Answer 2 of the following (25 points each):
1. Discuss one of Sundquist’s proposals for institutional reform. What difference would these reforms make for the legitimacy and/or effectiveness of government? Would the reforms make things better or worse? You should consider the possible effects of the reforms and discuss whether they would be beneficial, harmful, or neutral.
2. Why did the New Deal programs take the shape they did? Why did Roosevelt and the Congress settle on the particular programs they did? For example, why did Social Security take the particular form it did?”
3. Assess the political process model used by McAdam to explain the successes and failures of the women’s and gay rights movements. Does this model do a good job of explaining the rise and fall of these movements?”
4. What factors facilitated the rise of modern conservatism? What was the role of intellectuals, grassroots actors, and politicians in the development of the conservative movement beginning in the Cold War era?
5. Assess the resource mobilization and political process models as they apply to the Christian Right movement.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Review
Political Process Model
cognitive mobilization - stresses the shared sense of grievances among group members. This point also argues that group members have a sense of efficacy that collective action will be effective achieving the group’s goals
The Wagner Act also known as the National Labor Relations Bill - provided the protection of unions against employer interference
American Conservative Union (ACU) and Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)
· emerged as the foundation for conservative organizing, fundraising, and communication
· leveraged financial networks from the Goldwater campaign and also forging alliances among conservative organizations
Free Society Association (FSA)- merged the functions of grassroots organizing and lobbying members of Congress. Their goals were informational, however they also sought to distinguish themselves from more extreme organizations
Americans for Conservative Action (ACA) formed for the purpose of being the conservative counterpart to the liberal Americans for Democratic Action. ACA provided a scorecard for members of Congress consisting of an index of members’ votes on important legislation for conservatives
The American Conservative Union (ACU) –
· establishing a policy think tank,
· a legislative exchange program
· center for journalism to train conservatives for leadership positions within national and state level political institutions
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is not vice! And let me remind you that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”
Reagan platform –
· tax cuts
· decreased spending
· increased military spending to defeat communism
· elimination specific federal agencies
· privatization of existing social programs
Executive Order 12291 – required agencies to produce a cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment of every regulation (data came from industry)
During the Progressive Era, women’s organizations were able to find allies early on with Prohibition and Labor (ex American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL)
Bowers v Hardwick (1986) upheld sodomy law in Georgia
Overturned in Lawrence v Texas (2003)
lEngel vs Vitale (1962)
–Ruled public school sponsored prayer unconstitutional
–lAbington Township vs Schempp (1963)
–Ruled public school sponsored Bible reading unconstitutional
–lGriswold vs Connecticut (1965)
–Overturned Connecticut law banning contraception
–Eagle Forum (Phillys Schlafly)
–Moral Majority (Jerry Falwell)
–National Conservative Political Action Committee (Terry Dolan)
–Christian Coalition (Pat Robertson)
cognitive mobilization - stresses the shared sense of grievances among group members. This point also argues that group members have a sense of efficacy that collective action will be effective achieving the group’s goals
The Wagner Act also known as the National Labor Relations Bill - provided the protection of unions against employer interference
American Conservative Union (ACU) and Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)
· emerged as the foundation for conservative organizing, fundraising, and communication
· leveraged financial networks from the Goldwater campaign and also forging alliances among conservative organizations
Free Society Association (FSA)- merged the functions of grassroots organizing and lobbying members of Congress. Their goals were informational, however they also sought to distinguish themselves from more extreme organizations
Americans for Conservative Action (ACA) formed for the purpose of being the conservative counterpart to the liberal Americans for Democratic Action. ACA provided a scorecard for members of Congress consisting of an index of members’ votes on important legislation for conservatives
The American Conservative Union (ACU) –
· establishing a policy think tank,
· a legislative exchange program
· center for journalism to train conservatives for leadership positions within national and state level political institutions
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is not vice! And let me remind you that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”
Reagan platform –
· tax cuts
· decreased spending
· increased military spending to defeat communism
· elimination specific federal agencies
· privatization of existing social programs
Executive Order 12291 – required agencies to produce a cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment of every regulation (data came from industry)
During the Progressive Era, women’s organizations were able to find allies early on with Prohibition and Labor (ex American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL)
Bowers v Hardwick (1986) upheld sodomy law in Georgia
Overturned in Lawrence v Texas (2003)
lEngel vs Vitale (1962)
–Ruled public school sponsored prayer unconstitutional
–lAbington Township vs Schempp (1963)
–Ruled public school sponsored Bible reading unconstitutional
–lGriswold vs Connecticut (1965)
–Overturned Connecticut law banning contraception
–Eagle Forum (Phillys Schlafly)
–Moral Majority (Jerry Falwell)
–National Conservative Political Action Committee (Terry Dolan)
–Christian Coalition (Pat Robertson)
New Deal
The New Deal
Scholars consider the New Deal era to be the most recent transformative period in American political development
Examples for testing some of the prevailing theories of policy development
Why did social policies in the United States develop in a pattern divergent from what occurred in industrialized European nations?
What is a reconstructive Presidency?
What role do policy legacies play in policy innovation?
Pre-New Deal Social Policies
Western nations began to introduce public social provisions in the late 19th century as a response to the economic and social challenges in the transition from an agrarian to an industrial based economy
· workman’s compensation
· labor standards
· health insurance
· insurance against poverty for the elderly.
There are two major arguments in the literature used to explain why a nation adopts social welfare provisions.
The logic of industrialism - as a nation moves from an agrarian to a more industrial economy, it is more likely to adopt social welfare provisions.
National values - a nation’s cultural conditions tend to advance or impede the advancement of social welfare provisions
Helps to explain why pre New Deal programs such as workingmen’s insurance and post New Deal programs like Social Security tended to be contributory in nature.
Another argument –
The relative strength of corporate interests in the US economy compared to the working class. Remember Hartz and Huntington
American Association of Labor Legislation (AALL) - Leaders from labor, industry and the academe who argued for comprehensive social insurance modeled after European state based approaches.
· Most successful in advancing workmen’s compensation at the state level.
· Did not achieve a public health insurance program.
Scholars sattribute some of the failures of social reform during the progressive era to inefficiencies and corruption associated with benefits for Civil War veterans
The pre New Deal era also saw a cooperative position with industry and associations as an effort towards providing more efficient management of the business cycle.
Herbert Hoover’s “associative state” - involves cooperation and planning across a network of associations, business, and government
· accepted that government had a role in facilitating the economic growth of the nation while rejecting increased bureaucracy.
· public works spending
· Manipulation of monetary policy as a corrective economic measure
· Hands off approach towards private enterprise and local administration
New Deal Policy Change
Policy legacies paid a significant role in the debates over social reform during the New Deal.
· Policy debates over labor relations, insurance for the aged, and health insurance engendered similar fears of inefficiency, corruption, patronage, and a sentiment towards an “undeserving poor”
· Emphasis was placed on contributory mechanisms and decentralization during the development of New Deal policies generally, and Social Security more specifically
Pragmatism key to understanding FDR
· Roosevelt was adept at leveraging support from distinct segments from industry in advancing legislative reform.
Tactical alliances formed with farmers, while splitting banking interests. These groups were united around policy demands
Alliance of oil interests, banking, and the AFL
The Federal Reserve Act of 1935 - maintained the separation between commercial and investment banking while also keeping the Federal Board of Governors as supreme over the regional Federal Reserve Banks
The Wagner Act also known as the National Labor Relations Bill - provided the protection of unions against employer interference
FDR faced his biggest obstacles as he attempted to consolidate institutional control.
· National Recovery Administration (NRA)
· Court Packing
· Conservative Coalition in Congress
Skowronek argues that administrative challenges Roosevelt faced are ones that can be observed in subsequent Presidencies.
· The increased power of the state brought on greater institutionalization where independent centers of power lead administrators or members of congress to fiercely defend their turf.
· The President less powerful when attempting to initiate sweeping reforms
Example: when the Supreme Court upheld the Wagner Act, a policy victory for FDR led to an institutional defeat.
Scholars consider the New Deal era to be the most recent transformative period in American political development
Examples for testing some of the prevailing theories of policy development
Why did social policies in the United States develop in a pattern divergent from what occurred in industrialized European nations?
What is a reconstructive Presidency?
What role do policy legacies play in policy innovation?
