Graduate School of American Studies
Doshisha University
Spring 2001
Prof. Taylor Dark
Office Phone: (075) 251-3927
PARTY POLITICS IN AMERICA (2 units)
For the second time in the space of barely two years, the USA in the winter of 2000 was plunged into a fierce and protracted battle between its two main political parties. In the aftermath of the unusually close November presidential election, Republicans and Democrats fought bitterly over every aspect of the results, including which votes should be counted and who, indeed, had really won. In early 1999, a similarly intense battle took place over the impeachment of President Bill Clinton – an impeachment effort led exclusively by Republicans, and splitting the House and Senate almost exactly along party lines. Both of these conflicts generated the most extreme of accusations: each side said that the other threatened democracy and the rule of law; each side saw the other as extreme, unyielding, and corrupt.
As these episodes reveal, the two parties are more antagonistic to each other today than at any point in post-war US history. Older traditions of bipartisanship have dissolved in favor of a "scorched earth" approach to political conflict. In order to understand how this situation came about, and to understand the role of American political parties more generally, this course will examine the origins and nature of the two parties, their current structure and role, and the consequences of these characteristics for US domestic and foreign policy.
Course Requirements
All students must copy and read the assigned text, and attend class regularly. The main course requirement will be a 15-page paper on some aspect of American party politics. Further information on how to complete the assignment will be distributed in class.
Textbook
Paul Beck and Marjorie Hershey, Party Politics in America, Ninth Edition (New York: Longman, 2000). Be sure to read from the Ninth Edition, not an earlier version.
Selections from classic and contemporary readings on party politics will also be distributed in class as appropriate.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Please complete the assigned chapters before each class meeting.
Weeks 1 and 2: The American Two-Party System
Read Chapters 1 and 2
Weeks 3 and 4: The Political Party as an Organization
Read Chapters 3, 4, and 5
Weeks 5 and 6: The Political Party in the Electorate
Read Chapters 6, 7, and 8
Weeks 7 and 8: Party Nominations
Read Chapters 9 and 10
Weeks 9 and 10: Parties and Campaigns
Read Chapters 11 and 12
Weeks 11 and 12: The Party in Government
Read Chapters 13 and 14
Week 13: The Place of Parties in American Politics
Read Chapters 15 and 16
FIFTEEN-PAGE RESEARCH PAPER DUE AT END OF SEMESTER