PP314: Parties and Elections in America
Professor Jennifer Merolla
Thursdays, 1:00-3:50
Office: 909-621-8695
Location: McManus 35
Office Hours: Wednesdays 2:00 to 3:30, and by appointment
jennifer.merolla@cgu.edu
Harper Hall 214
Course Description
This course focuses on the intersection of parties and elections in the U.S. The course begins
with a brief introduction to political parties. The course is then broken down into what scholars
often refer to as the three functions of parties: as organization, in the electorate, and in
government.
One goal of the course is to introduce students to the literature on parties and elections. A
second goal is to develop interesting and innovative research projects. To this end, we will
spend time each class discussing problems or gaps in the extant literature, and ways to address
both in future research. A third goal is to help students prepare for qualifying examinations.
The class format is a seminar, and thus is largely based on class discussion.
Course Requirements and Grading
1.
There will be several short writing assignments throughout the course that are tied to the
reading in a given week. Each assignment should be distributed via e-mail on the
Wednesday before class by 1 p.m. The types of assignments are below. You should not
do more than one in any week. Each is worth 10% of your grade.
i. A review and presentation of a recent conference paper.
ii. A critique of the week’s readings.
iii. A short essay that discusses potential future research projects.
2.
A book review and presentation of one book that is listed in the syllabus, which should be
distributed via e-mail to the class also by Wednesday at 1:00. Reviews should not exceed
eight double spaced pages: 10% of the grade. (The same late penalty applies)
3.
Given the seminar format, active participation is required for this course. Overall class
participation: 10% of the grade.
4.
Moderator for one week of the course. The moderator will lead half of the class
discussion for one week of the course. The moderator should distribute an agenda by
Wednesday at 1:00 p.m..: 5% of the grade.
5.
Mid-term examination. The midterm will be held the week before spring break. The
goal of the midterm is preparation for qualifying exams. The midterm will count for 20%
of your grade.
2.
Preparation of a research design pertaining to one of the topics we cover. Students
will be required to submit an abstract the week after break. Students will present their
design to the class on the last day and turn their paper in a week later. The paper
should not exceed 20 double spaced pages, including appendices and references.
Paper and presentation: 25% of the grade.
Texts
Hofstadter, Richard. 1969. The Idea of a Party System. University of California Press.
Aldrich, John A. 1995. Why Parties? Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Carmines, Edward G. and James A. Stimson. 1989. Issue Evolution. Princeton University Press.
New Jersey.
Cox, Gary and Mathew McCubbins. 2007 (2nd Edition). Legislative Leviathan. Cambridge
University Press.
Part I. Background
January 22nd: Organizational Meeting
January 29th: The Role of Parties/Founding of Parties
Federalist 10 and 51. Available at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html.
Washington’s Farewell Address. Available at http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/washing.htm
Aldrich, Why Parties?, Chapters 1-3
Hofstader, Chapters 3-4
Book Review
Key, V.O. Southern Politics in State and Nation.
February 5th: Early to Contemporary Parties
APSA Committee on Political Parties. 1950. “Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System.”
APSR 44, supplement. Available at http://www.apsanet.org/~pop/APSA_Report.htm.
Kirkpatrick, Evron M. 1971. “Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System’: Political
Science, Policy Science, or Pseudo-Science?” American Political Science Review 65:
965-990.
Aldrich, Why Parties?, Chapters 4, 5, and 6
Hofstader, Chapters 5 and 6
Book Review
Epstein, Leon D. 1986. Political Parties in the American Mold. University of Wisconsin Press.
Part II. Parties as Organizations
February 12th: Party as Organization and Activists
Schlesinger, Joseph A. 1985. “The New American Political Party.” APSR 79: 1152-1169.
Available on JSTOR.
Gibson, James L., Cornelius P. Cotter, John F. Bibby, and Robert J. Huckshorn. 1983.
“Assessing Party Organizational Strength.” AJPS 27: 193-222. Available on JSTOR.
Aldrich, John. 2000. “Southern Parties in State and Nation.” JOP 62: 643-670. Available on
JSTOR.
Herrera, Richard. 1993. “Cohesion at the Party Conventions: 1980-1988.” Polity 26: 75-89.
Constantini, Edmond and Linda O. Valenty. 1996. “The Motives: Ideology Connection among
Political Party Activists.” Political Psychology 17: 497-524.
Usher, Douglas. 2000. “Strategy, Rules and Participation: Issue Activists in the Republican
National Convention Delegations.” Political Research Quarterly 53: 887-903.
Book Review
Schlesinger, Joseph A. 1994. Political Parties and the Winning of Office. University of
Michigan Press.
February 19th: Allocation of Resources and their Effects
Shaw, Daron. 1999. “The Method Behind the Madness: Presidential Electoral College
Strategies.” Journal of Politics 61: 893-913.
Reeves, Andrew, Lanhee Chen, and Tiffany Nagano. 2004. “A Reassessment of: ‘The Method
Behind the Madness: Presidential Electoral College Strategies.’” Journal of Politics 66:
611-615.
Shaw, Daron. 2004. “Erratum: The Method Behind the Madness: Presidential Electoral College
Strategies.” Journal of Politics 66: 611-615.
Merolla, Munger and Tofias. 2005. “In Play: A Commentary on Strategies in the 2004 U.S.
Presidential Election.” Public Choice 123: 19-37.
Gerber, A.S., D.P. Green, and M. Green. 2003. “Partisan Mail and Voter Turnout: results from
randomized field experiments.” Electoral Studies 22: 563-579.
Holbrook, Thomas M. and Scott D. McClurg. 2005. “The Mobilization of Core Supporters:
Campaigns, Turnout, and Electoral Composition in United States Presidential Elections.”
