Soc 111a
Political Sociology
Fall 2013
M, W 2-3:20pm
Prof. Carmen Sirianni
Pearlman 210, x62652
sirianni@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: TBA
This course provides an overview of some major concepts in political sociology, especially as
they relate to American political life. We examine recent debates on social capital and civic
engagement, politics and markets, grassroots and netroots, national interest groups and
policymaking, community organizing and urban governance, social movements, and parties and
politics at the national level. While the course provides an historical lens on several topics, its
main focus is contemporary. We will also follow several current political topics as they unfold in
Washington over the course of the semester and students may choose to do some of their course
work around these.
Course Requirements
Students are expected to stay current with all the readings, and come to class prepared for
discussion.
Students are expected to complete two sets of essays of 10 pages each (double-spaced, 12-point
or so font, paginated) based on the readings, lectures and class discussions. Each set of essays
will count as 45% of the course grade. Class participation and contributions to discussions will
count as 10%.
Midterm essays: due Oct 7 (in class): 10 pages (45%)
Final essays: due Dec 9 (in class): 10 pages (45%)
Class participation: 10% -- ongoing contributions to class discussions; optional individual
and team presentations.
Service Learning: students have the option of combining the usual reading, presentations, and writing
with internships and other forms of active civic engagement (e.g. with an advocacy campaign,
community group, political campaign). Students must work out a specific agreement (on community
engagement and course writing) with Prof. Sirianni in order for this work to count as part of the grade
and perhaps substitute for other assignments. Students can also use this course to help survey and decide
upon later internships.
Disabled students requiring specific arrangements in completing course work should see the
instructor.
Laptop and cell phone policy: since all students deserve a distraction free environment, all laptops and
cell phones are to be shut off and placed out of view during class. If a student needs to be available for
emergency information, such as a family illness, please see instructor for special permission. If you take
notes on laptop, notify me; but absolutely no texting, emailing, or other online activities during class.
Required readings (at Bookstore and on reserve; articles that will be provided as pdfs on
LATTE):
David Karpf, The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political
Advocacy (Oxford University Press 2012).
Carmen Sirianni, Investing in Democracy: Engaging Citizens in Collaborative Governance
(Brookings Press 2009).
Soc 111a: Political Sociology, Fall 2013 - 1
Sept. 4: Introduction: syllabus, requirements, overview of topics
Sept 9-18: Netroots as Networks: The Changing Terrain of Advocacy, the Public Sphere,
and the Political Campaign
How has online communication and the netroots phenomenon altered the field of political
advocacy in the U.S.? What are some of the main types of organizations among the netroots,
such as MoveOn and Daily Kos? How do they differ from previous models of civic
association in American history? What is the impact of the netroots on political
campaigning?
Required Reading:
David Karpf, The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political
Advocacy (Oxford University Press 2012).
Theda Skocpol, Marshall Ganz, and Ziad Munson, “A Nation of Organizers: The
Institutional Origins of Civic Voluntarism in the United States,” American Political
Science Review 94, no 3 (September 2000), 527-46. LATTE pdf.
Daniel Kreiss and Laura Meadows, “Intra-Movement Agenda Setting: Nationalizing North
Carolina’s Fight to Defeat an Anti-Gay Marriage Constitutional Amendment,” in Jennifer
Girouard and Carmen Sirianni, eds., Varieties of Civic Innovation (Vanderbilt University
Press, 2014 forthcoming). LATTE pdf.
Peruse: (1half-hour each), plus several others we will discuss.
MoveOn: www.MoveOn.org
Daily Kos: www.dailykos.com
Sept 23-Oct 2: Community Organizing: Faith-based and Race-based Models Compared
Faith-based, congregation-based, or institution-based community organizing – sometimes
simply referred to as relational organizing, because of its emphasis on relationship building
and “power with” -- is one of the most robust forms of organizing in the U.S. today,
encompassing some 5 million members, and has spread to other countries as well. Barack
Obama, for instance, was trained as an organizer by one of the main faith-based networks,
the Gamaliel Foundation. The IAF, PICO, and DART are other national networks, which
together have some 200 or so city-based coalitions across the country. We will examine this
model, contrast it to race-based organizing, another widely utilized model.
Required Reading:
Richard Wood, Faith in Action: Religion, Race, and Democratic Organizing in America
(University of Chicago Press 2002), chapters 1 and 3. LATTE pdf.
Mark R. Warren, Dry Bones Rattling: Community Building to Revitalize American
Democracy (Princeton University Press 2001), chapter 6 (Project QUEST job training
partnership). LATTE pdf.
