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Readings

This section features a list of books required for the course as well as the readings by week.

Required Texts

Buy at Amazon Brady, David W., and Craig Volden. Revolving Gridlock: Politics and Policy from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780813343204.

Buy at Amazon Dahl, Robert Alan. Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in American Society. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1961 or 1963. ISBN: 9780300000511 (1989 edition).

Buy at Amazon Kinder, Donald R., and Lynn M. Sanders. Divided By Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1996. ISBN: 9780226435732.

Buy at Amazon Olson, Mancur. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1965 or 1971. ISBN: 9780674537507 (1971 edition).

Buy at Amazon Mayhew, David R. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1975. ISBN: 9780300018097.

Buy at Amazon Schattschneider, E. E. Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. ISBN: 9780030133664.

Readings by Week

WEEK # TOPICS READINGS
Introduction and Politics of the American Constitution
1 Introduction and Organization (no readings)
2 Theories and Theoretical Tools

Session 1

Buy at Amazon Stewart, Charles. Analyzing Congress: The New Institutionalism in American Politics. New York, NY: Norton, 2001, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780393976267.

Session 2

Articles of Confederation and U.S. Constitution

Federalist Paper 51: Madison, James. "The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments." Independent Journal (February 6, 1788).

Federalist Paper 84: Hamilton, Alexander. "Certain General and Miscellaneous Objections to the Constitution Considered and Answered." Independent Journal (July 16, July 26, August 9, 1788).
Pluralism and Its Critiques
3 Pluralism

Federalist Paper 10: Madison, James. "The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (continued)." Daily Advertiser (November 22, 1787).

Dahl. Books I and IV in Who Governs?
4 Economic Interests

Buy at Amazon Beard, Charles A. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 2004, chapters 1, 6, and 9. ISBN: 9780486433653.

Schattschneider. Semisovereign People. Chapters 1-5.
5 Race Kinder and Sanders. Divided by Color.
6 Collective Action Olson. The Logic of Collective Action. Especially chapters 1-2.
Voting and Elections
7 Party and Ideology

Buy at Amazon Campbell, Angus, Phlip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes. The American Voter: Unabridged Edition. Reprint ed. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, 1980, chapter 6. ISBN: 9780226092546.

Buy at Amazon Fiorina, Morris P., Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Pearson Longman, 2005. ISBN: 9780321366061.
8 Responsiveness

Ansolabehere, Steve, Jim Snyder, and Charles Stewart. "Candidate Positions in Congressional Elections." American Journal of Political Science 45 (January 2001): 136-159.

Fiorina, Morris. "The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics." Daedalus (Summer 1980): 25-46.
9 Retrospective Voting Issue Ownership

Session 1: Retrospective Voting

Achen, Christopher, and Larry Bartels. "Blind Retrospection: Electoral Responses to Drought, Flu, and Shark Attacks." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA, August 28, 2002.

Session 2: Issue Ownership

Petrocik, et al. "Issue Ownership and Presidential Campaigning, 1952-2000." Political Science Quarterly 118, no. 4 (December 1, 2003): 599-626.
10 Voting and Seats Election Reading

Session 1: Voting and Seats

Tufte, Edward. "Determinants of the Outcomes of Midterm Congressional Elections." The American Political Science Review 69, no. 3 (September 1975): 812-826.
Law Making
11 Representation Mayhew, Congress: The Electoral Connection
12-13 Policy Making

Session 1

Brady and Volden. Revolving Gridlock. Chapter 3.

Note: Starting with chapter 3, this book is an easy and mostly informative read.

Session 2

Brady and Volden. Revolving Gridlock. Chapters 6-7.
Media and Politics
14 Zaller's Theory

Session 1

Zaller, John. A Theory of Media Politics: How the Interests of Politicians, Journalists, and Citizens Shape the News. Unpublished book manuscript, October 1999, chapters 1-4.

Session 2

Zaller, John. A Theory of Media Politics: How the Interests of Politicians, Journalists, and Citizens Shape the News. Unpublished book manuscript, October 1999, chapters 5-7.