Pre-New Deal Social Policies
Western nations began to introduce public social provisions in the late 19th century as a response to the economic and social challenges in the transition from an agrarian to an industrial based economy
· workman’s compensation
· labor standards
· health insurance
· insurance against poverty for the elderly.
There are two major arguments in the literature used to explain why a nation adopts social welfare provisions.
The logic of industrialism - as a nation moves from an agrarian to a more industrial economy, it is more likely to adopt social welfare provisions.
National values - a nation’s cultural conditions tend to advance or impede the advancement of social welfare provisions
Helps to explain why pre New Deal programs such as workingmen’s insurance and post New Deal programs like Social Security tended to be contributory in nature.
Another argument –
The relative strength of corporate interests in the US economy compared to the working class. Remember Hartz and Huntington
American Association of Labor Legislation (AALL) - Leaders from labor, industry and the academe who argued for comprehensive social insurance modeled after European state based approaches.
· Most successful in advancing workmen’s compensation at the state level.
· Did not achieve a public health insurance program.
Scholars sattribute some of the failures of social reform during the progressive era to inefficiencies and corruption associated with benefits for Civil War veterans
The pre New Deal era also saw a cooperative position with industry and associations as an effort towards providing more efficient management of the business cycle.
Herbert Hoover’s “associative state” - involves cooperation and planning across a network of associations, business, and government
· accepted that government had a role in facilitating the economic growth of the nation while rejecting increased bureaucracy.
· public works spending
· Manipulation of monetary policy as a corrective economic measure
· Hands off approach towards private enterprise and local administration
New Deal Policy Change
Policy legacies paid a significant role in the debates over social reform during the New Deal.
· Policy debates over labor relations, insurance for the aged, and health insurance engendered similar fears of inefficiency, corruption, patronage, and a sentiment towards an “undeserving poor”
· Emphasis was placed on contributory mechanisms and decentralization during the development of New Deal policies generally, and Social Security more specifically
Pragmatism key to understanding FDR
· Roosevelt was adept at leveraging support from distinct segments from industry in advancing legislative reform.
Tactical alliances formed with farmers, while splitting banking interests. These groups were united around policy demands
Alliance of oil interests, banking, and the AFL
The Federal Reserve Act of 1935 - maintained the separation between commercial and investment banking while also keeping the Federal Board of Governors as supreme over the regional Federal Reserve Banks
The Wagner Act also known as the National Labor Relations Bill - provided the protection of unions against employer interference
FDR faced his biggest obstacles as he attempted to consolidate institutional control.
· National Recovery Administration (NRA)
· Court Packing
· Conservative Coalition in Congress
Skowronek argues that administrative challenges Roosevelt faced are ones that can be observed in subsequent Presidencies.
· The increased power of the state brought on greater institutionalization where independent centers of power lead administrators or members of congress to fiercely defend their turf.
· The President less powerful when attempting to initiate sweeping reforms
Example: when the Supreme Court upheld the Wagner Act, a policy victory for FDR led to an institutional defeat.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Culture War Part I
Women’s Movement
The women’s movement faced different set of environmental constraints and opportunities than the civil rights movement.
During the Progressive Era, women’s organizations were able to find allies early on with Prohibition and Labor (ex American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL)
- women’s groups were successful during this period when policy requests did not infringe upon the institutionalized male business interests.
- many labor leaders believed that minimum wage and maximum hour laws would reduce the competition that men faced from women in the workforce
- national labor groups such as the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the (AALL) turned against the women’s movement when facing pressure from business when the push for minimum wage laws began to include the entire workforce (Skopol, 1992: 412- 413).
Geographic dispersion was another disadvantage the women’s movement
- A constitutional amendment’s opponents only need to win in one quarter of the nation’s states to prevail.
- After winning in Congress, women’s groups to compete everywhere in the country for ratification.
- Right wing groups only needed to focus their resources on convincing a small number of conservative and moderate states to support their cause.
cognitive mobilization
Movement organizations must also have a general unity on issues and tactics
· One of the challenges the women’s movement faced early on was a division based on goals and tactics.
· One major point in contention was how to handle the issue of a military draft.
Counter-mobilization
- The ERA’s opponents were effective in leveraging several of the strategic challenges faced by the women’s movement.
- The Supreme Court began to issue rulings with a more expansive view of the fourteenth amendment This had the effect of usurping issues pro ERA groups intended to change.
- Conservative groups used these rulings as a line of reasoning arguing that the courts could not be trusted to interpret this new constitutional amendment
Gay Rights Movement
Limited success at the state and local level.
Unsuccessful at the National level.
Very successful at moving public opinion.
Gay rights was first advanced in larger cities and university towns
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Civil Rights Movement
Mc Adam uses data to support his theory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
· Comprehensive analysis of New York Times articles whose main theme focused on the civil rights movement.
· public opinion data among African Americans and Whites on their attitudes about the civil rights issue
· Path models, tend to be more persuasive indicators of causality
political opportunity structure - These are the general social and political constraints and advantages that a group faces when it decides to mobilize.
· Decline of the cotton economy in the South
· Rise of Black Churches, Black Colleges and the NAACP
· Migration of African Americans to the North improved the political opportunity structure for the civil rights movement.
· Northern industry was able to leverage the decline in the cotton economy by providing an incentive to attract African Americans to move north for better manufacturing jobs
· Without restrictive voting laws in northern states, African Americans became a sought after voting bloc.
· African American voters with leverage in local, state, and presidential campaigns (Mc Adam, 1992: 81-82).
· Examples include proactive stances by the Truman and Eisenhower administrations.
cognitive mobilization - stresses the shared sense of grievances among group members. This point also argues that group members have a sense of efficacy that collective action will be effective achieving the group’s goals
· . Without public opinion data available prior to World War II, Mc Adam is unable to examine whether there was a true shift in efficacy among African Americans as the civil rights movement progressed from its earlier
· Efficacy did decline in the period from the 1950s to the late 1960s (Mc
Movement organizations must also have a general unity on issues and tactics
mobilization began primarily through churches, black colleges, and the NAACP
Countermobilization
· This will have an additional effect in reducing the political efficacy of group. Members will notice their opponent’s increased mobilization and its impact on public policy.
· This increases the costs of collective action, therefore undermining the group’s ability to organize
· One can also see how declining levels of success can also undermine group unity, causing division among members in terms of the issues and tactics to advance their goals.
Movement Decline
· The civil rights movement began to decline in the 1960s as smaller groups emerged, pushing for new issues that were perceived as a bigger threat to the political status quo.
· New forms of protest such as the use of violence were advanced by some of the smaller groups.
This led to increased conflict internal to the civil rights movement
· Conservative countermobilization
· Mc Adam points to the use of racial rhetoric by the Republican Party beginning with the Goldwater campaign of 1964
· After Nixon’s election in 1968, conservatives were then able to control how civil rights issues were defined
Mc Adam uses data to support his theory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
· Comprehensive analysis of New York Times articles whose main theme focused on the civil rights movement.
· public opinion data among African Americans and Whites on their attitudes about the civil rights issue
· Path models, tend to be more persuasive indicators of causality
political opportunity structure - These are the general social and political constraints and advantages that a group faces when it decides to mobilize.
· Decline of the cotton economy in the South
· Rise of Black Churches, Black Colleges and the NAACP
· Migration of African Americans to the North improved the political opportunity structure for the civil rights movement.
· Northern industry was able to leverage the decline in the cotton economy by providing an incentive to attract African Americans to move north for better manufacturing jobs
· Without restrictive voting laws in northern states, African Americans became a sought after voting bloc.
· African American voters with leverage in local, state, and presidential campaigns (Mc Adam, 1992: 81-82).
· Examples include proactive stances by the Truman and Eisenhower administrations.
cognitive mobilization - stresses the shared sense of grievances among group members. This point also argues that group members have a sense of efficacy that collective action will be effective achieving the group’s goals
· . Without public opinion data available prior to World War II, Mc Adam is unable to examine whether there was a true shift in efficacy among African Americans as the civil rights movement progressed from its earlier
· Efficacy did decline in the period from the 1950s to the late 1960s (Mc
Movement organizations must also have a general unity on issues and tactics
mobilization began primarily through churches, black colleges, and the NAACP
Countermobilization
· This will have an additional effect in reducing the political efficacy of group. Members will notice their opponent’s increased mobilization and its impact on public policy.
· This increases the costs of collective action, therefore undermining the group’s ability to organize
· One can also see how declining levels of success can also undermine group unity, causing division among members in terms of the issues and tactics to advance their goals.
