GO 362
The Politics of Congress
Ron Seyb
Ladd 311
Ext. 5248
Office Hours:
Tu & Th, 11:00-1:00
Spring 2016
Course Description
Few Americans would disagree with the statement that Congress is
broken and in need of repair. Whether this view is based on members'
propensity to engage in "scandalous" behavior—ranging from sexual misconduct
to financial improprieties to consorting with shady lobbyists—or the institution's
apparent failure to discover effective remedies for America's social and economic
problems, the conclusion is the same: Congress must reform itself. Yet this
widespread disaffection has not prompted members of Congress to alter the
basic structures and procedures that have held sway in the institution for the
past century
This course will explore the sources of congressional dysfunction and
propose some remedies. It will, in particular, address the claim made by a
growing number of congressional scholars that the principal source of
Congress’s woes is “asymmetric partisan polarization,” or, in the words of
Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, the evolution of the Republican Party into
as “insurgent outlier” that has moved so “far from the center of American
politics” as to make it “extremely difficult [for Congress] to enact policies
responsive to the country’s most pressing challenges.”
Course Goals
The course is designed to enable students to
1. Engage thoughtfully with the scholarly discourse on the causes and
consequences of partisan polarization in Congress
2. Appreciate how Congress’s institutional and procedural properties
have changed over time in ways that have made legislating more
challenging
3. Understand the ways that Congress members seek to offset the
institution’s tendency to produce fragmentation by establishing processes
and refining techniques that allow them to achieve their collective goals in
“unorthodox” ways.
4. Address important normative questions raised by Congress’s efforts
over time to balance responsiveness with effectiveness
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Course Requirements
The bulk of your final grade (40%) will be determined by your
performance on a semester-long simulation of Senate debates on three issues.
The final 60% of your course grade will be distributed among the
following exercises:
Midterm Examination (Thursday, March 10): 20%
Term Paper (Thursday, April 21): 20%
Final Examination (Wednesday, May 11): 20%
Attendance Policy
You are not allowed to miss any of the simulation events. Failure to
attend an event will result in a 10% deduction from your grade for the
simulation.
You are allowed to miss three (3) classes. There are no excused
absences. I do not grant excused absences for two reasons: (1) I am
constitutionally incapable of distinguishing between a valid and an invalid
excuse for missing class (my brain’s decision center is as damaged as Sarah
Palin’s sentence structure center) and (2) Three absences allow you to miss 1 1/2
weeks of class sessions without incurring any penalty. You cannot find this
many free absences at any better retailer.
I will treat tardies as absences. I do often say significant things at the
outset of class about readings, assignments, Ted Cruz’s phrenology report, etc. It
is hence important that you be present at 9:40 AM.
I will deduct 2% from your final grade for each absence over the 3
absence limit (e.g., A student who earns a cumulative score of “90” (A-) on the
course assignments who compiles 4 absences will receive an “88” (B+) for the
course).
You should also keep in mind that, according to the Academic Information
Guide, "any students who miss more than a third of the (class) sessions may
expect to be barred from (the final examination). In such cases, the course
grade will be recorded as F."
Laptops and Tablets
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Laptops are not allowed in class. If the rationale for this policy is elusive
to you, then you clearly are not watching enough Mr. Robot (Hello, friend… now
stop hacking my data backup centers in Shanghai). Students who have a
disability that precludes them from taking notes with any instrument other than
a laptop must provide me with documentation testifying to their “laptop needs”
by the end of the second week of classes (i.e., Friday, February 5).
Smartphones and Other Sources of Emotional Support
I recognize that many of you feel disoriented if you cannot stroke your
devices the way a Bond villain strokes a tabby. I thus will not ask you to forfeit
the safety that a hard rectangle of plastic has offered to us since Marie Antoinette
texted, “Close the palace gates, for goodness sakes.” I do, nonetheless, ask you
not to use any of your devices in class. I know that texting may appear to be an
“unobtrusive” activity, but please trust me when I say that it is quite conspicuous
and disruptive. And every time you text in class, you kill a puppy.
The first time I detect you texting class, I will send you a “friendly” (i.e.,
plenty of discount coupons) email message reminding you of the policy
prohibiting texting. The second time I detect you texting, I will deduct 2 points
from your course grade.
Books
The following books can be purchased at The Skidmore Shop for less than
it costs Paul Ryan to keep Kevin McCarthy from calling him “Teddy Brosevelt”:
Earl Black and Merle Black, The Rise of Southern Republicans
Gary Jacobson, The Politics of Congressional Elections
Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks
Barbara Sinclair, Unorthodox Lawmaking
Important Note Pertaining to The Hodges Harbrace Handbook
All Government majors are now required to own a copy of The Hodges
Harbrace Handbook. If you do not yet own a copy, then you must purchase one
for this course. While having the most recent edition of this style guide would
be an asset, I recognize that the Bitcoin panic may have lessened your liquidity.
