1 Bob Turner, PhD
Associate Professor
Government and Environmental Studies Ladd 315
[email protected] Office Hours: MW 1:30-4 pm;
when door is open, or by appointment http://www.skidmore.edu/~bturner/
Real Democracy SSP-100 Fall 2013
"In a political system where nearly every adult may vote but where knowledge, wealth, social position, access to officials, and other resources are unequally distributed, who actually governs?"
Dahl, Robert A. Who Governs? New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961.
How well does democracy work in Saratoga Springs? How do we know? The foundation of democracy in the United States is its institutions of local government. The men and women chosen by their fellow citizens to govern them determine not only what their governments do, but also the quality of the democratic process. The hotly contested fall Saratoga Springs city election will provide a real life laboratory for studying the practice of democracy in 21st century America. Students will observe city council meetings, attend campaign events; interview local political elites; and conduct a survey of citizens' vote choice in the November Saratoga Springs city election.
Learning Goals
• Critically analyze competing theories of democracy;
• Make normative and empirical critiques about civic engagement political participation; • Formulate campaign strategy in local elections
• Understand competing theories of voting behavior and how they apply to local elections
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative research using observational, elite interviews, and survey research
• Understand and appreciate the practice of democracy in Saratoga Springs Scribner Seminar Goals
In addition, this is a course about knowing, particularly about ways to identify problems, formulate productive questions, and go about answering those questions. Students will demonstrate the ability to:
• read critically, and gather and interpret evidence;
• distinguish among the evidence and methodologies appropriate to different disciplines; • consider and address complexities and ambiguities;
• make connections among ideas;
• recognize choices, examine assumptions and ask questions of themselves and of their own work; • formulate conclusions based upon evidence;
2 • communicate ideas both orally and in writing.
READINGS
All of the readings are in the Real Democacy Reader which will be provided in class. You should complete the assigned reading and assignment before class. Class will consist of lecture, discussion, and some small group activities. All students are expected to participate, preferably not at the same time.
REQUIREMENTS & GRADING
As befitting your status at one of the “New Ivies”, I have high expectations of student performance. Grades will be determined by student performance on all of the following:
• Democratic Theory Paper (10%) • Civic Engagement Paper (12.5%) • Campaign Strategy Paper (12.5%)
• Saratoga Springs Elections Project (32.5%) • Final Exam (22.55%)
• Class Participation (10%)
All students should familiarize themselves with the college’s policy on Academic Misconduct and abide by the provisions of the Honor Code. If you need any academic accommodations, please be sure that you have made your requests for such accommodations to Meg Hegener, Coordinator for Student Access Services in Student Academic Services.
COURSE ABSENCES
A well functioning class that promotes learning requires good attendance. You are allowed two personal days (absences), after that I will deduct 2.5% from your final grade. For example, you receive a 90%, but have missed four classes; your final grade is an 85%. You have an unlimited number of excused absences for illnesses, family crises, etc, though they count against your two absences. For each of these absences, you must provide written excuse from the Dean of Students’ office.
The Schedule will change in response to guest speaker schedules and Saratoga Springs political events. COURSE SCHEDULE
Introduction to Saratoga Springs Politics
September 4 Saratoga Springs Local Politics and Players --Reading packet on Saratoga Springs politics
Section I Democratic Theory
September 6-9 Substantive Democracy
Robert Dahl, On Democracy, Ideal Democracy p. 35-83
** September 10 Independent and GOP Party Primary Elections Sep 10 Political, Economic, and Social Tour of Saratoga Springs September 11, 13 Procedural Theories of Democracy
Robert Mueller, Capitalism, Democracy, and Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery, p. 137-191 Monday, September 16 8pm Wes Moore Lecture, Arthur Zankel Music Center
3 September 16, 18, 20 The New England Town Meeting
Frank M. Bryan, Real Democracy: The New England Town Meeting and How It Works (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004): 56-81.
Jane Mansbridge. Chapters 4-6, Beyond Adversary Democracy, 39-76.
September 17- Rough Draft Meetings with Ilona Paper #1 due September 23rd
Section II Civic Engagement
September 23 Disappearing Social Capital
Putnam, Robert, Bowling Alone: the Collapse and Revival of American Community Thinking about Social Change in America, p 15-28
Civic Participation 48-64
September 24Academic Integrity with Ilona September 25 Associational Life
Putnam, Robert, Bowling Alone
• What Killed Civic Engagement, 277-285 • So What, p. 288-295
• Democracy, 326-349
September 27 Social Capital in Saratoga Springs • Interviewing elites
• Choosing organizations, design survey instruments Oct 1 Social Capital Paper due
Section III Political Participation
September 30 Historical Perspectives on Participation Michael Schudson, Good Citizens and Bad History
Matthew A. Crenson, Benjamin Ginsberg, From Popular to Personal Democracy, National Civic Review, vol. 92, no. 2, Summer 2003 173-189
Oct 1 City Council Meeting, 7-9pm City Hall, Broadway October 2 Political and Economic Inequality
Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Henry E. Brady, Civic Participation and the Equality Problem, in Civic Engagement in American Democracy, ed. Theda Skocpol and Morris P. Fiorina (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1999) pp. 427-59.
