KEAN UNIVERSITY
COURSE PROSPECTUS FOR SPRING 2007
American Government and Politics
2100-04 Thursdays 5:00 - 7:40
Arthur L. Finkle
The subject for discussion for each date is based on the chapter indicated. It is
expected that the assigned material will be completed in advance of the class
session.
Students are responsible for submitting a political term paper relating to your
work or area of interest, submitted by the next to last session. In addition, the
class will work in groups to produce a political strategies and tactics to real life
scenarios.
Text
Milton C. Cummings, Jr. and David Wise, Democracy Under Pressure: An
Introduction to the American Political System, 8th ed., NY: Harcourt Brace College
Publishers, 1997
THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Government And The People: The Reciprocal Nature Of Democratic Power (1)
Constitutional Framework (2); Federalism And The Separation Of Powers (3)
Civil Liberties And Citizenship (4); Struggle For Equal Rights (5)
Groups And Interests (6)
Media And Politics (7); Political Parties (8)
Political Campaigns And Candidates (9); Voting Behavior And Elections (10)
Mid-Term
THE POLICYMAKERS
8. President: Chief Clerk To Chief Executive (11)
9. Bureaucracy In A Democracy (12)
10. Congress: The First Branch (13)
11. Justice (14)
GOVERNMENT IN OPERATION
12. Foreign Policy And National Security (15)
2
13. Government And The Economy (16); Promoting The General Welfare (17)
14. Final Exam
Course Objectives
1. To develop a conceptual understanding of the political/governmental process
2. To identify access points in the political/governmental process
3. To develop conceptual understanding and how to utilize lobbyists to further
your organization’s objectives
4 To gain insight into implementing these political processes in "real life"
situations
5. To identify governmental decision-making
access points
6. To design strategies and tactics to influence the political process.
Course Grade
Mid-term
Term Paper
Final
Participation
Office Hours: Tuesdays 4:00 - 5:00 - J-105
E-mail: afinkle@kean.edu (any time)
Webpage: http://www.kean.edu/~afinkle
35%
20%
35%
10%
3
Bibliography
Henry J. Abraham, The Judiciary; the Supreme Court in the Governmental
Process, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1969
Abraham, Henry Julian, New Capital City Planning Process: Background Report,
Anchorage: Capital Site Planning Commission, 1978.
Adrian, Charles R., The American Political Process, by Charles R. Adrian and
Charles Press, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1969.
Argersinger, Peter H., Structure, Process, And Party: Essays In American Political
History, Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1992.
Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, The Lobbyists, NY: Times Books (Random House), 1992
James MacGregor Burns, J.W. Peltason and Thomas E. Cronin, Government by
the People, 14th, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
Edmund Burke: His Life and Legacy / Ian Crowe, editor. Dublin, Ireland: Four
Courts Press, 1997.
The Department Of Defense Voluntary Disclosure Program: A Description of the
Process, Inspector General, Department of Defense, Criminal Investigations Policy
and Oversight. Chicago: American Bar Association, Section of Public Contract
Law, 1988.
The Design/Build Process: A Guide to Licensing and Procurement Requirements in
the 50 States and Canada, John R. Heisse, II, editor.
Chicago, Ill.: Forum on the Construction Industry, American Bar Association,
1997.
Thomas R. Dye, American Government: Theory, Structure, And Process, Thomas
R. Dye, Lee S. Greene and George S. Parthemos, Belmont, Calif., Wadsworth Pub.
Co., 1969.
Thomas R. Dye, Lee S. Greene and George S. Parthemos American Government:
Theory, Structure, And Process, Belmont, CA: Duxbury Press, 1972.
Ebenstein, William, American Government in the Twentieth Century; A
Process Approach, Morristown, NJ, Silver Burdett Co., 1971
Gerston, Larry N., American Government: Politics, Process, and Policies. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co., 1993.
4
Getz, Robert S. and Frank B. Feigert, The Politics and Process Of American
Government, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1982.
Grant, Alan R., The American Political Process, Aldershot, Hants, England;
Brookfield, Vt.: Dartmouth, 1994.
Philip Kotler and Alan Andreasen, Strategic Marketing For
Organizations, 4th ed., Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1991
Nonprofit
Harris, Joseph Pratt, Congress and The Legislative Process, New York, McGrawHill. 1972
Robert L. Lineberry, American Public Policy: What Government Does And What
Difference It Makes, New York: Harper & Row, 1977.
Lineberry, Robert L., Government in America, Edwards and Lautenberg, 1995
Legislative politics U.S.A. Edited by Theodore J. Lowi and Randall B. Ripley. 3d
ed., Boston, Little, Brown 1973.
Anthony Richard Maidment, The American Political Process, McGrew, London;
Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications in association with the Open University,
1991.
McClenaghan, William A. Title: Magruder's American Government, revised by
William A. McClenaghan, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Prentice Hall 1990.
Karen O'Connor and Larry J. Sabato, American Government: Continuity And
Change, New York: Longman, 2000.
Karen O'Connor and Larry Sabato, American Government, 1997, Boston, MA:
Allyn & Bacon, 1997.
Nelson W. Polsby, Aaron Wildavsky, Presidential Elections: Strategies Of
American Electoral Politics, 6th ed., New York: Scribner, 1984.
Governmental Institutions and Processes edited by Fred I. Greenstein and Nelson
W.
Polsby,
Reading,
MA:
Addison-Wesley
Pub.
Co.,
1975.
Politics of Health, edited by Douglas Cater and Philip R. Lee, Huntington, N.Y: R.
E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1979, c1972.
5
Eric Redman, Dance of Legislation, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1973.
Kenneth S. Sherrill and David J. Vogler, Power, Policy, and Participation: An
Introduction To American Government, 2nd ed., New York: Harper & Row, 1982.
Robert Sherrill, Why They Call It Politics, 4th ed. San Diego: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1984.
Hedrick Smith, The Power Game, NY: Random House, 1988.
Television As A Cultural Force, edited by Richard Adler, project editor, TV
Workshop and Douglas Cater, New York: Praeger, 1976.
David B. Truman, The Governmental Process: Political Interests And Public
Opinion, Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1981, 1951.
David D. Vogler, The Politics of Congress, 5th Boston, MA:, Allyn and Bacon, 1988
Martin P. Wattenberg and Robert L. Lineberry, Government in America: People,
Politics, and Policy, 9th ed., George C. Edwards III, New York: Longman, 2000.
Murray L. Weidenbaum, Congress and the Federal Budget: Federal Budgeting:
The Responsible Use Of Power; A Critical Analysis Of The Congressional Budget
Process, Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy
Research, 1965
Aaron Wildavsky, New Politics of the Budgetary Process, NY: HarperCollins, 1992.
Wilson, James Q., American Government, Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Co.,
1994.
Wilson, James Q, Political Organizations, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1995.