General
The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.
-- John Maynard Keynes
This course explores the connection between political ideas and political action in the United States. It examines contemporary writings from a variety of ideological viewpoints, with an emphasis on domestic public policy. It considers the following questions:
Classes
Class sessions will include lecture and discussion. Finish each week's readings before the Monday class because our discussions will involve those readings. We shall also talk about breaking news stories, so you must read a good daily newspaper or on-line service such as
Grades
The following will make up your course grade:
The papers will develop your research and writing skills. Read Strunk and White's Elements of Style before submitting any papers. On April 14 and 16, you will make short oral presentations on your research papers. These presentations, as well as your overall class participation, will hone your ability to think on your feet. The final examination will test your factual knowledge. In place of the final, graduating seniors will write a five-page essay, due on the last day of class. If you often miss class or fail to prepare, your grade will suffer.
Check the due dates for papers, as well as the date of the final exam. Arrange your schedule accordingly. Do not plan on seeking extensions or make-up work. Plagiarism will result in an F for the course and referral to the Academic Standards Committee.
Required Books
Walter Dean Burnham, ed., The American Prospect Reader in American Politics (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1995).
Lynne V. Cheney, Telling the Truth (New York: Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, 1996).
E.J. Dionne, Jr., Why Americans Hate Politics (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991).
Theodore R. Marmor, Jerry L. Mashaw, and Philip L. Harvey, America's Misunderstood Welfare State (New York: HarperCollins/Basic, 1990).
James P. Pinkerton, What Comes Next (New York: Hyperion, 1995).
Thomas Sowell, A Conflict of Visions (New York: William Morrow/Quill, 1987).
Schedule (subject to change, with advance notice.)
Jan 20, 22: Introduction
"The official acts of policy making -- enacting the laws, promulgating the rules, issuing the court opinions -- have been embedded within social movements and understandings that have shaped them and propelled them forward. To disregard these motivating ideas is to miss the essential story." -- Robert B. Reich
Dionne, introduction.
Jan 27, 29: Problems of Liberalism
"A notsaposta is a truth that members of a political party are told by ideologues that they cannot acknowledge, lest they give aid and comfort to the enemy." -- Barney Frank
Dionne, ch. 1-5
Feb 3, 5: Problems of Conservatism
"The conservative ideology, the conservative philosophy for a party [must] be jettisoned for either a new word or new phrases that give a better appeal to blacks and blue-collar workers and inner-city minorities.' -- Jack Kemp, 1984
Dionne, ch. 6-12.
Feb 10, 12: Constrained and Unconstrained Visions
"We are afraid to put men to live and trade each on his own private stock of reason; because we suspect that this stock in each man is small; and that the individuals would do better to avail themselves of the general bank and capital of nations, and of ages." -- Edmund Burke
Sowell, ch. 1-5.
Burnham, ch. 1 (Holmes on liberalism), ch. 2 (Starr on socialism).
Feb 17, 19: Visions and Applications
"Personally, I find that the most objectionable feature of the conservative attitude is its propensity to reject well-substantiated new knowledge because it dislikes some of the consequences which seem to follow from it -- or, to put it bluntly, its obscurantism." -- Friedrich Hayek
Sowell, ch. 6-9.
Burnham, ch. 3 (Kuttner on democracy), ch. 4 (Putnam on social capital).
SECOND THREE-PAGE ESSAY ASSIGNED FEB 19, DUE MAR 3
Feb 24, 26: Liberalism and the Welfare State
"This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty." -- Lyndon B. Johnson
Marmor, preface, ch. 1-4.
Robert Rector, "Welfare" (http://www.heritage.org/heritage/issues96/chpt7.html)
Mar 3, 5: Entitlements
"With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Marmor, ch. 5-7.
Michael Tanner, "Social Security and Baby Boomers" (http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-mt092496.html)
Mar 10, 12: Culture Wars
"Though liberals do a great deal of talking about hearing other points of view, it sometimes shocks them to learn that there are other points of view." -- William F. Buckley, Jr.
Cheney, ch. 1-3. Burnham, ch. 8 (Epstein on civility), ch. 9 (Barber on rights).
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS DUE MAR 10
Mar 24, 26: Cultural Issues in the Courts and the Media
"We are, all of us, exploring a world that none of us understands and attempting to create within that uncertainty." -- Hillary Rodham, 1969
Cheney, ch. 4-7.
Burnham, ch. 5 (Stone on race and gender), ch. 6 (Kennedy on Guinier).
Mar 31, Apr 2: Democracy
"When Bryan speaks, the wigwam shakes.
The corporation magnate quakes.
The pre-convention plot is smashed.
The valiant pleb full-armed awakes." -- Vachel Lindsay
Burnham, ch. 10 (Valelly on turnout), ch. 14 (Burnham on 1992), ch. 15 (Ganz on campaigns), ch. 16 (Ackerman on campaign finance), ch. 17 (Fishkin on teledemocracy), ch. 18 (Paget on citizen organizing), ch. 19 (Judis on interest groups).
Apr 7, 9: Institutional Reform
"I hear it was charged against me that I sought to destroy institutions; But really I am neither for nor against institutions; (What indeed have I in common with them? -- Or with the destruction of them?) -- Walt Whitman
Burnham, Part Three.
Apr 21, 23: The New Paradigm
"It seems clear to me that both the size of the deficit problem and the need for a package that can be enacted require all of the following ... tax revenue increases..." -- George Bush, June 26, 1989
Pinkerton, ch. 1-6.
RESEARCH PAPER DUE IN MY OFFICE APR 24
Apr 28, 30: Big Offers
"Be not deceived. Revolutions do not go backward." -- Abraham Lincoln
Pinkerton, ch. 7-13.
May 5, 6: Putting It Together
"They love change, but are afraid of revolutions." -- Alexis deTocqueville, on inhabitants of democracies.
Pinkerton, ch. 14.
Dionne, ch. 13.
FINAL EXAMINATION: TUESDAY, MAY 13, 8 AM
Created: January 20, 1997