October 4 Is Participation Always a Good Thing?
Morris Fiorina, Extreme Voices, a Dark Side of Civic Engagement, 395-426.
4 Verba, Would the Dream of Political Equality Turnout to Be a Nightmare? Perspectives on Politics,
December 2003, 663-679.
Oct 7 Observational Research Methods
James M. Glaser, The Challenge of Campaign Watching: Seven Lessons of Participant-Observation Research. PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 29, No. 3. (Sep., 1996), 533-537.
Fenno, Home Style, “Note on Method: Participant Observation”
Oct 8Civic Engagement at Skidmore, guest speaker, Dean for Civic Engagement Skidmore's Vision of Civic Engagement, to be provided
Section IV A Theory of Small Scale Democracy, Oct 9 Size, Scope, and Bias
J. Eric Oliver, Local elections and the politics of small scale democracy, Oct 11 Who Runs
J. Eric Oliver, Local elections and the politics of small scale democracy, Chapter 4, Who Runs for Local Office,
Oct 14 Who Votes
Eric Oliver, Local elections and the politics of small scale democracy, Who Votes in Local Elections, 53-86
Oct 15 Alcohol and Drug Use Oct 16 Political Campaigns
Daniel Shea, Campaign Craft, Chapters 2, 6 Oct 18 Political Campaigns
Daniel Shea, Campaign Craft, Chapters 8, 10, 11
Oct 21 and 23 Voter Mobilization
Green and Gerber, Get Out the Vote! How to Increase Voter Turnout, 2004 Monday, October 21, Comprehensive Plan Committee 2013 Meeting
City of Saratoga Springs Recreation Center Community Room at 15 Vanderbilt Avenue: 6-8 pm Oct 22, NIGHT, No class, go out campaigning with candidate
Section V Voting Behavior
October 23� Socio-economic explanations and Candidate and Issue-Based Voting Abrahmson et al, Ch 5 Social Forces and the Vote
Ch 6 Candidate Issues and the Vote
October 25 Retrospective Voting and Party Loyalty
Berry and Howell, Accountability and Local Elections: Rethinking Retrospective Voting http://home.uchicago.edu/~whowell/papers/AccountabilityAndLocal.pdf
5 Oct 29 NIGHT Campaign Strategy Paper DUE
Section V. Saratoga Springs Elections Project
October 30 Trick or Treat- preparing exit poll questions
Rips, and Rasinki. 2000. The Psychology of Survey Response. New York: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1.
November 1 and 4 Survey Research and Design
Nov 5, 2013 Saratoga Springs City Council Elections- attend GOP and Democrats Election Returns party 8pm Holiday Inn and Inn at Saratoga
November 6 Post Election Debrief
November 7, 8 9 Evening Phone Interviews
November 11 - Quantitative Analysis of Exit Polls
You will learn Excel and some base statistical techniques to explain the outcome of the 2007 Saratoga Springs election
November 13 PowerPoint presentations
November 15 Public Presentation of Election Findings November 18 Elected Officials Day
Kristi Andersen, What I Learned (and Re-Learned) When I Ran for Local Office, Alan Hertke, My Life as a School Board Candidate: Lesson Learned in Local Politics
Nov 20 Data workshop Nov 22 Data workshop
November 23-25 Thanksgiving
Section VI Institutional Constraints on Democracy Dec 2-4 Does Sprawl Constrain Democracy
David Rusk, Upstate New York: a House Divided Why New York State Must Change Its "Rules of the Game" To Reinvigorate Regional Economic Growth, Prepared for the New
York Thruway AllianceEconomic Summit Syracuse, New York May 20, 2005 1-22
David Rusk; Inside Game/Outside Game: The Case for Regional Equity, p. 1-22
Dec 6-8 Perceptions of Local Officials
Office of New York State Comptroller, Outdated Municipal Structures: Cities, Towns and Villages 18th Century Designations for 21st Century Communities 1-30
Sydney Cresswell, Municipal Leaders Talk About Governing New York Communities, Feb 2006,
6 Government, Business & Civic Leaders Talk About...Governing New York's Communities, July 2005 Local Governance Dialogue Project
December Ambition Theory
Ehrenhalt, The United State of Ambition, Politicians, Power and the Pursuit of Power, Ch 2, 3, and 6
December 11 Urban Regime Analysis
Clarence N. Stone, Looking Back to Look Forward: Reflections on Urban Regime Analysis, Urban Affairs Review, Vol. 40, No. 3, 309-341 (2005)
