Scope and Purpose

We will start each class with a brief discussion of current events in Congress. I'll follow this with a brief lecture on the week's topic, then a student will present findings from an additional reading (explained below), and then we will discuss the readings and topic thoroughly.  You need to come to class prepared to discuss the week's readings.  You should expect to make significant contributions to class discussion every week.

We will be discussing a wide range of issues in this class.  Sometimes you will have questions:  feel free to ask them.  Sometimes you will disagree with a classmate.  Sometimes you will disagree with me.  That's okay!  The political process is about deliberation and reasonable people often disagree.

Course Readings

Turner, Charles C. 2005. The Politics of Minor Concerns:  American Indian Policy and Congressional Dynamics. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

NOTE:  There are a lot of books here. You may want to use the buddy system when purchasing them. You will also find most all of them available used online.

These books will be supplemented with reading from other sources.  These additional readings are available on the internet (see below).  You will need to access this syllabus on the web on a regular basis in order to complete the readings and other class assignments.

Course Requirements and Grading
For the University grading guidelines, consult the University Catalog.
 

Your grade for the course will be based on the following:	These are the outcomes:
weekly précis 100 pts. 25% book review 60 pts. 15% review essay 200 pts. 50% participation 40 pts. 10% 400 pts. 100%	A  372-400 pts. 93-100% A- 360-372 90-92% B+ 352-359 88-89% B  332-351 83-87% B- 320-331 80-82% C+ 312-319 78-79% C  280-311 70-77% F  0-279 pts. 69% and below

Weekly Précis:  Five times over the course of the semester (beginning February 8th at the earliest) you should come to class with a 1-2 page (typed, double spaced) précis of the week's assigned reading.  The précis should succinctly summarize the main points of the reading, raise questions for class discussion, and comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the author's argument(s).  Please note that your paper needs to contain all three of these elements.  Your first one should include a printed and signed copy of Chico State's Policy on Academic Integrity.  These are worth 20 points each for a total of 100 points.  Only the first two pages will be read.

Book Review:  On February 8th we will sign up for selections from the additional readings lists.  You will be responsible for writing a thorough review (about 5 pages) of the additional reading you select, due the day we discuss that topic.  Your review should thoroughly describe the form and content of the author's argument and offer useful critique.  You are responsible for bringing enough copies of the summary for distribution to the entire class and the professor (preferably double-sided).  You are also responsible for leading a discussion on that topic during class.  Since your book might not be readily available at Meriam Library (meaning that you might need to use inter-library loan), you need to get started on this early. We will discuss this assignment in more detail in class and look at examples for guidance.

Literature Review Essay:  On May 10th you will turn in a literature review essay (about 15-20 pages) that investigates a specific line of inquiry within the field of legislative studies.  While you are not required to use one of the topics from this list, you do need to have your topic approved by the instructor.  Your bibliography must include at least 20 academic sources, including at least 10 articles from scholarly journals.  Your paper should thoroughly describe the history and development of the scholarship in this subfield.  Your paper's thesis should make an argument about how scholars can best explain action in this field. We will discuss this assignment in more detail in class and look at examples for guidance.

Participation:   Class attendance and participation are vital elements of a graduate seminar.  You should come to each class prepared to discuss the week's readings.  We will be learning a lot through active participation in discussions--working through our ideas and interpretations outloud, with our classmates.  I will call on you to answer questions if I have to, but would prefer that you all participate voluntarily.  I'm not expecting "right" answers--sometimes there isn't a right answer; I am expecting thoughtful and intelligent answers that demonstrate you have done the reading and are paying attention.