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Dennis Shirley, Community Organizing for Urban School Reform (Austin: University of Texas Press,
1997), chapter 3 (Morningside Middle School). LATTE pdf.
Midterm DUE Oct 7 in class: 10-pages typed, paginated, stapled, double-spaced, 12-point
font
Oct 7-23: Urban Regimes and Collaborative Governance
The “urban regime” is a core concept in political sociology. Types of urban regimes. Governance
in a complex and networked world often elicits more advanced forms of relational politics and
multi-stakeholder participation, deliberation, trust building, and coproduction. There are many
terms for this, including “collaborative governance” and “democratic networked governance.” In
this section, we will examine the robust role government itself can play as a catalyst and enabler
of civic partnership, and also the challenges of democratic accountability in a networked world,
with greater reliance on trust than Weberian forms of bureaucracy or Madisonian solutions to the
problem of factions and deliberation about public good.
Required reading
Clarence Stone, “Urban Regimes and the Capacity to Govern: A Political Economy
Approach,” in Power in the City, eds. Marion Orr and Valerie C. Johnson (Kansas UP,
2008), pp. 76-107. LATTE pdf.
Carmen Sirianni, Investing in Democracy: Engaging Citizens in Collaborative Governance
(Brookings Press 2009).
Lewis A. Friedland, “Civic Communication in a Networked Society: Seattle’s Emergent
Ecology,” in Jennifer Girouard and Carmen Sirianni, eds., Varieties of Civic Innovation
(Vanderbilt University Press, 2014 forthcoming). Pdf on LATTE.
James Madison, Federalist #s 10 and 51: http://www.cpn.org/crm/classic/federalist.html
Max Weber, “Bureaucracy,” in Fischer and Sirianni, Critical Studies in Organization and
Bureaucracy (second edition1994), pages 4-19. Pdf on LATTE.
Barack Obama, “Presidential Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government”
(www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/ )
White House Open Government Initiative http://www.whitehouse.gov/open .
Oct 28-Nov 6: Tax Revolts and Tea Parties
Taxation has been a contentious issue from the founding of the American republic and is
thoroughly enmeshed in the meaning of democratic self-governance, equity, and public
goods. At the fertile intersection of political and fiscal sociology, we focus on the
contemporary American tax revolt of the last decades of the twentieth century, rooted
substantially in the revolt against real estate taxes, and the impact this has had on the political
parties and the more generalized tax revolt, including the Tea Party of recent years, which
brings in further dimensions of race and culture.
Required Reading:
Isaac William Martin, The Permanent Tax Revolt: How the Property Tax Transformed
American Politics (Stanford UP 2008), chapters 2 and 5. LATTE pdf.
Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson, The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican
Conservatism (Oxford University Press 2012), chapter 3, pages 83-120 (“Mobilized
Grassroots and Roving Billionaires”). LATTE pdf.
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Christopher S. Parker and Matt A. Barreto, Change They Can't Believe In: The Tea Party and
Reactionary Politics in America (Princeton UP, 2013), chapter 6, pages 218-40 (“Can
You Hear Us Now? Why Republicans are Listening to the Tea Party”). LATTE pdf.
Nov 11-20: The Politics of Health Reform: Interests, Parties, Policy Design, and Implementation
Why has health care reform been so difficult in the United States? Lessons of the Clinton failure
(1993-1994) and the design of the Affordable Care Act under Obama. The complex interest group
(business, senior, professional, public interest) and political process of passage. The continuing
battle over implementation. Continuing challenges of costs, technology, culture, markets, and
politics in the face of our most expansive “public good.”
Required reading:
Lawrence R. Jacobs and Theda Skocpol, Health Car Reform and American Politics (Oxford
UP, 2010), chapter 2, pages 50-100 (“The Year of Pitched Battles: Who Fought for What,
Why, and How”). LATTE pdf.
Jacob S. Hacker, “The Road to Somewhere: Why Health Reform Happened,” Perspectives
on Politics 8:3 (September 2010), 861-876. LATTE pdf.
Daniel Callahan, Taming the Beloved Beast (Princeton UP, 2009), pages 171-218. LATTE
pdf.
New York Times and/or Washington Post coverage of Congressional/Republican battle over
funding and implementation of the Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”), plus selected
articles posted during the course.
Dec 2-4: The Obama Presidency
How might we evaluate the Obama presidency after more than one full term in office?
Required reading:
TBA: selected articles from forthcoming symposia.
Final DUE Dec 9 in class: 10-pages typed, paginated, stapled, double-spaced, 12-point font
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