Reading Assignments

Reading Assignments

Your reading assignments are to be done independently. The reading assignments are due by the specified date. All supplemental readings are to be independently as well unless specified on your schedule below. In addition, you should be prepared to present all assigned questions to me by the specified date.

Reading Questions

Classroom Textbook: American Government, Wilson, 8

Edition

1. What are the three political arenas within which a party may be found?

2. In what ways are American political parties weak?

3. Briefly summarize the differences between political parties in the United States and in Europe. You can make a bullet point chart.

4. Briefly trace the development of the party system through its four periods, and give reasons for why the parties have been in decline since the New Deal period. Do not go overboard in your notes on the four party systems; just make sure you’re familiar with the parties and the terms and the chronology.

5. Describe the structure of the major political parties, making sure you understand the roles of the national committees, congressional committees, and the national chairmen.

6. What has been the difference between the two parties in terms of structure and organization?

7. How have changes in how they choose delegates affected the last few Democratic nominating conventions? Take note of the 1972 McGovern changes (known as the

McGovern-Frasier Commission) and the 1981 Hunt Commission. What were the effects of these changes?

8. What is a political party machine? How has the power of party machines been weakened?

What were some of the positive aspects of party machines?

9. Define and give examples of an ideological party.

10. How does having a personal following reflect a weakened party system?

11. What explanations does the book give for the persistence of the two-party system?

12. Explain why minor parties form, and discuss different kinds of parties.

13. Analyze why third parties are so rarely successful. KNOW THIS!

14. Describe some of the issue differences between delegates at Democratic and Republican conventions, and indicate whether there are major differences between the parties. Compare these differences with those between members of the rank and file voters.

Supplemental Readings in your reader and other articles

Due Date Reading Pages Book

Nov 8th Breaking the Two-Party Monopoly – Douglas J. Amy

256-263 Answer questions256

Perspectives on American Politics, Lasser, 3

Edition

Due Date Chapter/Topic Pages

Nov 15 Chapter 8: Elections and Campaigns

178-214

Reading Questions

Due Date Chapter/Topic Pages

Nov 8th Chapter 7: Political Parties 148-177

Classroom Textbook: American Government, Wilson, 8

Edition

1. How do American elections and those in parliamentary systems differ?

2. How do presidential and congressional campaigns differ?

3. List the strategic decisions that a presidential candidate must make and make sure that you understand each one. Then, list the key steps in running for president.

4. What are the differences between running in the primaries and the general campaign? Give examples.

5. Define closed, open, and blanket primaries. What does the term “coattails refer to?

6. What has been the effect of TV on campaigns? List as many effects as you can.

7. What does the book say are the three factors that determine peacetime presidential elections?

Which group normally decides elections? How do the economy and character affect elections?

8. What does the book say about the effect of money in presidential elections vs. congressional elections? Explain the connection between elections and incumbency.

9. What are the three reasons that the book gives for why party identification doesn’t determine who wins elections?

10. What are the differences between retrospective and prospective voting and what effect does such voting have on elections?

11. How can campaigns make a difference in elections?

12. What were the effects of the post-Watergate reforms?

13. Summarize what the book says about how the following groups vote and the effect they have on campaigns: Hispanics, African Americans, Jews, Catholics, southerners, union members, business people, and poor people.

14. What is a party realignment and how do the elections of 1896 and 1932 qualify as alignments. (You only need a brief answer here – don’t summarize the whole history) 15. Why do elections have so little impact on public policy?

Due Date Chapter/Topic Pages

Dec 13 Chapter 9: Interest Groups and Political Action Committees (PACs)

216-242

Reading Questions

Classroom Textbook: American Government, Wilson, 8

Edition

1. The book gives four factors that account for the rise of interest groups? Summarize those factors and give examples for each.

2. Define what an interest group is and what its purpose is. What are the differences between institutional interests and membership interests? Give examples of each.

3. Identify and define the incentives to join a mass-membership organization.

4. Define what a public-interest lobby is and give an example.

5. What is the difference between the staff and membership of an interest group?

6. The book discusses the environmental, feminist, and union movements. Outline or summarize the information on each. (Bullet points are fine.)

7. How do interest groups get their funds?

8. Summarize the five activities that the book lists for how interest groups work to influence policy? Give examples for each activity. Assess how successful each type of activity is in influencing policy. This is very important so be sure that you understand this section.

9. What were the weaknesses of the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 and why did Congress decide to enact a new law in 1995?

10. How did the 1995 Lobbyist Disclosure Act strengthen the federal government’s regulation of interest groups?

Due Date Chapter/Topic Pages

Dec 13 Chapter 10: The Media 244-272

Reading Questions

Classroom Textbook: American Government, Wilson, 8

Edition

1. In general, how does the American media differ from that of England and France?

2. Define the terms “yellow journalism” and “muckrakers.”

3. How have the characteristics of the electronic media and the Internet affected the actions of public officials and candidates for national office?