Since even graduate students are not perfect writers  , you are encouraged to take advantage of Chico State's University Writing Center.  Indeed, you should look at this class as an opportunity to enhance your writing skills.  Writing well is a lifelong learning process, so don't feel like you have to be a "bad" writer to take advantage of student writing services, or that there is no need for help once you are a "good" writer.  There is always room for improvement!  Also, if you do not already own one, a writing guide/manual is an invaluable tool.  Some good examples are:

Galvan, Jose L. Writing Literature Reviews, Second Edition. Pyrczak Publishing. 2004.
Hacker, Diana.  A Writer's Reference. Fourth Edition, St. Martin's Press. 1999.
Lunsford, Andrea, and Robert Connors.  EasyWriter: A Pocket Guide. Bedford/St.Martin's Press. 1998.
Schmidt, Diane.  Writing in Political Science:  A Practical Guide.  Third Edition, Pearson/Longman. 2004.
Scott, Gregory M., and Stephen M. Garrison.  The Political Science Student Writer's Manual. 4th ed., Prentice Hall. 2002.
Strunk, William, Jr.  Elements of Style.

Semester Schedule

• Part One:  Process and Players
  
• Week 1, January 25
• Introductions
• video: Lee Hamilton's address on "What I Wish Political Scientists Would Teach About the Congress"
  

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• Week 2, February 1
• Congress:  Where did it come from? Why does it look like this?
• readings: The Federalist Papers--numbers 51-66, Stewart chapters 2 & 3
• discussion of précis
  

• Week 3, February 8
• Structure and Process--what are the nuts and bolts of how Congress works?
  
• readings: Oleszek
• discussion of book review
• discussion of bill tracking
  

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• Additional readings:
• Keith Krehbiel, Information and Legislative Organization
  
• Matthew D. McCubbins and Terry Sullivan, Congress: Structure and Policy
  
• Roger Davidson and Walter Oleszek, Congress and Its Members.
• Lawrence C. Dodd and Bruce I. Oppenheimer, Congress Reconsidered
  
• Klotz, Robert. 2004. "The Nuclear Option for Stopping Filibusters," PS: Political Science & Politics 37(4): 843-846.

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• Week 4, February 15
• Congressional Elections:  Candidates, Campaigns, and Choices
  
• readings: Stewart chapters 1, 4, 5, 6
• discussion of review essay
  

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• Additional readings:
• Linda L. Fowler and Robert D. McClure, Political Ambition: Who Decides to Run for Congress
  
• Gary A Jacobson, The Politics of Congressional Elections
  
• Gary A. Jacobson and Samuel Kernell, Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections
  
• Paul S. Herrnson, Congressional Elections: Campaigning at Home and in Washington
  
• Edward I. Sidlow, Challenging the Incumbent: An Underdog's Undertaking
  
• Diana Dwyre and Victoria Farrar-Myers, Legislative Labyrinth: Congress and Campaign Finance Reform
  
• David B. Magleby and Candice J. Nelson, The Money Chase: Congressional Campaign Finance Reform
  
• James David Barber, The Lawmakers
  
• Stein, Robert M., and Kenneth Bickers. 1994. "Congressional Elections and the Pork Barrel," Journal of Politics 56(2): 377-399.
  
• Duncan Black, The Theory of Committees and Elections
• Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Homestyle: House Members in Their Districts
  

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• Week 5, February 22
• Representation:  Ascriptive/Descriptive vs. Ideological/Substantive
• readings: Tate
  
• discussion of interest group ratings
  

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• Additional readings:
• Carol L. Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests
• Rodney E. Hero, Latinos and the U.S. Political System: Two-Tiered Pluralism
• Emma R. Gross, Contemporary Federal Policy Toward American Indians
• Nina M. Moore, Governing Race
• Irwin N. Gertzog, Women and Power on Capitol Hill: Reconstructing the Congressional Women's Caucus
  
• Jeydel, Alana, and Andrew J. Taylor. 2003. "Are Women Legislators Less Effective? Evidence from the U.S. House in the 103rd-105th Congress," Political Research Quarterly 56(1): 19-28.
  
• Haynie, Kerry L. 2002. "The Color of Their Skin or the Content of Their Behavior? Race and Perceptions of African American Legislators," Legislative Studies Quarterly 27(2): 295-314.
  
• Mansbridge, Jane. 1999. "Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent 'Yes,'" Journal of Politics 61(3): 628-657.
• Lublin, David. 1999. "Racial Redistricting and African-American Representation: A Critique of 'Do Majority-Minority Districts Maximize Substantive Black Representation in Congress?'" American Political Science Review 93 (1): 183-186.
  