You thus may purchase an earlier edition to save money (and, of course, promote
the sharing economy).
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Weekly Topics and Reading Assignments
Note: an asterisk (*) denotes a reading available on Blackboard
Week 1 (January 26-28): The Problem of Polarization
Readings: Mann and Ornstein, Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2
Week 2 (February 2-4): The Gingrich Effect?
Readings: *Randall Strahan and Daniel Palazzolo, “The Gingrich Effect,” Political
Science Quarterly (Spring 2004)
*Jeffrey Goldberg, “Adventures of a Republican Revolutionary,” The
New York Times Magazine (November 3, 1996)
Week 3 (February 9-11): The Changing South and the New Republican Party
Readings: Black and Black, Chapters 1, 7, and 11
ANNOTATED BIBIOGRAPHIES FOR SENATE DEBATE SIMULATION
DUE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Week 4 (February 16-18): Congressional Elections I: The Legal and Institutional
Context
Readings: Jacobson, Chapter 2
*Alan Abramowitz, Brad Alexander, and Mathew Gunning,
“Incumbency, Redistricting, and the Decline of Competition in U.S. House
Elections,” The Journal of Politics (February 2006)
FIRST SIMULATION EVENT
DEBATE TOPIC: REPEALING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18
Week 5 (February 23-24) Congressional Elections II: Candidate-Centered
Campaigns
Readings: Jacobson, Chapter 3
*Zephyr Teachout, “Citizens United,” Chapter 3 in Corruption in
America: From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United
*Wendy Hansen, et. al, “The Effects of Citizens United on Corporate
Spending in the 2012 Presidential Election,” The Journal of Politics (April 2015)
Week 6 (March 1-3): Congressional Elections III: The Trouble with Turnout
Readings: Jacobson, Chapters 5 and pp. 161-185
*Christopher Mann, “Is There Backlash to Social Pressure? A LargeScale Field Experiment on Voter Mobilization,” Political Behavior (2010)
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Week 7 (March 8-10): When Things Weren’t Rotten? The Earmarking Ban and
the End of Coalition-Building
Readings: *Justin Grimmer, Sean Westwood, and Solomon Messing, “Solving
the Representative’s Problem and Creating the Representative’s Opportunity,”
Chapter 2 in Grimmer, et al., The Impression of Influence
*Jeff Flake, “Jurassic Pork,” Introduction (pp. 2-10)
MIDTERM EXAMINATION
THURSDAY, MARCH 10
SPRING BREAK
Week 8: (March 22-24): Making Super Pacts
Readings: *Sarah Binder and Frances Lee, “Making Deals in Congress,” Chapter
3 in Political Negotiation
*Chase Foster, et al., “Negotiation Myopia,” Chapter 4 in Political
Negotiation
SECOND SIMULATION EVENT
DEBATE TOPIC: REPEAL OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S EXECTUIVE
ACTIONS ON DACA AND DAPA
THURSDAY, MARCH 24
Week 9 (March 29-31): The Centrifugal Delusion in the House: The Rise of
Entrepreneurial Politics in the 1970s and Its Consequences
Readings: *Steven Smith, “Revolution in the House,” Chapter 2 in Call to Order
Sinclair, Chapter 2
Week 10 (April 5-7): The Supermajority Senate: Abandon All Hope All Ye Who
Enter Here?
Readings: Sinclair, Chapter 3
*Randall Strahan, “Hanging with the Filibuster Pivot,” The Forum
(December 2011)
THIRD SIMULATION EVENT
DEBATE TOPIC: REVOKING THE IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT
THURSDAY. APRIL 5
Week 11 (April 12-14): The Senate in a Polarized Era
Readings: Mann and Ornstein, Chapter 3
*Daniel DiSalvo, “Legislative Coalitions, Polarization, and the U.S.
Senate,” The Forum (December 2011)
Week 12 (April 19-21): What It Takes: Policy Change in an Intractable Congress
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Readings: Sinclair, Chapters 7 and 8
TERM PAPER DUE
THURSDAY, APIRL 21
Week 13 (April 26-28): Can This Congress Be Saved?
Readings: Mann and Ornstein, Chapters 4-6
FOURTH SIMULATION EVENT
FINAL FLOOR STATEMENTS AND VOTE
THURSDAY, APRIL 28
Week 14 (May 3): Review for the Final Examination
Readings: No Reading
FINAL EXAMINATION
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 6:00-9:00 PM, LADD 207
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