Movement Decline
· The civil rights movement began to decline in the 1960s as smaller groups emerged, pushing for new issues that were perceived as a bigger threat to the political status quo.
· New forms of protest such as the use of violence were advanced by some of the smaller groups.
This led to increased conflict internal to the civil rights movement
· Conservative countermobilization
· Mc Adam points to the use of racial rhetoric by the Republican Party beginning with the Goldwater campaign of 1964
· After Nixon’s election in 1968, conservatives were then able to control how civil rights issues were defined
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Essays
Answer 2 of the following (25 points each):
1. Compare and contrast the various approaches to Social Movement Theory. How well does each explain the various eras of political development already discussed in the course?
2. Contrast the emergence of the Republican Party in the 1850s with the Populists in the 1890s. Why were the Republicans successful in becoming a major party whereas the Populists were not?
3. In what sense were Jefferson and Jackson reconstructive Presidents?
4. What explains the limited success of the Populist movement? Was the populist movement ultimately a success or failure?
What were the goals of the Progressive movement? What tensions existed among Progressive reformers?
1. Compare and contrast the various approaches to Social Movement Theory. How well does each explain the various eras of political development already discussed in the course?
2. Contrast the emergence of the Republican Party in the 1850s with the Populists in the 1890s. Why were the Republicans successful in becoming a major party whereas the Populists were not?
3. In what sense were Jefferson and Jackson reconstructive Presidents?
4. What explains the limited success of the Populist movement? Was the populist movement ultimately a success or failure?
What were the goals of the Progressive movement? What tensions existed among Progressive reformers?
Review
Political Opportunity Structure
o The relative “openness” of the government
§ Freedom of speech
§ Freedom of assembly
§ Access to potential resources
§ Organization
Political Opportunity Structure is interchangeable with Socioeconomic Change and Organizational Strength
· Industrialization/Urbanization promotes insurgency indirectly through changing power relationships within society
· UNDERMINES the calculations and assumptions on which the political establishment is structured
· Leads to improved bargaining position for aggrieved population
Indigenous Organizational Strength
· More integrated social networks are in a community, more readily mobilization can occur
· More Solidary incentives
· Mass base insures the presence of leaders
Cognitive Liberation
· Increase the costs for elites to repress the movement
· Group members more likely to respond to insurgents (eg tight labor market, management more responsive)
Social Movements also decline
· Pressure on leaders to maintain organizational strength
· Can leadership view organizational strength as more important than movement goals?
· As goals are reached, pressure on the movement to adjust to the political system.
Jefferson’s legislative achievements
Remade the Defense establishment, while raising the tariff
Passage of 12th Amendment in 1804
Did not submit Secretary of State Monroe’s treaty with the British to the Senate.
Instead, took the policy of a trade embargo.
Hofstadter – “Populism was the first modern political movement of practical importance in the United States to insist that the federal government has some responsibility for the common weal . . . it was the first such movement to attack seriously the problems created by industrialism.”
Populism as agrarian revolt against money power (Outgrowth of Granger movement)
Populism as paranoia and conspiracy
Populist’s Platform:
Free coinage of silver
Income Tax
Expanded currency and credit
Direct election of Senators
Initiative and Referendum
MUGWUMPS AND MUCKRACKERS
CORPORATIONS
Reduce power over legislative process – legislatures full of corruption
Social reforms of negative impact of business – Labor legislation, Health and safety legislation
Railroads and utilities to protect new services
Corporations do some for society, progressives want them to work in public interest
Pendleton Act 1891 – Commission that will recommend rules for civil service exams
1882 Republicans lose House – party competition tightened
Bicameralism important –
By 1900 close to half civil service is merit based
Once a reform is in place it sets out next reform
POLITICAL AND ELECTORAL PROCESSES
If you want good outcomes, you need a better political process
AUSTRALIAN BALLOT
Official, consolidated, secret
Replaced party prepared ballots
LITERACY REQUIREMENTS etc
DIRECT PRIMARY
DIRECT ELECTION OF SENATORS
CANVASS
28 states
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
NATIONAL PUBLICITY ACTS 1910, 1911
Publicized campaign donations and expenditures
McDonagh (1999) provides a more developed depiction of the tensions between regulatory reform and participatory reform during the progressive era. The author presents policy along two dimensions.
The first dimension is the institutional axis, defined as the use of government towards centralization and increased administration in society.
· workingman’s compensation,
· minimum wage, working day laws,
· women’s hours laws,
· mothers pensions
The second dimension is the participatory axis that increases access to civic participation to previously marginalized groups such as women, racial minorities and immigrants.
o
Prohibition
Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
· Women’s sufferage
· Equal pay
· Day care
· Mine safety
Anti-Saloon League (ASL)
· Single issue group
· Grew out of Prohibitionist Party
· Portrayed drinking as source of all social ills (New Puritanism)
· Argued prohibition would lead to lower taxes
· ASL fit the Progressive Era – Interest Group and for Reform oriented
Prohibition Amendment (18th) enforced by Volstead Act
· Set legal limit of alcohol at 0.5%
· "no person shall manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, or furnish any intoxicating liquor except as authorized by this act".
· Vetoed by Wilson – overriden by Congress
· Allowed for liquor to be produced in the home
o The relative “openness” of the government
§ Freedom of speech
§ Freedom of assembly
§ Access to potential resources
§ Organization
Political Opportunity Structure is interchangeable with Socioeconomic Change and Organizational Strength
· Industrialization/Urbanization promotes insurgency indirectly through changing power relationships within society
· UNDERMINES the calculations and assumptions on which the political establishment is structured
· Leads to improved bargaining position for aggrieved population
Indigenous Organizational Strength
· More integrated social networks are in a community, more readily mobilization can occur
· More Solidary incentives
· Mass base insures the presence of leaders
Cognitive Liberation
· Increase the costs for elites to repress the movement
· Group members more likely to respond to insurgents (eg tight labor market, management more responsive)
Social Movements also decline
· Pressure on leaders to maintain organizational strength
· Can leadership view organizational strength as more important than movement goals?
· As goals are reached, pressure on the movement to adjust to the political system.
Jefferson’s legislative achievements
Remade the Defense establishment, while raising the tariff
Passage of 12th Amendment in 1804
Did not submit Secretary of State Monroe’s treaty with the British to the Senate.
Instead, took the policy of a trade embargo.
Hofstadter – “Populism was the first modern political movement of practical importance in the United States to insist that the federal government has some responsibility for the common weal . . . it was the first such movement to attack seriously the problems created by industrialism.”
Populism as agrarian revolt against money power (Outgrowth of Granger movement)
Populism as paranoia and conspiracy
Populist’s Platform:
Free coinage of silver
Income Tax
Expanded currency and credit
Direct election of Senators
Initiative and Referendum
MUGWUMPS AND MUCKRACKERS
CORPORATIONS
Reduce power over legislative process – legislatures full of corruption
Social reforms of negative impact of business – Labor legislation, Health and safety legislation
Railroads and utilities to protect new services
Corporations do some for society, progressives want them to work in public interest
Pendleton Act 1891 – Commission that will recommend rules for civil service exams
1882 Republicans lose House – party competition tightened
Bicameralism important –
By 1900 close to half civil service is merit based
Once a reform is in place it sets out next reform
POLITICAL AND ELECTORAL PROCESSES
If you want good outcomes, you need a better political process
AUSTRALIAN BALLOT
Official, consolidated, secret
Replaced party prepared ballots
LITERACY REQUIREMENTS etc
DIRECT PRIMARY
DIRECT ELECTION OF SENATORS
CANVASS
28 states
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
NATIONAL PUBLICITY ACTS 1910, 1911
Publicized campaign donations and expenditures
McDonagh (1999) provides a more developed depiction of the tensions between regulatory reform and participatory reform during the progressive era. The author presents policy along two dimensions.
The first dimension is the institutional axis, defined as the use of government towards centralization and increased administration in society.
· workingman’s compensation,
· minimum wage, working day laws,
· women’s hours laws,
· mothers pensions
The second dimension is the participatory axis that increases access to civic participation to previously marginalized groups such as women, racial minorities and immigrants.
o
Prohibition
Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
· Women’s sufferage
· Equal pay
· Day care
· Mine safety
Anti-Saloon League (ASL)
· Single issue group
· Grew out of Prohibitionist Party
· Portrayed drinking as source of all social ills (New Puritanism)
· Argued prohibition would lead to lower taxes
· ASL fit the Progressive Era – Interest Group and for Reform oriented
Prohibition Amendment (18th) enforced by Volstead Act
· Set legal limit of alcohol at 0.5%
· "no person shall manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, or furnish any intoxicating liquor except as authorized by this act".