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• Part 2: Deliberation and Decisionmaking
  
• Week 6, March 1
• Individual Causes--Congressmembers and self-interest
  
• readings: Mayhew, Stewart chapter 9
• discussion of Congressional Quarterly
  

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• Additional readings:
• R. Douglas Arnold, The Logic of Congressional Action
• John W. Kingdon, Congressmen's Voting Decisions
• Aage R. Clausen, How Congressmen Decide
  
• Richard L. Hall, Participation in Congress
  
• Joseph M. Bessette, The Mild Voice of Reason: Deliberative Democracy and American National Government
• Kenneth R. Mayer and David T. Canon, The Dysfunctional Congress? The Individual Roots of an Institutional Dilemma
  
• Peltzman, Sam. 1985. "An Economic Interpretation of the History of Congressional Voting in the Twentieth Century," The American Economic Review 27(2): 181-210.
  
• Wiseman, Alan E. 2004. "Tests of Vote-Buyer Theories of Coalition Formation in Legislatures," Political Research Quarterly 53(3): 441-450.
• Michael C. Herron. 1999. "Artificial Extremism in Interest Group Ratings and the Preferences versus Party Debate," Legislative Studies Quarterly 24(4): 525-542.
  

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• Week 7, March 8
• Institutional Causes--Congressmembers and their parties
  
• readings: Cox & McCubbins
  

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• Additional readings:
• Christopher J. Deering and Steven S. Smith, Committees in Congress
• Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Congressmen in Committees
  
• Donald Matthews, U.S. Senators and Their World
  
• David R. Mayhew, Party Loyalty Among Congressmen: The Difference Between Democrats and Republicans, 1947-1962
  
• James L. Sundquist, The Decline and Resurgence of Congress
• Roger H. Davidson, The Postreform Congress
• Barbara Hinkley, The Seniority System in Congress
  
• Barbara Sinclair, Transformation of the U.S. Senate
  
• James David Barber, Power in Committees: An Experiment in the Governmental Process
  
• Groseclose, Tim. 1994. "Testing Committee Composition Hypotheses for the U.S. Congress," Journal of Politics 56(2): 440-458.
  
• Maltzman, Forrest, and Steven S. Smith. 1994. "Principals, Goals, Dimensionality, and Congressional Committees," Legislative Studies Quarterly 19(4): 457-476.
• Parker, Glenn R., Suzanne L. Parker, Juan C. Copa, and Mark D. Lawhorn, 2004. "The Question of Committee Bias Revisited," Political Research Quarterly 57(3): 431-440.
• Weingast, Barry, and William Marshall. 1988. "The Industrial Organization of Congress: or, Why Legislatures, Like Firms, are not Organized as Markets," Journal of Political Economy 96: 132-63.
  

• Week 8, March 15
  
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• No class this week--Spring Break!
  

• Week 9, March 22
• Leadership--who leads and who follows?
  
• readings: Evans, Stewart chapter 7

• Additional readings:
• Barbara Sinclair, Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking
  
• Richard F. Fenno, Jr., The Emergence of a Senate Leader: Pete Dominici and the Reagan Budget
• Richard F. Fenno, Jr., The Making of a Senator: Dna Quayle
  
• Hibbing, John R. 1991. "Contours of the Modern Congressional Career," American Political Science Review 85(2): 405-428.
• Schiller, Wendy J. 1995. "Senators as Political Entrepreneurs: Using Bill Sponsorship to Shape Legislative Agendas," American Political Science Review 39(1): 186-203.
• Lawrence, Eric D., Forrest Maltzman, and Paul J. Wahlbeck. 2001. "The Politics of Speaker Cannon's Committee Assignments," American Journal of Political Science 45(2): 551-562.
  

