Power and Politics in America Professor Anna Harvey

A53.0300.001 Department of Politics

Fall 2000 715 Broadway, 4th Floor, Rm. 435A

Main 806 998-3709

Lectures: Tuesday, Thursday; 11:00-12:15

TAs: Matt Golder, Costas Panagopolous anna.harvey@nyu.edu

Students must also register for one of the organized sections 002-005.

This course will explore the logic underlying the unique form of government which exists in the United States. Emphasis will be placed on the institutions which secure (or not) governmental responsiveness to citizen preferences. The course will begin by studying the institutional mechanism of elections, and will then cover federalism and separation of powers. After the midterm the course will examine in more detail specific institutions of American government: Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and the courts.

Course evaluation will consist of participation in recitations (20%), a midterm (25%), a short paper (25%), and a final exam (30%). The participation grade includes completion of weekly recitation assignments.

The following required books have been ordered through the NYU Bookstore:

Morris P. Fiorina, Paul E. Peterson, The New American Democracy (Allyn and Bacon, 1999)

David R. Mayhew, Congress: The Electoral Connection (Yale University Press, 1974)

A required course packet is also available for purchase at the NYU Bookstore.

Week 1: Introduction

September 7

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 1

Week 2: Public Goods and Private Goods

September 12

September 14

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 4

Part II: The Problem of Governmental Responsiveness

Week 3: Elections and Governmental Responsiveness: Theory

September 19

September 21

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 5

Brennan and Buchanan article (start)

Week 4: Elections and Governmental Responsiveness: Evidence

September 26

September 28

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 6

Brennan and Buchanan article (finish)

Week 5: Problems With Elections

October 3

October 5

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapters 7 & 8

Tiebout article

Week 6: Federalism and Governmental Responsiveness

October 10

October 12

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 3

Bednar et al article (start)

Week 7: Maintaining the Balance of Federalism: Separation of Powers

October 17

October 19

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 2

Bednar et al article (finish)

Week 8: Review and Midterm

October 24 Review

October 26 In class midterm exam

Week 9: Congress under the American Constitution: Elections

October 31

November 2

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 11

Mayhew, pp. 1-77

PAPER HANDOUT DISTRIBUTED IN CLASS NOVEMBER 2

Week 10: Congress Under the American Constitution: Legislative Behavior

November 7

November 9

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 12

Mayhew, pp. 81-180

Week 11: The Presidency Under the American Constitution

November 14

November 16

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 10

Week 12: Presidential/Congressional Relations

November 21

November 23 THANKSGIVING

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 13

Week 13: The Executive Bureaucracy

November 28

November 30

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 14

Week 14: The Courts Under the American Constitution

December 5

December 7

Readings: Fiorina and Peterson, Chapter 15

Rosenberg excerpt

Week 15: Conclusions

December 12

December 13 Final Review