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Note to Teachers
The course outline below, for a one-semester course, represents the product of a collaboration that began five years ago between Dr. David Lublin, an assistant professor at American University, and Susan Ikenberry, of Georgetown Day School, in which ideas are shared for her AP class and his freshman American Government course. The outline is designed to follow current events. It begins with the presidency, which one can anticipate will work beautifully with a presidential inauguration. An instructor can be sure there will be current events and newspaper columns that can be used to illustrate current concepts.
The outline then uses an "Opposition Research" assignment as a way to segue into textbook chapters dealing with the media, elections, polling, parties, and finally Congress. Redistricting, PACs, and the incumbency advantage are topics that will all make more sense to students who have studied one new member's arrival in Washington. The topic will work beautifully with resources a student can find close at hand. C-SPAN, for example, always runs footage of new members of Congress moving into their offices and talking about committee assignments; newspapers typically run features on new members.
Most American University students are from other parts of the country and know little about the city they are in, so the assignment on Maryland and D.C. politics is a clever way to give them a quick introduction to local personalities and concerns, and to help them to see how the city they live in functions politically. The op-ed assignment allows students to pursue an interest that they may develop as they do their reading, but frames it in a contemporary way that will appeal to university students who are thinking about a political career. It also makes students more aware of what an "op-ed" piece is, and how influential they are in the Washington scene.
Dr. Lublin teaches with the O'Connor and Sabato textbook. Dr. Lublin's course has more outside readings than a similar high school course might have, although in fact many high school courses have a reader and assign many of these articles, particularly for classes that are fortunate enough to run for two semesters. Given that many of Dr. Lublin's students are potential majors the extra readings are important. This course as presented, with few if any modifications, would serve AP students very well.
Course Outline: Politics in the United States
David Lublin
American University
Washington, D.C.
Text: O'Connor and Sabato
January 10: Introduction
January 13: The Presidency and the Presidential Nomination Process I
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, Chapter 8 (pp. 269-311).
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 13 (pp. 496-502).
O'Connor, portions of Chapter 8 (pp. 167-8, 178-96).
Alexander Hamilton, "Federalist No. 70."
Richard E. Neustadt, "Presidential Power and the Power to
Persuade."
Samuel Kernell, "Going Public."
United States v. Nixon (1974).
Bob Woodward, "Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of
Watergate."
Clinton v. Jones (1997).
January 24: The Presidency and the Presidential Nomination Process II
Readings:
Same as previous class.
January 27: Electoral College, Elections 2000 and 2004
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 13 (pp. 503-7).
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 14 (pp. 566-78).
January 31: Incumbency Advantage and Congressional Elections
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 13 (pp. 510-11, 514-19).
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 7 (pp. 220-29).
O'Connor, portion of Chapter 13 (pp. 294-303, 307-10).
Gary C. Jacobson, "The Politics of Congressional Elections."
Karlyn H. Bowman and Tom Smith, "The Gender Gap in American Voting."
February 3: Campaign Advertisements and Political Debates
Opposition Research Assignment Due
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 14 (pp. 539-51).
Stephen Ansolabehere et al, "Does Attack Advertising Demobilize the Electorate?" American Political Science Review 88 (December 1994): 829-38.
February 7: Media and Politics/Review Session
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, Chapter 15 (pp. 583-615).
O'Connor, portion of Chapter 14 (pp. 318-24, 331-4).
Shanto Iyengar and Donald R. Kinder, "News That Matters."
Larry Sabato, "Inquisition, American Style: Attack Journalism and
Feeding Frenzies."
Doris A. Graber, "The 'New' Media and Politics."
February 10: Exam #1
February 14: Political Parties
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 12 (pp. 435-470, 476-84).
O'Connor, portion of Chapter 12 (pp. 255-6, 258-66).
James Madison, "Federalist No. 10."
Paul Allen Beck, "The Place of Political Parties in America."
Williams v. Rhodes (1968).
February 17: Polling and Party Identification
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 11 (pp. 397-430).
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 12 (pp. 470-76).
O'Connor, portion of Chapter 11 (pp. 239-53).
John R. Zaller, "Monica Lewinsky's Contribution to Political
Science."