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• Part 3: Outcomes
  
• Week 10, March 29
• Conflict: Executive-Congressional relations
  
• readings: Fisher
  

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• Additional readings:
• Jon R. Bond and Richard Fleisher, Polarized Politics: Congress and the President in a Partisan Era
  
• Jean Reith Schroedel, Congress, the President, and Policymaking: A Historical Analysis
• Charles O. Jones, Separate but Equal Branches: Congress and the Presidency
  
• Keith Krehbiel, Pivotal Politics: A Theory of U.S. Lawmaking
  
• Barbara Hinkley, Less than Meets the Eye: Foreign Policy Making and the Myth of the Assertive Congress
  
• John R. Wright, Interest Groups and Congress: Lobbying, Contributions, and Influence
  

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• Week 11, April 5
• Gridlock: Sometimes there is no outcome
• readings: Binder
  

• Additional readings:
• David W. Brady and Craig Volden, Revolving Gridlock: Politics and Policy from Carter to Clinton
• Morris P. Fiorina, Divided Government
• David R. Mayhew, Divided We Govern
• Morris P. Fiorina, Congress: Keystone of the Washington Establishment
  

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• Week 12, April 12
• Major Policy--front page issues
  
• readings: Derthick
  

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• Additional readings:
• Fay Lomax Cook and Edith J. Barrett, Support for the American Welfare State: The Views of Congress and the Public
  
• Glen S. Krutz, Hitching a Ride: Omnibus Legislation in the U.S. Congress
  
• Gerald C. Wright, Jr., Leroy N. Rieselbach, and Lawrence C. Dodd, Congress and Policy Change
• Daniel P. Franklin, Making Ends Meet: Congressional Budgeting in the Age of Deficits
  
• John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policy
• Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Alan S. Murray, Showdown at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists, and the Unlikely Triumph of Tax Reform
  
• Gary Orfield, Congressional Power: Congress and Social Change
• Jean Reith Schroedel and Daniel Jordan. 1998. "Senate Voting and Social Construction of Target Populations: A Study of AIDS Policymaking, 1987-1992," Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 23: 107-132.
  

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• Week 13, April 19
• Minor Policy--back page issues
  
• readings:  Turner, Stewart chapter 8
  

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• Additional readings:
• Kernell, Samuel, and Michael P. McDonald. 1999. "Congress and America's Political Development: The Transformation of the Post Office from Patronage to Service," American Journal of Political Science 43(2): 792-811.
  

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• Week 14, April 26
  
• The Study of Congress--how do we know what we think we know?
  
• readings: Stewart chapter 1, Appendix A

• Additional readings:
• Keith T. Poole and Howard Rosenthal, Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting
• Kenneth A. Shepsle and Barry R. Weingast, Positive Theories of Congressional Institutions
  
• Gary King, A Solution to the Ecological Inference Problem: Reconstructing Individual Behavior from Aggregate Data
• Cooper, Joseph and David W. Brady. 1981. "Toward a Diachronic Analysis of Congress," American Political Science Review 75(4): 988-1006.
  
• Peter M. Van Doren. 1990. "Can We Learn the Causes of Congressional Decisions from Roll-Call Data?," Legislative Studies Quarterly 15: 311-340.
  

• Week 15, May 3
• Class Presentations I
• The first half of the class will give presentations of their literature review findings.
  

• Week 16, May 10
• Class Presentations II
• The second half of the class will give presentations of their literature review findings.

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Useful Links

• Preparing for Class Discussion--a useful document compiled by Dr. Matthew O. Thomas
• Robert's Rules of Order--http://www.robertsrules.com/
  
• THOMAS (best source for legislative information)--http://thomas.loc.gov/
• Legislative Studies Section of APSA--http://www.apsanet.org/~lss/
• The Carl Albert Center--http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/cachome.html
• Legislative Studies Quarterly--http://www.uiowa.edu/~lsq/
• Roll Call--http://www.rollcall.com/
  
• The American Congress (online textbook)--http://congress.wustl.edu/
• Analyzing Congress (Stewart's website)--http://www.wwnorton.com/college/polisci/analyzingcongress/
  
• The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787--http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwfr.html
• Supreme Court Cases from the Legal Information Institute--http://supct.law.cornell.edu:8080/supct/