· Vetoed by Wilson – overriden by Congress
· Allowed for liquor to be produced in the home
Friday, March 13, 2009
Readings for Monday
A reminder to read the following for Monday:
Eileen L. McDonagh, "The 'Welfare Rights State' and the 'Civil Rights State': Policy Paradox andState Building in the Progressive Era," Studies in American Political Development, 7 (2) (Fall 1993): 225-274. (coursepack)
James Morone, Hellfire Nation, Chs 10, 11. (coursepack) Stephen Skowronek
Eileen L. McDonagh, "The 'Welfare Rights State' and the 'Civil Rights State': Policy Paradox andState Building in the Progressive Era," Studies in American Political Development, 7 (2) (Fall 1993): 225-274. (coursepack)
James Morone, Hellfire Nation, Chs 10, 11. (coursepack) Stephen Skowronek
Friday, March 6, 2009
HOW DID PROGRESSIVES DIFFER FROM POPULISTS?
Unified movement with different types, Northeastern urban, Southern populist, Western progressives
Northeastern Progressives more concerned with Immigrants, concerned about Direct Democracy
WHY WAS THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT CONSIDERED MORE MAINSTREAM?
MUGWUMPS AND MUCKRACKERS
CORPORATIONS
Reduce power over legislative process – legislatures full of corruption
Social reforms of negative impact of business – Labor legislation, Health and safety legislation
Railroads and utilities to protect new services
Corporations do some for society, progressives want them to work in public interest
MACHINES
Jackson – public service should be open to all
Sense that corruption is tied to structure of government, system builds incentive to work for party
Britain 1855 Civil Service Reform
Late 1860s early 1870s Republicans begin to lose control, part of the reason behind Civil Service Reform, make Grant look like a reformer, keep Republican coalition together
1871 Civil Service Commission – first merit exams in 1873, 1874 Congress shuts off funding, Grant removes program 1875
Investigation in Port of New York,
Hayes extends Civil Service Reform by Executive Order
President Arthur – Civil Service Reform use Garfield’s platform to further cause of reform
National Civil Service Reform League – working with Pendleton of Idaho
Pendleton Act 1891 – Commission that will recommend rules for civil service exams
1882 Republicans lose House – party competition tightened
Bicameralism important –
By 1900 close to half civil service is merit based
Once a reform is in place it sets out next reform
Interstate Commerce Commission 1887
Railroad monopolization
State legislatures had previously controlled railroads
Railroads also realize they need reform ,
Role of economists and experts
Sherman Antitrust Act – 1890 to prevent monopoly
See no benefits to machines , anti-immigrent,
Distinguish between responsible wealth and irresponsible wealth
Want business to be managed by a responsible elite
POLITICAL AND ELECTORAL PROCESSES
If you want good outcomes, you need a better political process
AUSTRALIAN BALLOT
Official, consolidated, secret
Replaced party prepared ballots
LITERACY REQUIREMENTS etc
DIRECT PRIMARY
DIRECT ELECTION OF SENATORS
CANVASS
28 states
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
NATIONAL PUBLICITY ACTS 1910, 1911
Publicized campaign donations and expenditures
Corrupt Practices Acts – state level ban on corporations contributing to campaigns
Banned paying people to vote
DECLINE IN TURNOUT
State controlled elections took excitement away from campaigns
DECLINE OF PARTIES AND RISE OF INTEREST GROUPS
Skocpol – looks at interest group membership historically
Farm Bureau, Association of Manufacterers
RISE OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES –
Progressives wanted to replace control from legislatures to scientific management
Non-elected officials with specialized training
Losing power of appointment you lose accountability
MORONE –
TENSIONS IN PROGRESSIVE ERA
1) Direct Democracy – initiative, referendum, recall
Tension with administrative agencies
CAN BE RECONCILED WITH AN OBJECTIVE PUBLIC INTEREST, IN CONTRAST TO CORRUPT LEGISLATORS
Unified movement with different types, Northeastern urban, Southern populist, Western progressives
Northeastern Progressives more concerned with Immigrants, concerned about Direct Democracy
WHY WAS THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT CONSIDERED MORE MAINSTREAM?
MUGWUMPS AND MUCKRACKERS
CORPORATIONS
Reduce power over legislative process – legislatures full of corruption
Social reforms of negative impact of business – Labor legislation, Health and safety legislation
Railroads and utilities to protect new services
Corporations do some for society, progressives want them to work in public interest
MACHINES
Jackson – public service should be open to all
Sense that corruption is tied to structure of government, system builds incentive to work for party
Britain 1855 Civil Service Reform
Late 1860s early 1870s Republicans begin to lose control, part of the reason behind Civil Service Reform, make Grant look like a reformer, keep Republican coalition together
1871 Civil Service Commission – first merit exams in 1873, 1874 Congress shuts off funding, Grant removes program 1875
Investigation in Port of New York,
Hayes extends Civil Service Reform by Executive Order
President Arthur – Civil Service Reform use Garfield’s platform to further cause of reform
National Civil Service Reform League – working with Pendleton of Idaho
Pendleton Act 1891 – Commission that will recommend rules for civil service exams
1882 Republicans lose House – party competition tightened
Bicameralism important –
By 1900 close to half civil service is merit based
Once a reform is in place it sets out next reform
Interstate Commerce Commission 1887
Railroad monopolization
State legislatures had previously controlled railroads
Railroads also realize they need reform ,
Role of economists and experts
Sherman Antitrust Act – 1890 to prevent monopoly
See no benefits to machines , anti-immigrent,
Distinguish between responsible wealth and irresponsible wealth
Want business to be managed by a responsible elite
POLITICAL AND ELECTORAL PROCESSES
If you want good outcomes, you need a better political process
AUSTRALIAN BALLOT
Official, consolidated, secret
Replaced party prepared ballots
LITERACY REQUIREMENTS etc
DIRECT PRIMARY
DIRECT ELECTION OF SENATORS
CANVASS
28 states
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
NATIONAL PUBLICITY ACTS 1910, 1911
Publicized campaign donations and expenditures
Corrupt Practices Acts – state level ban on corporations contributing to campaigns
Banned paying people to vote
DECLINE IN TURNOUT
State controlled elections took excitement away from campaigns
DECLINE OF PARTIES AND RISE OF INTEREST GROUPS
Skocpol – looks at interest group membership historically
Farm Bureau, Association of Manufacterers
RISE OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES –
Progressives wanted to replace control from legislatures to scientific management
Non-elected officials with specialized training
Losing power of appointment you lose accountability
MORONE –
TENSIONS IN PROGRESSIVE ERA
1) Direct Democracy – initiative, referendum, recall
Tension with administrative agencies
CAN BE RECONCILED WITH AN OBJECTIVE PUBLIC INTEREST, IN CONTRAST TO CORRUPT LEGISLATORS
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Bensel
Industrialization exacerbated sectional differences in the US
The Northeast and Great Lakes states benefited enormously from manufacturing growth and the protective tariff.
Agricultural states in the South and Midwest suffered from deflationary policies.
3 Crucial Economic development policies during the late 19th Century
1) Unregulated Market
(Helped to promote industry)
2) International Gold Standard
(Guaranteed exchange rate stability with foreign currencies)
3) Protective Tariff
(Protected industry from foreign competition. Kept prices artificially higher)
Policies of Free Markets, Gold, and Protectionism kept the Republican coalition in majority status
Hofstadter – “Populism was the first modern political movement of practical importance in the United States to insist that the federal government has some responsibility for the common weal . . . it was the first such movement to attack seriously the problems created by industrialism.”
Populism as agrarian revolt against money power (Outgrowth of Granger movement)
Populism as paranoia and conspiracy
Populist’s Platform:
Free coinage of silver
Income Tax
Expanded currency and credit
Direct election of Senators
Initiative and Referendum
Populist Party a successful 3rd Party movement in 1892
General James Weaver 22 Electoral Votes
3 Governors, several House Members,
Focus on Silver
Populist Party co-opted by William Jennings Bryan and the Democrats in 1896
Populist Party dissolved shortly after members endorsed Bryan
Many Populist reforms were made law in subsequent decades
Farmers began to identify more with industry and employers
Industrialization exacerbated sectional differences in the US
The Northeast and Great Lakes states benefited enormously from manufacturing growth and the protective tariff.
