Political Science 321: State Politics (Fall 2014)
Instructor: Brian Adams
e-mail: badams@mail.sdsu.edu
Phone: (619) 594-4289
Office: Nasatir Hall 122
Office Hours: Mondays 10:30-noon,Wednesdays 10:00-11:00, Thursdays 2:30-4:30, or by
appointment
Overview
This course examines policy and politics in the American states. I have three goals for students.
First, students will learn how states vary in their structure and policy choices, and the
implications of this variation for citizens. Second, students will learn about California politics
and its unique governing process. Finally, this course is designed to enhance students’ analytical
ability. The writing assignments will focus on analysis of topics covered in the course, and are
designed to challenge students to critically examine state politics.
Student learning outcomes
 Identify the structure of the American federal system and points of tension between states
and the federal government.
 Develop analytical skills by writing essays addressing key issues in state politics
 Identify how the structure of elections influences electoral outcomes and public policy.
 Develop research skills through a group project on state budgeting.
 Learn how to analyze state policy issues.
 Learn how to assess the merits and drawbacks of direct democracy.
Assignments
1.) Readings: All readings are either available through blackboard (under the “course readings”
tab) or available through websites. There are two types of readings on blackboard. Book chapters
can be downloaded directly in a .pdf format from the SDSU electronic reserves website. For
journal articles, you will find a link to the article on blackboard that will take you to another
library database. From that database you can download the article in a .pdf format.
2.) Writing assignments: There are four assignments in the course:
Essay #1 (due October 2nd): 20%
Essay #2 (due October 23rd): 25%
Group budgeting project (due November 20th): 25%
Final Exam (December 15th): 30%
Class participation is not a formal part of your grade but I may give students who participate
extensively in class discussions extra credit.
Essays: The essays, based on both lectures and the readings, will be comprised of an
argumentative essay on a central issue covered in the course. The prompts for the essays will be
distributed in class approximately one week before they are due.
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Group budgeting project: The goal of this project is have students understand the complexities
and difficulties involved in public budgeting. Students will be broken up into groups of 4-5 and
given San Diego State’s line item budget and asked to reduce the budget by 3%. Further
information on the group project will be distributed later in the semester.
Final Exam: The final will be an in-class blue-book exam consisting of identification and essay
questions. It will be cumulative, but will deemphasize material covered on the essays
A few notes on the assignments:
 There is no curve in this class; students will be given the grade that they earn.
 To receive a passing grade, a student must pass all four assignments (in other words, an
“F” on any one of the assignments will result in a failing grade for the class).
 All written assignments (two essays and the group project) will be submitted electronically to
Turnitin, which is run through blackboard. The papers will be graded and returned
electronically as well.
Course Website
In addition to posting course documents and other relevant information on Blackboard, I will use
its e-mail function to send announcements to the class. Make sure that the e-mail address you
use for your Blackboard account is still current.
Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it
is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any
delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as
soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations
based upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an
accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Course Outline
Readings are subject to change. If there are changes, an e-mail will be sent through blackboard
and an announcement will be made in class.
Week 1 (Aug 25th and 27th): Introduction and Federalism
Week 2 (Sep. 3rd): Federalism, con’t
Readings:
1. Zimmerman, Joseph F. (2008). Contemporary American Federalism. SUNY Press.
Pages 1-11, 29-41, and 114-127.
This is an e-book available for free through the SDSU Library.
2. Pickerill, J. Mitchell and Paul Chen (2008). “Medical Marijuana Policies and the
Virtues of Federalism.” Publius: the Journal of Federalism 38, 1: 22-55.
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Week 3 (Sep. 8th and 10th): Federalism, con’t
Readings:
1. Kincaid, John (1995). “Values and Value Tradeoffs in Federalism.” Publius 25 (2): 2944.
2. Rivlin, Alice (2012). “Rethinking Federalism for More Effective Governance.” Publius
42 (3): 387-400.
Week 4 (Sep. 15th and 17th): K-12 education
Readings
1. Manna, Paul. 2011. Collision Course: Federal Education Policy Meets State and
Local Realities. CQ Press. Pages 20-41.
2. Wong, Kenneth K. (2013). “Educational governance in Performance Based
Federalism.” In Paul Manna and Patrick McGuinn (eds.). Educational Governance
for the Twenty-first Century. Brookings Institution Press. Pages 156-177.
3. McNeil, Linda. 2011. “The Educational Costs of Standardization.” In Eleanor Blair
Hilty, ed. Thinking About Schools. Westview Press. Pages 411-417.
Week 5 (Sep. 22nd and 24th): Medicaid
Readings:
1. Greer, Scott L. and Peter D. Jacobson (2010). “Health Care Reform and Federalism.”
Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law 35 (2): 203-226.
2. Kunz, Karen and Stavros Atsas (2013). “Ensuring Equitable Access to Public Health
Care: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back.” Social Science Journal 50: 449-460.
Week 6 (Sep. 29th and Oct. 1st): State elections I: Legislatures and Governors
Readings:
1. Masket, Seth (2013). “Polarization Interrupted? California’s Experiment with the TopTwo Primary.” In Ethan Rarick (ed.). Governing California (3rd edition). Berkeley Public
Policy Press. Pages 175-190.
