PRINCIPLES OF AMERICAN POLITICS
DR. DAVID UPHAM
POLITICS 1311
FALL 2011
Contact:
Email is the best way to get a hold of me. My email address is
davidrupham@yahoo.com. Office hours M-W-F, 2:00–2:50.
Course Objectives:
The purpose of this course is to help the student attain a deeper understanding of
the animating principles of the American political system. We shall pay careful attention
to the political ideas of the American Founders and the way in which these ideas
informed the constitutional order they established. We shall also analyze the ways in
which subsequent generations interpreted, developed, or consciously abandoned the
Founders’ ideals.
Course Requirements:
Essays
30% (First draft, 10%, second draft 20%)
Examinations 60% (2 mid-terms, 15% each; final exam, 30 %)
Quizzes
10%
Essays: There will be one essay assignment of roughly 3-5 pages. An outline and a final
draft will be submitted.
Examinations: There will be two mid-terms and a final examination. In almost all cases,
a student will receive a score of 0% for a missed exam; nor will any make-up exam be
possible. Do not take this course if you have scheduled any activities that will conflict
with the date and time of the examinations.
Quizzes: There will be frequent quizzes on the assigned reading.
Class attendance and participation: The degree to which the students make a positive
contribution to classroom discussion will contribute to their final grades in the class, and
will be especially important if a student’s grade is borderline. Moreover, the university
attendance policy, as described in the University Bulletin, will be strictly enforced. After
four unexcused absences, a student may be dropped from the course, subject to the
discretion of the instructor.
University policies on cheating and plagiarism will be strictly enforced. Plagiarism is
any attempt to represent the work of another as one’s own. Consequently, in your essays,
you must provide a footnote citation for any quotation or paraphrase from another’s
work.
Required Texts:
Photocopied packet of reading to be purchased in the Politics departmental office.
Alexander Hamilton et al., The Federalist Papers, ed. Clinton Rossiter, Signet classic
edition.
Assignments
Class 1: Introduction. Declaration of Independence
Class 2: Declaration of Independence
Packet, 33–35
Class 3: English constitutional antecedents
Packet, 1–18
Class 4: English theoretical antecedents: Locke
Packet 19–30
Class 5: Religious and social origins
Packet, 31–32; Packet (Tocqueville), 192–220; Federalist #2 (first seven
paragraphs).
Class 6: Declaration of Independence.
Packet, 33-35 (read carefully).
Class 7: State constitutions: bills of rights.
Packet, 36-47.
Class 8: Articles of Confederation
Packet, 48-54
Class 9: Perceived Weaknesses of the Articles
Federalist ##15–16
Class 10: Constitution: necessary new powers
Federalist ##23, 31.
Class 11: The Constitution and popular sovereignty
Constitution, Preamble & Article VII
Federalist ##1 (1st para.), 39 (first 6 paras.), 40, 43 (last 5 paras. only).
Class 12: The Constitution and the Division of Powers
Federalist ##9 (first 3 paras.), 39 (last 10 paras.), 47 (first 3 paras.), 51
Class 13: The Constitution and the large republic
Federalist ## 51, 10.
Class 14: 1st Midterm—scheduled for Friday September 30
Class 15: Congress: Mode of Appointment and Powers
Constitution, Articles I, §§ 1–9, V
Class 16: Presidency: Mode of Appointment and Powers
Constitution, Article II, § 1, Amendment XII; Federalist #68
Constitution, Article II, §§ 2–4
Class 17: Presidency: an Energetic Executive
Federalist #70
Class 18: Presidency: an Energetic Executive.
Federalist ##71–72
Class 19: Judiciary: Mode of Appointment and Powers
Constitution, Article II, § 2, ¶ 2 & Article III; Federalist #78
Class 20: Judiciary: Marbury v. Madison
Packet, 55–65.
Class 21: Federal relations
Constitution, Article IV; Federalist ## 17, 27, 46.
Class 23: Bill of Rights
Packet, 36-47 (review); Federalist #84.
Class 24: Bill of Rights
Constitution, Amendments I-X
Class 25: Founders on Religion and Government
Packet, 36–47 (review provisions on religious freedom), 66–74
Class 26: Tocqueville on Majority Tyranny
Packet (Tocqueville), 225–240
Class 27: Tocqueville on Equality and Liberty
Packet (Tocqueville) 271–27
Class 28: Midterm Exam--Wednesday November 2
Class 29: Tocqueville—mitigating factors: judiciary and law
Packet, 220–25, 241–48
Class 30: Tocqueville—mitigating factors: Administrative decentralization
Packet, 240–41, 248–58
Class 31: Tocqueville—mitigating factors: Free institutions, morals, and religion
Packet, 277–290, Packet, 258–71
Class 32: Slavery and the Founding
Federalist #54 (first four paragraphs); Packet (Tocqueville) 306–18
Class 33: Crisis of the Union: Lincoln on House Divided
Packet 84–89
Class 32: Lincoln on Slavery
Packet, 90–102
Class 33: The Union in crisis
Packet, 103–107, 114–19
Class 34: Lincoln and the New Birth of Freedom
Packet, 120–24
Class 35: Reconstruction Amendments
Constitution, Amends. XIII–XV
Class 36: Birth of a New Freedom--Progressivism
Packet, 125–32, 138–45
Class 37: New Deal—new “contract”
Packet, 146–52, 157–59
Class 38: Civil Rights Movement
Packet, 163–66, 160–62, 167–69
Class 39: Great Society and Conservative Response
Packet, 170–175
Class 40: Reagan’s (partial) revolution
Packet, 176–183
Class 41: 2008 election
Packet, 184–192
FINAL EXAM: to be administered for all students at the date and time scheduled by the
administration during finals week.