Agricultural states in the South and Midwest suffered from deflationary policies.
3 Crucial Economic development policies during the late 19th Century
1) Unregulated Market
(Helped to promote industry)
2) International Gold Standard
(Guaranteed exchange rate stability with foreign currencies)
3) Protective Tariff
(Protected industry from foreign competition. Kept prices artificially higher)
Policies of Free Markets, Gold, and Protectionism kept the Republican coalition in majority status
Hofstadter – “Populism was the first modern political movement of practical importance in the United States to insist that the federal government has some responsibility for the common weal . . . it was the first such movement to attack seriously the problems created by industrialism.”
Populism as agrarian revolt against money power (Outgrowth of Granger movement)
Populism as paranoia and conspiracy
Populist’s Platform:
Free coinage of silver
Income Tax
Expanded currency and credit
Direct election of Senators
Initiative and Referendum
Populist Party a successful 3rd Party movement in 1892
General James Weaver 22 Electoral Votes
3 Governors, several House Members,
Focus on Silver
Populist Party co-opted by William Jennings Bryan and the Democrats in 1896
Populist Party dissolved shortly after members endorsed Bryan
Many Populist reforms were made law in subsequent decades
Farmers began to identify more with industry and employers
Friday, February 20, 2009
Jefferson and Jackson
Jefferson
Jefferson’s political victory was rooted in Adams’ political failures.
Adams broke with Federalists by his break with Hamilton. Hamiltonians later sided with Burr in 1800 Presidential election.
Jefferson sought to build a new consensus based on the new Democratic-Republican Party.
Strategic in filling vacancies.
Unlimited success with Congress.
Mixed success with the Courts
Repeal of 1801 Judiciary Act (Court did not overturn in Stuart v Laird)
Marbury v Madison
- Upheld Marbury’s claim to office while upholding the authority to judge constitutionality of legislation.
Legislative achievements:
Remade the Defense establishment, while raising the tariff
Passage of 12th Amendment in 1804
Did not submit Secretary of State Monroe’s treaty with the British to the Senate.
Instead, took the policy of a trade embargo.
Skowronek argues that checks and balances did not work during this period because other institutions such as Congress and the Courts were still asserting their identities. How valid is this argument? Would Jefferson have endured more scrutiny and resistance in other eras?
Jackson
Jackson’s 1828 election was pretexed in his 1824 defeat.
Jackson built a political coalition that was wrought with inconsistencies.
-Opposed Nullification AND a strong National Government
-Ran against institutions while supporting more of a citizen’s role in public administration
Jackson also endured much more political opposition than Jefferson.
Recommended a constitutional amendment removing the House from deciding Presidential elections and limiting the President to 1 term.
Jackson’s administration is mostly defined by his break with Calhoun and fights over the Bank.
Calhoun vs Van Buren rivalry over succession
Disagreement over tariff
Senate rejected many of his appointments
House voted satisfaction with the bank.
House and Senate attempted to renew the charter.
Jackson by vetoing the legislation and moving deposits to state banks.
Senate responded by censuring the President
1832 was a significant year in the development of Democratic and Whig parties
Democrats running for office took President’s position on the Bank
In 1832, South Carolina nullified the 1828 and 1832 tariffs. Jackson responded by proposing to send troops to SC for enforcement. This was known as the Force Bill.
Tariff and Force bill split all political coalitions
Calhoun-Clay alliance over Tariff and Force Bill
Lower tariff was negotiated (Clay compromise) for opposition dropped to the Force Bill (Calhoun compromise)
President tried to claim victory by signing the Force Bill first
Jackson’s greatest achievement is the modern party and administration. This is clearly described by Morone.
Morone looks at Jacksonian Democracy as a response to economic changes, immigration, and pressures caused by the Indian removal and slavery issues. In a way, Morone makes a better argument for Jackson being a reconstructive President.
Compare and contrast Jefferson’s and Jackson’s Presidencies. Why was Jefferson more successful in asserting Presidential authority? Why was Jackson more successful in remaking the political order?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Readings for Monday
Please read the following chapters for Monday's class:
James Morone, The Democratic Wish , pp. 74-96
Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make , chapters on Presidents Jefferson and Jackson
James Morone, The Democratic Wish , pp. 74-96
Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make , chapters on Presidents Jefferson and Jackson
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Midterm Essays
Answer 2 of the following (25 points each):
1. What is American Political Development? Which theories help us to arrive at a definition? Which theories are less applicable?
2. Can culture provide an adequate explanation of political development? Is there consensus in American political culture?
3. How well does political development occurs in cycles. Assess the following cyclical theories in your answer: Generations, Party Realignment, and Presidential Leadership.
4. Discuss the role played by Religion in American Political Development.
5. Describe Sundquist’s portrayal of Party Realignment. What are its strengths and weaknesses.
6. Assess Skowronek’s theory as a viable explanation of Presidential authority. The author explicitly omits personality and character traits, is this a flaw in his theory?
Answer 2 of the following (25 points each):
1. What is American Political Development? Which theories help us to arrive at a definition? Which theories are less applicable?
2. Can culture provide an adequate explanation of political development? Is there consensus in American political culture?
3. How well does political development occurs in cycles. Assess the following cyclical theories in your answer: Generations, Party Realignment, and Presidential Leadership.
4. Discuss the role played by Religion in American Political Development.
5. Describe Sundquist’s portrayal of Party Realignment. What are its strengths and weaknesses.
6. Assess Skowronek’s theory as a viable explanation of Presidential authority. The author explicitly omits personality and character traits, is this a flaw in his theory?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Presidential Leadership
Traditional Theories of the Presidency:
Presidents as agents of power
Presidents as articulators
Psychological Presidency
Skowronek’s Theory:
All Presidents aspire for a place in history.
Successful leaders control the political definition of their actions, and the terms in which their place in history is understood.
All presidents face the challenge of “Legitimation”
This manifests itself in how the President manages Power and Authority
Power – resources, formal and informal, that presidents in a given period have at their disposal.
Authority – expectations that surround the exercise of power at a particular moment. The perceptions of what is appropriate for a given president to do.
Skowronek’s argument is completely Structuralist
The author provides for “little in the personal characters or political skills of those few who have mastered the legitimation problem that readily distinguishes them as a group from those who have not.”
Agrees with Hamilton in Federalist 72, that new presidents come to power with a “rationale for shattering the received order.”
Exceptions??: John Q Adams, Benjamin Harrison, George W Bush
Thus, each President’s narrative is based on their placement in “political time”
President’s Political Identity
Previously Established Commitments
Opposed
Affiliated
Vulnerable
Politics of Reconstruction
Politics of Disjunction
Resilient
Politics of Preemption
Politics of Articulation
Politics of Reconstruction – President is from opposition to the previously established regime. Repudiates existing commitments of ideology and interests. Leverages events by fashioning an expansive authority to remake government.
Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, FDR, Reagan
Disjunction – President is affiliated with a set of established commitments that have been considered as failed or not relevant to existing challenges and events.
John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter
Articulation – Established commitments of ideology and interest are resilient. They use political action to leverage existing resources, “demonstrating the vitality of the established order.” Challenge is dealing with factional issues within the establishment.
James Monroe, James Polk, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson,
George H W Bush
Preemption – These are opposition leaders within a resilient political order. They present a new agenda, attempt to play political divisions against each other, forging a middle ground. Tend to be disruptive to existing coalitions, sometimes leading to constitutional crisis.
John Tyler, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Richard Nixon,
Bill Clinton
Traditional Theories of the Presidency:
Presidents as agents of power
Presidents as articulators
Psychological Presidency
Skowronek’s Theory:
All Presidents aspire for a place in history.
Successful leaders control the political definition of their actions, and the terms in which their place in history is understood.
All presidents face the challenge of “Legitimation”
This manifests itself in how the President manages Power and Authority
Power – resources, formal and informal, that presidents in a given period have at their disposal.
Authority – expectations that surround the exercise of power at a particular moment. The perceptions of what is appropriate for a given president to do.
Skowronek’s argument is completely Structuralist
The author provides for “little in the personal characters or political skills of those few who have mastered the legitimation problem that readily distinguishes them as a group from those who have not.”
