you, use this one.

Your first exam is tentatively scheduled for Monday, February 10. If you have OARS accommodations that involve extended testing time or testing in a quiet environment, please make sure to complete the paperwork to take your test in the OARS testing site. Your exam start must be on the same day and time as the rest of the class; see me in advance if you have a documented class conflict that will prevent you from using accommodations as noted above.

If you are writing your unit 1 discussion paper on the last topic (Fixing the US Constitution?), that paper is due Friday, February 14.