This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Readings

Required Books

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism. London, UK: Verso, 1983. ISBN: 9780860917595.

Downs, Anthony. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1957.

Hirschman, Albert. Exit, Voice, Loyalty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780674276604.

Putnam, Robert. Making Democracy Work. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780691037387.

Readings by Session

SES # TOPICS READINGS
1 Organizational meeting and review of first semester  
2-3 Social Division and Identity

Dahl, Robert. Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1961, Introduction and Book I, pp. 1-86.

Key, V. O. Southern Politics in State and Nation. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1949, chapters 1, 14, 15, 16, 20, 25, and 30.

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism. London, UK: Verso, 1983. ISBN: 9780860917595.

4-5 Ideology and Beliefs

Geertz, Clifford. "Ideology as a Cultural System." In Ideology and Discontent. Edited by David E. Apter. New York, NY: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1964, pp. 47-76.

Converse, Phillip E. "The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics." In Ideology and Discontent. Edited by David E. Apter. New York, NY: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1964, pp. 206-261.

Downs, Anthony. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1957, chapters 1-8.

6-7 Participation

Hirschman, Albert. Exit, Voice, Loyalty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780674276604.

Scott, James. Domination and the Arts of Resistance. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990, chapters 1-3, and 8. ISBN: 9780300047059.

8-10 Institutions

Lipset, Seymour Martin. Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics. New York, NY: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1963, chapters 1-3.

Duverger, Maurice. Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1963, Introduction, Book I chapter 1, and Book II chapter 1.

Miller, Warren, and Donald Stokes. "Constituency Influence in Congress." Chapter 16 in Elections and the Political Order. Edited by Angus Campbell, Philip Converse, Warren Miller, and Donald Stokes. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1967.

Ansolabehere, Steven, Alan Gerber, and Jim Snyder. "Equal Votes, Equal Money: Court-Ordered Redistricting and Public Expenditures in the American States." APSR 96 (December 2002): 767-777.

11-12 How Institutions Shape Outcomes

Shepsle, Kenneth, and Barry Weingast. "Structure-induced Equilibrium and Legislative Choice." Public Choice 37 (1981): 503-519.

Krehbiel, Keith. Pivotal Politics: A Theory of US Lawmaking. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1998, chapters 1-2. ISBN: 9780226452722.

Lijphart, Arendt. Democracies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1984, chapters 1 and 4. ISBN: 9780300031829.

Fiorina. "The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics." Daedalus 1980.

13-14 Summary Readings Putnam, Robert. Making Democracy Work. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780691037387.