Agrees with Hamilton in Federalist 72, that new presidents come to power with a “rationale for shattering the received order.”
Exceptions??: John Q Adams, Benjamin Harrison, George W Bush
Thus, each President’s narrative is based on their placement in “political time”
President’s Political Identity
Previously Established Commitments
Opposed
Affiliated
Vulnerable
Politics of Reconstruction
Politics of Disjunction
Resilient
Politics of Preemption
Politics of Articulation
Politics of Reconstruction – President is from opposition to the previously established regime. Repudiates existing commitments of ideology and interests. Leverages events by fashioning an expansive authority to remake government.
Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, FDR, Reagan
Disjunction – President is affiliated with a set of established commitments that have been considered as failed or not relevant to existing challenges and events.
John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter
Articulation – Established commitments of ideology and interest are resilient. They use political action to leverage existing resources, “demonstrating the vitality of the established order.” Challenge is dealing with factional issues within the establishment.
James Monroe, James Polk, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson,
George H W Bush
Preemption – These are opposition leaders within a resilient political order. They present a new agenda, attempt to play political divisions against each other, forging a middle ground. Tend to be disruptive to existing coalitions, sometimes leading to constitutional crisis.
John Tyler, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Richard Nixon,
Bill Clinton
Friday, January 30, 2009
Realignment
1) Normal elections. This is when people vote their normal party identifications because no major events cause a significant number of people to do otherwise.
2) Critical elections. Sometimes these are called realigning elections. These are those elections in which some dramatic crisis or set of events causes large groups of people to adopt new party identifications.
3) Dealigning Elections. These usually precede critical elections. What happens here is that events and failures of the current majority party to deal with those events cause people to drop their old party identifications WITHOUT moving to the other party--they are likely to become independents.
4) Deviating Elections. Deviating elections are characterized by temporary issues and factors that cause those people with party ID's to vote for the candidate of the other party, but not change their party ID. In the next election they are likely to go back to their own party in voting as the issue passes or as the temporary factor disappears. These temporary factors and issues can be such things as an issue position on which voters strongly disagree with their party's candidate.
1) Normal elections. This is when people vote their normal party identifications because no major events cause a significant number of people to do otherwise.
2) Critical elections. Sometimes these are called realigning elections. These are those elections in which some dramatic crisis or set of events causes large groups of people to adopt new party identifications.
3) Dealigning Elections. These usually precede critical elections. What happens here is that events and failures of the current majority party to deal with those events cause people to drop their old party identifications WITHOUT moving to the other party--they are likely to become independents.
4) Deviating Elections. Deviating elections are characterized by temporary issues and factors that cause those people with party ID's to vote for the candidate of the other party, but not change their party ID. In the next election they are likely to go back to their own party in voting as the issue passes or as the temporary factor disappears. These temporary factors and issues can be such things as an issue position on which voters strongly disagree with their party's candidate.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Generations
What is a generation? - Special cohort-group whose lenth matches that of a basic phase of life. Events shape generational personalitiesaccording to their phase of life.
Generations come in cycles. The authors produce the following model:
Generation
Birth Years
Age in 1991
Age in 2013
GI
1901 – 1924
66-89
88-111
Silent
1925-1942
48-65
70-87
Boomers
1943-1960
30-47
52-69
Xers
1961-1981
9-29
31-51
Millenials
1982-2003
0-8
9-30
Unnamed
2004 - ??
Not alive
0-8
Generations are shaped by “Social Moments” – an era, typically lasting about a decade, when people perceive historic events are radically altering their social environment.
2 types of Social Moments
Secular Crisis – when society focuses on reordering the outer world of institutions and public behavior
Spiritual Awakenings – when society focuses on changing the inner world of values and behavior
These 2 types of social moments tend to alternate
Generation Types
Idealists (Boomers) – Grows up after a secular crisis, comes of age in a spiritual awakening, narcissitic as rising adults, moralistic midlifers, visionary elders
Reactives (Xers) – underprotected youths during spiritual awakening, risk taking adults, pragmatic midlifers, respect as elders
Civics (Gis, Millenials) – protected youths during spiritual awakening, comes of age in secular crisis, achieving as rising adults, builds institutions as midlifers, and busy elders during spiritual awakening
Adaptives (Silent, Unnamed) – overprotected youths during secular crisis, risk avers rising adults, indecisive midlife during spiritual awakening, influence as sensitive elders
GI
Silent
Boomers
Xers
Millenial
Unnamed
Civic
Crisis
Adaptive
Idealist
Spiritual Awakening
Reactive
Civic
Crisis
Adaptive
The authors argue that “peer personality” is driven by non-elites. Is this the case? What kind of a role do opinion leaders play in setting a generation’s tone?
Do Millenials have a “peer personality”? Are they shaped more by the 90s or the current decade?
What is your assessment of the Generations theory? Is it too impressionistic?
What is a generation? - Special cohort-group whose lenth matches that of a basic phase of life. Events shape generational personalitiesaccording to their phase of life.
Generations come in cycles. The authors produce the following model:
Generation
Birth Years
Age in 1991
Age in 2013
GI
1901 – 1924
66-89
88-111
Silent
1925-1942
48-65
70-87
Boomers
1943-1960
30-47
52-69
Xers
1961-1981
9-29
31-51
Millenials
1982-2003
0-8
9-30
Unnamed
2004 - ??
Not alive
0-8
Generations are shaped by “Social Moments” – an era, typically lasting about a decade, when people perceive historic events are radically altering their social environment.
2 types of Social Moments
Secular Crisis – when society focuses on reordering the outer world of institutions and public behavior
Spiritual Awakenings – when society focuses on changing the inner world of values and behavior
These 2 types of social moments tend to alternate
Generation Types
Idealists (Boomers) – Grows up after a secular crisis, comes of age in a spiritual awakening, narcissitic as rising adults, moralistic midlifers, visionary elders
Reactives (Xers) – underprotected youths during spiritual awakening, risk taking adults, pragmatic midlifers, respect as elders
Civics (Gis, Millenials) – protected youths during spiritual awakening, comes of age in secular crisis, achieving as rising adults, builds institutions as midlifers, and busy elders during spiritual awakening
Adaptives (Silent, Unnamed) – overprotected youths during secular crisis, risk avers rising adults, indecisive midlife during spiritual awakening, influence as sensitive elders
GI
Silent
Boomers
Xers
Millenial
Unnamed
Civic
Crisis
Adaptive
Idealist
Spiritual Awakening
Reactive
Civic
Crisis
Adaptive
The authors argue that “peer personality” is driven by non-elites. Is this the case? What kind of a role do opinion leaders play in setting a generation’s tone?
Do Millenials have a “peer personality”? Are they shaped more by the 90s or the current decade?
What is your assessment of the Generations theory? Is it too impressionistic?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
From Puritanism to Modern Morality Politics
Morone’s argument:
American political culture based on Puritan/Calvanist foundation
Moralist movements have rose from both the right and left
Debates based on an US vs THEM dichotomy
Morone’s theory mirrors Eckstein’s Culturalist Theory
Morone’s Moralist Cycle:
1. Conversion
2. Government Intervention
3. Institution building
The Social Gospel
The New Puritans
Early Puritans
The New Puritans – 4 General “sin” categories in society
Laziness
Drinking/Drugs
Violence
Sex
Post office Example – History may be repeating itself with debates over Internet policy
The Social Gospel – Social pressures to blame for people’s sins
Example: Poverty driving people to drink
Drug abuse as a disease
Sex as a public health issue
Does Morone’s theory adequately account for policy change in American political history?
How well can modernization theory explain periodic revivals in American political history?
Is “The New Puritanism” on the rise or decline in contemporary public policy? Is “The Social Gospel” returning?
Generations
What is a generation? - Special cohort-group whose lenth matches that of a basic phase of life. Events shape generational personalitiesaccording to their phase of life.
Generations come in cycles. The authors produce the following model:
Reactive (Gis) 1925 - 1942
Idealist (Boomers) 1943-1961
Adaptives (Xers) 1962 - 1981
Civic (Millenial) 1982 - 2000
Generations are shaped by “Social Moments” – an era, typically lasting about a decade, when people perceive historic events are radically altering their social environment.