2. Lustig, R. Jeffrey (2010). “Voting, Elections, and the Failure of Representation in
California.” In R. Jeffrey Lustig (ed.). Remaking California. Heyday Books. Pages 99117.
Essay #1 due October 2nd
Week 7 (Oct. 6th and 8th): State Elections II: Reforming candidate elections
Readings:
1. Kogan, Vladimir and Eric McGhee (2013). “Redistricting: did Radical Reform
Produce Different Results?” In Ethan Rarick (ed.). Governing California (3rd edition).
Berkeley Public Policy Press. Pages 151-174.
2. Kousser, Thad, Bruce Cain and Karl Kurtz (2013). “The Legislature: Life Under Term
Limits.” In Ethan Rarick (ed.). Governing California (3rd edition). Berkeley Public Policy
Press. Pages 247-276.
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Week 8 (Oct. 13th and 15th): State Elections III: Ballot initiatives
Readings:
1. Miller, Kenneth P. (2013). “Direct Democracy: The Initiative, Referendum and
Recall.” In Ethan Rarick (ed.). Governing California (3rd edition). Berkeley Public
Policy Press. Pages 131-149.
2. Matsusaka, John G. (2005). “Direct Democracy Works.” The Journal of Economic
Perspectives 19, 2: 185-206.
3. Chemerinsky, Erwin (2007). “Challenging Direct Democracy.” Michigan State Law
Review: 293-306.
Week 9 (Oct. 20th and 22nd): budgeting, part I
Readings:
1. Alt, James E., Seldad Artiz Prillaman, and David Dreyer Lassen (2014). “Fiscal
Policy.” In Richard G. Niemi and Joshua Dyck (eds.). State Politics and Policy. Sage.
Pages 331-342.
2. Decker, John (2013). “Goodbye to All That: Mending California’s Budget” In Ethan
Rarick (ed.). Governing California (3rd edition). Berkeley Public Policy Press. Pages 193218.
Essay #2 due October 23rd
Week 10 (Oct. 27th and 29th): budgeting, part II
Reading: Schrag, Peter (2006). California: America’s High Stakes Experiment.
University of California Press: pp. 89-133.
Week 11 (Nov. 3rd and 5th): higher education
Readings:
1. Johnson, Hans (2010). “Higher Education in California: New Goals for the Master
Plan” Public Policy Institute of Higher Education. All.
2. Ehrenberg, Ronald G. 2007. “Reducing Inequality in Higher Education.” In Stacy
Dicker-Conlin and Ross Rubenstein, eds. Economic Inequality and Higher Education.
Russell Sage Foundation. Pages 187-201.
Week 12 (Nov. 10th and 12th): Legislatures
Reading: Rosenthal, Alan (2009). Engines of Democracy Politics and Policymaking in
State Legislatures. CQ Press. Pages 8-29 and 342-367.
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Week 13 (Nov. 17th and 19th): Governors
Readings:
1. Ferguson, Margaret R. and Joseph J. Foy (2014). “Gubernatorial Backgrounds,
History, Elections, Powers.” In Richard G. Niemi and Joshua Dyck (eds.). State Politics
and Policy. Sage. Pages 229-242.
2. Kousser, Thad and Justin H. Phillips, The Power of American Governors. Cambridge
University Press. Pages 188-216.
3. Syer, John (2010). “Reforming the Executive.” In R. Jeffrey Lustig (ed.). Remaking
California. Heyday Books. Pages 78-98.
Group Budgeting Project due November 20th
Week 14 (Nov 24th): State judicial systems
Readings:
1. Geyh, Charles Gardner (2012). “Judicial Selection Reconsidered: A Plea for Radical
Moderation.” Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 35 (2): 623-642.
2. Phillips, Thomas R. (2009). “The Merits of Merit Selection.” Harvard Journal of Law
and Public Policy 32 (1): 67-96.
No class the day before Thanksgiving (November 26th)
Week 15 (Dec. 1st and 3rd): Corrections
Readings:
1. Wooldredge, John (2013). “State Corrections Policy.” In Virginia Gray, Russell L.
Hanson and Thad Kousser (eds.). Politics in the American States (10th ed.). Sage. Pages
279-298.
2. Holeywell, Ryan (2014). “Should California’s Crowded Prisons Look to San
Francisco’s Shrinking Jails?” Governing (February 2014).
http://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/gov-california-crowdedprisons.html
Week 16 (Dec. 8th and 10th): State regulation of legalized gambling
Readings:
1. Cornell, Stephen (2008). “The Political Economy of American Indian Gaming.”
Annual Review of Law and Social Science 4: 63-82.
2. Morse, Edward A. and Ernest P. Goss (2007). Casino Gambling in America.
University of Michigan Press, chapter 11
3. Rand, Kathryn R.L. and Steven Andrew Light (2006). Indian Gaming Law and
Policy. Carolina Academic Press, chapter 6.
Final Exam Monday, December 15th from 1-3 pm.
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