4. What does the book conclude about the degree of competition in the media?

5. What is the impact of the “national press?” Define the roles of the national media as gatekeeper, scorekeeper, and watchdog. Think of examples for each.

6. Summarize the rules regulating the media and the government including the following:

prior restraint, libel, confidentiality of sources, FCC regulations, Telecommunications Act (1996), Equal time rule, Right-of-reply rule, political editorializing rule, fairness doctrine. Make sure you understand all these rules.

7. Summarize what the book says about the effects of the media on politics.

8. How does press coverage of the president and of Congress differ?

9. What does the book say concerning press bias?

10. Why does American government have so many leaks?

11. Why do people have an increasing lack of confidence in the media? Summarize all the reasons that the book gives.

Supplemental Readings in your reader

Due Date Reading Pages Book

Dec 13 New York Times v. The United States – Justice Hugo C. Black

214-218 Answer questions on page 215

Perspectives on American Politics, Lasser, 3

Edition

Due Date Assignment

Nov 1st Political Parties Flash Cards

Nov 8th Elections and Campaigns Flash Cards

Political Parties

1. Political party 2. Coalition 3. Super-delegates 4. Strom Thurmond

5. Progressives 6. Congressional 7. Winner-take-all 8. hard money

campaign committee

system

9. Direct primary 10. National chairman 11. Political machine 12. Second Party System 13. National

convention

14. Soft money 15. Tammany Hall 16. Era of Good Feeling 17. National committee 18. Ross Perot 19. New Deal

Coalition 20. Gridlock 21. Patronage 22. Realignment 23. Spoils system 24. Laissez faire 25. Plurality system 26. First Party System 27. Civil Service 28. McGovern-Fraser

Commission 29. Caucus 30. Party platform 31. Party dealignment

32. Linkage institutions 33. George Wallace 34. “personal following”

35. “loyal opposition” 36. Dixiecrats 37. Proportional representation Elections & Campaigns

1. incumbent 2. general election 3. runoff primary 4. split ticket voting 5. coattails 6. primary election 7. Federal Election

Commission (FEC)

8. straight ticket voting 9. PAC or political

action committee

10. open primary 11. Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

12. “front-loading”

nomination process 13. federal matching

funds

14. closed primary 15. soft money 16. “Winner-take-all”

primaries 17. caucus (esp. Iowa

caucus)

18. blanket primary 19. hard money 20. Super Tuesday 21. primary 22. Federal Election

Campaign Act (1974)

23. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

24. Bush v. Gore (2000) 25. front-loaded campaign 26. Smith v. Allwright

(1944)

27. 527s 28. Opposition Research

29. clothespin vote 30. white primaries 31. prospective voting 32. McConnell v. FEC (2003)

33. position issue 34. whistle-stop train tour 35. retrospective voting 36. Help American Vote Act (2002)

37. valence issue 38. campaign spots 39. critical/realigning election

40. mid-term election

Due Date Assignment

Dec 13 Interest Groups

Dec 13 The Media

Interest Groups

1. Lobbyist Disclosure Act (1995)

2. Communication Workers of America v. Beck (1988)

3. Ethics in Government Act (1978)

4. Lobby and lobbyist 5. Feminist Movement 6. Environmental Movement 7. Interest group 8. Union Movement 9. Pluralist Theory

10. Material incentives 11. Foundations 12. Elitist Theory

13. Ideological interest group 14. Direct Mail 15. Trade association 16. Public-interest lobby 17. Political cue 18. Iron Triangles 19. Ralph Nader 20. Insider strategy 21. Free rider problem 22. K Street 23. Grassroots lobbying 24. Think tanks 25. Social Movement 26. “Revolving Door” 27. Earmarks

The Media

1. Muckraker 2. Equal Time rule 3. Adversarial Press 4. loaded language 5. Associated Press 6. Right-of-reply rule 7. “Off/On the record” 8. Feeding Frenzy 9. yellow journalism 10. Political

editorializing rule

11. “On (deep) background”

12. News Leaks 13. “Big Three”

Networks 14. Federal

Communications Commission

15. Freedom of Information Act (1974)

16. “Above” or

“Below the fold”

stories

17. sound bites 18. Selective attention 19. Pack Journalism 20. Insider Stories

21. Libel 22. Editorial

endorsement 23. New York Times Co.

v. Sullivan (1964) 24. trial balloon 25. Defamation 26. C-Span 27. Feeding Frenzy

28. Prior Restraint 29. Routine Stories 30. Telecommunication s Act

31. The Pentagon Papers

32. Feature Stories 33. Shield law