2 types of Social Moments
Secular Crisis – when society focuses on reordering the outer world of institutions and public behavior
Spiritual Awakenings – when society focuses on changing the inner world of values and behavior
These 2 types of social moments tend to alternate
Morone’s argument:
American political culture based on Puritan/Calvanist foundation
Moralist movements have rose from both the right and left
Debates based on an US vs THEM dichotomy
Morone’s theory mirrors Eckstein’s Culturalist Theory
Morone’s Moralist Cycle:
1. Conversion
2. Government Intervention
3. Institution building
The Social Gospel
The New Puritans
Early Puritans
The New Puritans – 4 General “sin” categories in society
Laziness
Drinking/Drugs
Violence
Sex
Post office Example – History may be repeating itself with debates over Internet policy
The Social Gospel – Social pressures to blame for people’s sins
Example: Poverty driving people to drink
Drug abuse as a disease
Sex as a public health issue
Does Morone’s theory adequately account for policy change in American political history?
How well can modernization theory explain periodic revivals in American political history?
Is “The New Puritanism” on the rise or decline in contemporary public policy? Is “The Social Gospel” returning?
Generations
What is a generation? - Special cohort-group whose lenth matches that of a basic phase of life. Events shape generational personalitiesaccording to their phase of life.
Generations come in cycles. The authors produce the following model:
Reactive (Gis) 1925 - 1942
Idealist (Boomers) 1943-1961
Adaptives (Xers) 1962 - 1981
Civic (Millenial) 1982 - 2000
Generations are shaped by “Social Moments” – an era, typically lasting about a decade, when people perceive historic events are radically altering their social environment.
2 types of Social Moments
Secular Crisis – when society focuses on reordering the outer world of institutions and public behavior
Spiritual Awakenings – when society focuses on changing the inner world of values and behavior
These 2 types of social moments tend to alternate
Sunday, January 11, 2009
American Political Development (Orren and Skowronek) –
A Durable Shift in Governing Authority
Governing Authority –
Exercise of control over persons or things that are enforceable by the state
What is Authority?
1. Designated in advance
2. Works through Institutions
3. Enforceable by law
4. Works through perceptions
Shift –
Authority moves or is transferred from one position to another
Examples:
Department of Homeland Security
Pendleton Act of 1883
Durability –
Shift in authority must be lasting over time
Examples:
New Deal
Post World War II National Security
Non-Durable Shifts:
Prohibition
Is this Definition Limiting?
Patterns
Intercurrence
Path Dependency and Policy Change
Juncture 1
Policy A
Policy B
Random Event or
Unanticipated Consequence
Policy B
Policy A
Transaction Costs
Political Culture
A Durable Shift in Governing Authority
Governing Authority –
Exercise of control over persons or things that are enforceable by the state
What is Authority?
1. Designated in advance
2. Works through Institutions
3. Enforceable by law
4. Works through perceptions
Shift –
Authority moves or is transferred from one position to another
Examples:
Department of Homeland Security
Pendleton Act of 1883
Durability –
Shift in authority must be lasting over time
Examples:
New Deal
Post World War II National Security
Non-Durable Shifts:
Prohibition
Is this Definition Limiting?
Patterns
Intercurrence
Path Dependency and Policy Change
Juncture 1
Policy A
Policy B
Random Event or
Unanticipated Consequence
Policy B
Policy A
Transaction Costs
Political Culture
Monday, January 5, 2009
Syllabus
POS 4931: American Political Development
Spring 2009
Instructor: Office Hours:
Dan Cicenia
301 Anderson Hall
Email: dcicenia@ufl.edu
Course Description
This course focuses on the evolution and transformation of political institutions at various points in American political history. We will begin with the Jeffersonian era, working our way up through the Reagan era. A particular focus will be placed on the Presidency, the Party system and Policy change. We will also examine the role Social Movements play in fostering political change over time. The syllabus assumes you have taken at least POS 2041 and Junior or Senior standing in the Political Science major.
Books Required for Purchase. A coursepack is also required, and is available at Orange and Blue Textbooks, at 309 NW 13th Street.
Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform (Vintage/Knopf/Random House: 1955)
Doug McAdam, Political Process and Black Insurgency (University of Chicago: 1985)
James Morone, The Democratic Wish (Yale, 1998)
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (Belknap/Harvard: 1997)
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (Brookings: 1983)
Grades/Assignments
All grading is on a 0-100 scale. The cutoffs for final course grades are as follows: A=90, B+=87, B=80, C+=77, C=70, D=60, F<60. Course averages just below each cutoff might be given the higher grade if there is significant progress over the semester. Borderline grades will also be discounted by attendance.
Your grade will be based on the following:
Quizzes 10%
Midterm #1 25%
Midterm #2 25%
Final exam 30%
Participation 10%
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
Students are bound by the University of Florida's Student Code of Conduct. Anyone who commits an act of academic dishonesty, such as cheating on exams or committing plagiarism on written assignments, will suffer appropriate sanctions and be referred to university authorities for further action.
Any student with a special need should notify me (and coordinate with Student Services at 202 Peabody Hall) as soon as possible at the beginning of the semester. Every effort will be made to accommodate your situation within the guidelines set forth by the university.
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
WHAT IS AMERICAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT?
Karen Orren and Stephen Skowronek, The Search for American Political Development (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 120-32. (coursepack)
POLITICAL CULTURE AND INSTITUTIONS
Harry Eckstein, “A Culturalist Theory of Political Change,” American Political Science Review, 82(3) (September 1988): 789-804.
Samuel Huntington, American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony (Harvard: 1981), Ch. 3, pp. 31-60 (coursepack)
Louis Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America (1955, 1991), chap. 1 "The Concept of a Liberal Society," pp. 3-32. (coursepack)
POLITICAL CULTURE RECONSIDERED
Sven Steinmo, "American Exceptionalism Reconsidered", in L. Dodd and C. Jillson, eds., The Dynamics of American Politics (Westview: 1994), Ch. 5, pp. 106-131 (coursepack)
Rogers M. Smith, "Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in America," American Political Science Review 87 (3) (September 1993): 549-66. (course pack)
RELIGION AND CYCLICAL CHANGE
· James A. Morone, Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History, pp 1-33. (coursepack)
· William Strauss and Neil Howe, Generations, (William Morrow: 1991), pp 1-40., 58-96 (coursepack).
PARTY REALIGNMENT THEORY
Walter Dean Burnham, Critical Elections (Norton: 1970), Ch. 1, pp. 1-10 (coursepack)
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), chs 1, pp. 1-10
PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP
Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chs. 2-3
· James Morone, The Democratic Wish (required textbook), p. 1-15
SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORY
Ann Costain and Andrew McFarland, Social Movements and American Political Institutions (coursepack), Ch 1.
Douglas McAdam, Political Process and Black Insurgency (required text, Chs 1-3).
PRESIDENTS JEFFERSON AND JACKSON
James Morone, The Democratic Wish (required textbook), pp. 74-96
Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chapters on Presidents Jefferson and Jackson
In-class film
CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chapter on President Lincoln
Seth Steiner, ed., Reconstruction: A Tragic Era? (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968), pp. 1-8, 13-17, 29-36 (coursepack)
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), chs 4-5.
In class film
AMERICAN INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE RISE OF POPULISM
Richard Franklin Bensel, The Political Economy of American Industrialization, pp.1-54 (coursepack).
Richard Hoftstadter, Age of Reform (required textbook), chs. 2 and 3
In-class film
PROGRESSIVISM I:
Richard Hofstadter, Age of Reform (required textbook), Chs. 4-5.
James Morone, The Democratic Wish (required textbook), pp. 97-128
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), chs 1
In class film
PROGRESSIVISM II:
Eileen L. McDonagh, "The 'Welfare Rights State' and the 'Civil Rights State': Policy Paradox and
State Building in the Progressive Era," Studies in American Political Development, 7 (2) (Fall 1993): 225-274. (coursepack)
James Morone, Hellfire Nation, Chs 10, 11. (coursepack)
Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make, (required textbook) Chapter on Theodore Roosevelt.
THE NEW DEAL
Ann Orloff in Theda Skocpol, ed., The Politics of Social Policy (Princeton, 1988), pp. 65-79 (coursepack)
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chapter on Franklin D. Roosevelt
Jill Quadagno in Skocpol, ed., The Politics of Social Policy (Princeton, 1988), pp. 237-247 (coursepack)
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), ch 10.