American Journal of Political Science 49: 689-703
Book Reviews
Shaw, Darren. 2006. The Race to 270.
Part III: Party in the Electorate
February 26th: Introduction to Party in the Electorate and Party ID
Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy, Chapters 7 and 8
Campbell et al, The American Voter, Chapters 6 and 7
Nie Verba and Petrocik, The Changing American Voter, Chapters 1, 3, and 4
Fiorina, Morris. 1977. “A Outline for a Model of Party Choice.” American Journal of Political
Science: 601-625.
MacKuen, Erikson, and Stimson. 1989. “Macropartisanship.” American Political Science
Review 83: 1125-1142.
Book Review
Green, Palmquist, and Schickler. 2002. Partisan Hearts and Minds.
March 5th: Party Identification Continued
Jennings, M. Kent and Gregory B. Markus. 1984. “Partisan Orientations over the Long Haul:
Results from the Three-Wave Political Socialization Panel Study.” American Political
Science Review 78: 1000-1018.
Luskin, Robert C., John P. McIver and Edward G. Carmines. 1989. “Issues and the Transmission
of Partisanship.” American Journal of Political Science 33: 440-458.
Beck, Paul Allen and M. Kent Jennings. 1991. “Family Traditions, Political Periods, and the
Development of Partisan Orientations.” Journal of Politics 53: 742-763.
Alford, John R., Carolyn L. Funk, and John R. Hibbing. 2005. “Are Political Orientations
Genetically Transmitted.” American Political Science Review 99: 153-168.
Goren, Paul. 2005. “Party Identification and Core Political Values.” American Journal of
Political Science 49: 881-896.
Book Review
Keith, Bruce E. et al. 1992. The Myth of the Independent Voter. Berkeley.
March 12th: Midterm Exam
March 26h: PID and Voting
Bartels, Larry. 2000. “Partisanship and Voting Behavior, 1952-1996.” American Journal of
Political Science.
Rahn, Wendy M. 1993. “The Role of Partisan Stereotypes in Information Processing about
Political Candidates.” American Journal of Political Science 37: 472-496. JSTOR.
Lau, Richard R and David P. Redlawsk. 2001. “Advantages and Disadvantages of
Cognitive Heuristics in Political Decision Making. “American Journal of
Political Science, Vol. 45 (No. 4): 951-971.
Schaffner, Brian F. and Matthew J. Streb (2002), The Partisan Heuristic in Low-Information
Elections, Public Opinion Quarterly 66 (4): 559-581.
Marcus, George E. and Michael B. Mackuen. 1993. “Anxiety, Enthusiasm and the Vote: The
Emotional Underpinnings of Learning and Involvement During Presidential Campaigns.”
American Political Science Review 87: 672-685.
Brader, Ted. 2005. “Striking a responsive chord: how political ads motivate and persuade voters
by appealing to emotions.” American Journal of Political Science 49: 388-405.
Book Review
Popkin, Samuel. 1994. The Reasoning Voter. University of Chicago Press.
Marcus, Neuman and MacKuen. 2000. Affective Intelligence.
April 2nd: Paper Meetings
April 9th: Realignment I
Key, V.O. 1955. “A Theory of Critical Elections.” Journal of Politics 17: 3-18.
Key, V.O. “Secular Realignment and the Party System.” 1959. Journal of Politics 21: 198-210.
Brady, David W. 1985. “A Reevaluation of Realignments in American Politics: Evidence from
the House of Representatives.” American Political Science Review 79: 28-49.
Nardulli, Peter F. 1995. “The Concept of a Critical Realignment, Electoral Behavior, and
Political Change.” American Political Science Review 89: 10-22.
Sinclair, Barbara Deckard. “Party Realignment and the Transformation of the Political Agenda:
The House of Representatives, 1925-1938.” American Political Science Review 71:940953.
Aldrich, John. 1999. “Political Parties in a Critical Era.” American Politics Quarterly 27:
Book Review
Burnham, Walter Dean. 1970. Critical Elections and the MainSprings of American Politics.
W.W. Norton and Company Inc. New York.
Petrocik, John R. Party Coalitions: Realignments and the Decline of the New Deal Party System.
University of Chicago Press; Chicago. 1981.
April 16th: Realignment II
Carmines, Edward G. and James A. Stimson. 1989. Issue Evolution. Princeton University Press.
New Jersey.
Valentino, Nicholas A. and David O. Sears. 2005. “Old Times There are not Forgotten: Race
and Partisan Realignment in the Contemporary South.” American Journal of Political
Science 49: 672-688.
Book Review
Sundquist, James L. 1983. Dynamics of the Party System. The Brookings Institution.
Washington, DC.
Part IV: Party in Government
April 23th: Party in Government
Aldrich, Why Parties?, Chapter 7
Jones, Charles O. 1968. “Joseph G. Cannon and Howard W. Smith: An Essay on the Limits of
Leadership in the House of Representatives.” Journal of Politics 30: 617-646. (Available
on JSTOR)
Cooper, Joseph, and David W. Brady. 1981. “Institutional Context and Leadership Style: The
House from Cannon to Rayburn.” American Political Science Review 75: 411-25.
(Available on JSTOR)
Sinclair, Barbara. 1992. “The Emergence of Strong Leadership in the 1980’s House of
Representatives.” Journal of Politics 54: 657-684. (Available on JSTOR)
Fleisher, Richard and Jon R. Bond. 1983. “Assessing Presidential Support in the House.”
Journal of Politics 45: 745-758.
Edwards, George C., Andrew Barrett, and Jeffrey Peake. 1997. “The Legislative Impact of
Divided Government.” American Journal of Political Science 41: 545-563.
April 24th: Party in Government
Cox and McCubbins, Legislative Leviathan
May 7th: Presentations