Warren Mitofsky, "Pollsters.com."
Benjamin Ginsburg, "How Polling Transforms Public Opinion."
February 21: PACs and Campaign Finance
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 14 (pp. 552-65).
O'Connor, portion of Chapter 12 (pp. 277-89).
Larry J. Sabato, "PAC Power."
Buckley v. Valeo (1976).
February 24: Interest Groups
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, Chapter 16 (pp. 619-651).
O'Connor, portion of Chapter 12 (pp. 266-77).
Mancur Olson Jr., "The Logic of Collective Action."
Theodore J. Lowi, "Interest-Group Liberalism."
February 28: Racial Redistricting I
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 13 (pp. 511-14).
O'Connor and Sabato, box in Chapter 4 (p. 105).
David Lublin, "Race, Representation, and Redistricting," Chapter 5 in
Paul E. Peterson, ed., Classifying by Race (pp. 111-25).
March 3: Racial Redistricting II
Political Reform Op-Ed Due
Reading:
Bernard Grofman, Lisa Handley, and David Lublin, "Drawing Effective
Minority Districts: A Conceptual Framework and Some Empirical
Evidence," North Carolina Law Review 79: 5(June 2001): 1383-
1430.
March 14: D.C. and Maryland Politics
Readings:
Metro Section, Washington Post (read every day for a week).
Washington City Paper
"Loose Lips" contains the local political gossip.
Best source for D.C. local news.
Northwest Current.
March 17: Judiciary/Review Session
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, Chapter 10 (pp. 347-93).
O'Connor, portion of Chapter 10 (pp. 219-24).
Marbury v. Madison (1803).
William H. Rehnquist, "How the Supreme Court Arrives at
Decisions."
March 21: Exam #2
March 24: The Constitution
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, Chapter 2 (pp. 34-67).
O'Connor, Chapter 3 (pp. 28-46).
James Madison, "Federalist No. 47."
The Economist, "If You Sincerely Want to Be a United States."
Leonard W. Levy, "The Framers, the Supreme Court, and Notions of Original Intent."
John R. Vile, "Proposals to Amend the Constitution."
The Constitution (in either O'Connor and Sabato, or O'Connor).
March 28: Congress I
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, Chapter 7 (pp. 221-67).
O'Connor, most of Chapter 7 (pp. 137-59).
James Madison, "Federalists No. 52 and 62."
James Sterling Young, "The Washington Community."
Morris P. Fiorina, "The Rise of the Washington Establishment."
Richard F. Fenno, Jr., "Homestyle: How Members View Their
Districts and Its Effects."
Barbara Sinclair, "An Effective Congress and Effective Members:
What Does It Take?"
March 31: Congress II/Realignment I
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 13 (pp. 507-10).
James L. Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System: Alignment and
Dealignment of Political Parties in the United States (The
Brookings Institution 1983): Chapters 2, 5 (pp. 19-34, 74-105).
April 4: Realignment II
Readings:
Same as previous class.
April 11: Participation
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, portion of Chapter 13 (pp. 519-29).
April 14: Civil Liberties/Review Session
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, Chapter 5 (pp. 139-77).
O'Connor, portion of Chapter 5 (pp. 81-103).
Lee v. Weisman (1992).
Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993).
R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, Minnesota (1992).
Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997).
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963).
McCleskey v. Kemp (1987).
April 18: Civil Rights I
Readings:
O'Connor and Sabato, Chapter 6 (pp. 181-218).
O'Connor, most of Chapter 6 (pp. 106-34).
Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978).
Hopwood v. Texas (1996).
Reed v. Reed (1971).
United States v. Virginia (1996).
Romer v. Evans (1996).
April 21: Civil Rights II/Review Session
Readings:
Same as previous class.
April 25: Exam #3
David Lublin is an associate professor of government at American University in Washington, D.C. He is the author of The Paradox of Representation (Princeton University Press, 1997) and The Republican South (Princeton University Press, 2004), as well as numerous academic journal articles. His work on redistricting was cited by the Supreme Court in Georgia v. Ashcroft. During 2004, the U.S. State Department sent him to Germany, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and Serbia and Montenegro to speak about the American democratic process.
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