In class film
THE GREAT SOCIETY
Ira Katznelson Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order (Princetion: 1989), Ch 7., (coursepack)
Brendon O’Connor A Political History of the American Welfare System (Rowman and Littlefield: 2003), Ch 2, (coursepack)
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chapter on Lyndon B. Johnson
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), ch 10
THE RISE OF CONSERVATISM
Jonathan Schoenwald, A Time For Choosing (coursepack), Chs. 2, 5.
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (required text), chapter on Reagan
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), ch 18
Daniel M. Cook and Andrew J. Polsky, "Political Time Reconsidered: Unbuilding and Rebuilding the State under the Reagan Administration," American Politics Research 33 (4) (July 2005): 577-605. (coursepack)
In-class film
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Douglas McAdam, Political Process and Black Insurgency (required text), chs. 5-8
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), ch 17
In-class film
CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Ann Costain and Andrew McFarland, Social Movements and American Political Institutions (coursepack), Ch 4.
Jane Mansbridge, Why We Lost the ERA (University of Chicago, 1986), Chs 1, 10. (coursepack)
James Morone, Hellfire Nation, Chs 15. (coursepack)
POLITICAL REFORM
James Morone, The Democratic Wish (required textbook), pp. 322-338
James Sundquist Constitutional Reform and Effective Government (Brookings, 1992) Chs 1, 9. (coursepack)
Important Dates:
CLASS CANCELLED JANUARY 9: CONFERENCE
NO CLASS JANUARY 19: MLK HOLIDAY
EXAM 1 – (FEBRUARY 6, 9)
EXAM 2: (MARCH 20, 23)
CLASS CANCELLED APRIL 1 – 3: CONFERENCE
FINAL EXAM (Tuesday, April 28 at 12:30)
Spring 2009
Instructor: Office Hours:
Dan Cicenia
301 Anderson Hall
Email: dcicenia@ufl.edu
Course Description
This course focuses on the evolution and transformation of political institutions at various points in American political history. We will begin with the Jeffersonian era, working our way up through the Reagan era. A particular focus will be placed on the Presidency, the Party system and Policy change. We will also examine the role Social Movements play in fostering political change over time. The syllabus assumes you have taken at least POS 2041 and Junior or Senior standing in the Political Science major.
Books Required for Purchase. A coursepack is also required, and is available at Orange and Blue Textbooks, at 309 NW 13th Street.
Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform (Vintage/Knopf/Random House: 1955)
Doug McAdam, Political Process and Black Insurgency (University of Chicago: 1985)
James Morone, The Democratic Wish (Yale, 1998)
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (Belknap/Harvard: 1997)
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (Brookings: 1983)
Grades/Assignments
All grading is on a 0-100 scale. The cutoffs for final course grades are as follows: A=90, B+=87, B=80, C+=77, C=70, D=60, F<60. Course averages just below each cutoff might be given the higher grade if there is significant progress over the semester. Borderline grades will also be discounted by attendance.
Your grade will be based on the following:
Quizzes 10%
Midterm #1 25%
Midterm #2 25%
Final exam 30%
Participation 10%
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
Students are bound by the University of Florida's Student Code of Conduct. Anyone who commits an act of academic dishonesty, such as cheating on exams or committing plagiarism on written assignments, will suffer appropriate sanctions and be referred to university authorities for further action.
Any student with a special need should notify me (and coordinate with Student Services at 202 Peabody Hall) as soon as possible at the beginning of the semester. Every effort will be made to accommodate your situation within the guidelines set forth by the university.
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
WHAT IS AMERICAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT?
Karen Orren and Stephen Skowronek, The Search for American Political Development (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 120-32. (coursepack)
POLITICAL CULTURE AND INSTITUTIONS
Harry Eckstein, “A Culturalist Theory of Political Change,” American Political Science Review, 82(3) (September 1988): 789-804.
Samuel Huntington, American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony (Harvard: 1981), Ch. 3, pp. 31-60 (coursepack)
Louis Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America (1955, 1991), chap. 1 "The Concept of a Liberal Society," pp. 3-32. (coursepack)
POLITICAL CULTURE RECONSIDERED
Sven Steinmo, "American Exceptionalism Reconsidered", in L. Dodd and C. Jillson, eds., The Dynamics of American Politics (Westview: 1994), Ch. 5, pp. 106-131 (coursepack)
Rogers M. Smith, "Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in America," American Political Science Review 87 (3) (September 1993): 549-66. (course pack)
RELIGION AND CYCLICAL CHANGE
· James A. Morone, Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History, pp 1-33. (coursepack)
· William Strauss and Neil Howe, Generations, (William Morrow: 1991), pp 1-40., 58-96 (coursepack).
PARTY REALIGNMENT THEORY
Walter Dean Burnham, Critical Elections (Norton: 1970), Ch. 1, pp. 1-10 (coursepack)
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), chs 1, pp. 1-10
PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP
Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chs. 2-3
· James Morone, The Democratic Wish (required textbook), p. 1-15
SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORY
Ann Costain and Andrew McFarland, Social Movements and American Political Institutions (coursepack), Ch 1.
Douglas McAdam, Political Process and Black Insurgency (required text, Chs 1-3).
PRESIDENTS JEFFERSON AND JACKSON
James Morone, The Democratic Wish (required textbook), pp. 74-96
Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chapters on Presidents Jefferson and Jackson
In-class film
CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chapter on President Lincoln
Seth Steiner, ed., Reconstruction: A Tragic Era? (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968), pp. 1-8, 13-17, 29-36 (coursepack)
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), chs 4-5.
In class film
AMERICAN INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE RISE OF POPULISM
Richard Franklin Bensel, The Political Economy of American Industrialization, pp.1-54 (coursepack).
Richard Hoftstadter, Age of Reform (required textbook), chs. 2 and 3
In-class film
PROGRESSIVISM I:
Richard Hofstadter, Age of Reform (required textbook), Chs. 4-5.
James Morone, The Democratic Wish (required textbook), pp. 97-128
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), chs 1
In class film
PROGRESSIVISM II:
Eileen L. McDonagh, "The 'Welfare Rights State' and the 'Civil Rights State': Policy Paradox and
State Building in the Progressive Era," Studies in American Political Development, 7 (2) (Fall 1993): 225-274. (coursepack)
James Morone, Hellfire Nation, Chs 10, 11. (coursepack)
Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make, (required textbook) Chapter on Theodore Roosevelt.
THE NEW DEAL
Ann Orloff in Theda Skocpol, ed., The Politics of Social Policy (Princeton, 1988), pp. 65-79 (coursepack)
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chapter on Franklin D. Roosevelt
Jill Quadagno in Skocpol, ed., The Politics of Social Policy (Princeton, 1988), pp. 237-247 (coursepack)
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), ch 10.
In class film
THE GREAT SOCIETY
Ira Katznelson Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order (Princetion: 1989), Ch 7., (coursepack)
Brendon O’Connor A Political History of the American Welfare System (Rowman and Littlefield: 2003), Ch 2, (coursepack)
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (required textbook), chapter on Lyndon B. Johnson
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), ch 10
THE RISE OF CONSERVATISM
Jonathan Schoenwald, A Time For Choosing (coursepack), Chs. 2, 5.
Stephen Skowronek, Politics Presidents Make (required text), chapter on Reagan
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), ch 18
Daniel M. Cook and Andrew J. Polsky, "Political Time Reconsidered: Unbuilding and Rebuilding the State under the Reagan Administration," American Politics Research 33 (4) (July 2005): 577-605. (coursepack)
In-class film
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Douglas McAdam, Political Process and Black Insurgency (required text), chs. 5-8
James Sundquist, Dynamics of the Party System (required textbook), ch 17
In-class film
CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Ann Costain and Andrew McFarland, Social Movements and American Political Institutions (coursepack), Ch 4.
Jane Mansbridge, Why We Lost the ERA (University of Chicago, 1986), Chs 1, 10. (coursepack)
James Morone, Hellfire Nation, Chs 15. (coursepack)
POLITICAL REFORM
James Morone, The Democratic Wish (required textbook), pp. 322-338
James Sundquist Constitutional Reform and Effective Government (Brookings, 1992) Chs 1, 9. (coursepack)
Important Dates:
CLASS CANCELLED JANUARY 9: CONFERENCE
NO CLASS JANUARY 19: MLK HOLIDAY
EXAM 1 – (FEBRUARY 6, 9)
EXAM 2: (MARCH 20, 23)
CLASS CANCELLED APRIL 1 – 3: CONFERENCE
FINAL EXAM (Tuesday, April 28 at 12:30)
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