POLS102 Spring 2011 Paper Topic and Instructions
Your semester paper will be doing a short book or article review of a political science book or
an article. Please read the following steps very carefully and let me know if you have any
questions:
1-Pick up a book or an article on any political issue (e.g. elections, legal system, political parties,
democracy, any issue regarding politics of Turkey or the political system of a country such as
US, Germany, UK, Turkey, China, Iran, S. Arabia...etc.). The book or the article can be in
Turkish or in English. However, your assignment must be written in English. Your article must
be a scholarly written article published in a scholarly journal. Just like the book, the article can be
written either in Turkish or English. I have no topic limitations on the book or the article as long
as they are about politics (local, national or global) and political science. You will need to tell me
the title of the book if you suspect that it is not related to the field of political science.
2- Try to focus on the main findings and arguments of the book/article.
3- Limit it to five pages (double spaces).
4- Use the following headings in your report:
A. Full Citation of the Book/Article
B. Grand Question or Theme of Book/Article
C. Structure of Book/Article
D. Summary of the Book/Article
E. How useful is the book/article to understand Political Science as an examination of conflict
among different political actors on who gets what, when, where and how?
5- Please follow the grammatical and structural rules in writing your report. Your report has to be
written with Times New Roman 12pt font with one inch margins (2.5cm) and double spaced text.
Please refer to the book report below as an example:
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Author: Philip John Davis
Book Title: US Elections Today
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Publication Year: first published in 1992; current edition published in 1999
Reviewed By: Amanda Golden
Grand Question or Theme of Book
US Elections Today focuses on all the components of America’s electoral system,
including voting processes, campaigning, political parties, candidates, and local, state,
Congressional, and Presidential elections.
Structure of Book
US Elections Today consists of eight chapters. These chapters are entitled:

The US Ballot: the symbol and reality of participation

Changing technology and the art of campaign advertising

Party systems in American history

The modern political system

Entrepreneurial campaigns in the present day

State and local elections

Congressional elections

Presidential elections
Summary of the Book
US Elections Today, by Philip John Davis stated elections are a way to view the past and
present structures of the United States’ changing politics and government. Popular sovereignty is
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the major principle the nation’s based upon, but there is also the constant threat of tyranny. The
solution is then a complex representative system that has been reliable for centuries. One can
then view American political life through elections, ranging local up to national elections.
Candidates must be willing to take the risk to stand and campaign while the electorate must in
turn vote for and support them.
Chapter One of this book discussed the ballot forms used in the United States over the
years and their importance, checks and balances, separation of powers, the establishment of the
branches of government, election participation, and the opportunity for individuals to vote. The
subsequent section focused on campaigning, public interest, the use of technology, and political
parties influence on public opinion. My focal point was Chapter Three which was about the
history and changes of political parties over the decades. Chapter Four built on the preceding
topic; it talked about the regulations and practices of political party activity, especially campaign
financing. Today’s campaigns focus on the candidates and an entrepreneurial style was
mentioned in the fifth section. Chapter Six was about the portion of government that consists of
860,000 governments, and half-million elected officeholders, state and local governments. They
perform necessary services, make policies, and enforce laws. Chapters Seven and Eight go in
great detail about the Congressional and Presidential elections which attract much attention.
How Useful the Book to Understand American Government
Whereas our political science book titled The Challenges of Democracy had a very wide
variety of topics to cover, US Elections Today was able to focus in on more specific areas of the
United States’ government. One section of the book I specifically targeted was about the
evolution of political parties, organizations that sponsor candidates for political office under their
name, over past centuries. I went into much more detail on the history of the two-party system
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than we were able to in class. I learned many new pieces of information and concepts I learned
in class were built upon and reemphasized.
Evidence has been found that America’s Founding Fathers were against the formation of
political parties. This can be found in James Madison’s Federalist paper number 10 as well as in
Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist papers number one and seventy-six. George Washington even
warned the public after he stepped down from his position as president saying he was, “in the
most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of the party generally.” Despite
Washington’s forewarning, citizens of the United States still banded together to form political
parties.
Even before the United States had gained freedom from Great Britain’s rule, two active
political parties existed: the loyalists and the patriots. Many forget these opposing groups and
name the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists the first political parties in the country. They
disputed over the ratification of the Constitution. In the First Party System of the United States,
the Federalists won the Presidential election of 1796. Party systems are political trends that tend
to last one generation or about thirty-six years. The Federalists’ opponent, now under the name
of the Jeffersonian party or the Democratic-Republicans, overcame them in the election of 1800;
the Federalist party faded into nonexistence as the Jeffersonians held power of the Executive
branch until 1820. The result was what historians refer to as a “non-party vacuum” in which
members of Congress nominated candidates for president.
In this time era, there was further conflict between political parties. During this period,
whichever candidate running for office received the most votes was named the President of the
United States, and the one coming in second was his vice-president. There was no party
affiliation between the two. This posed as a problem in the 1796 election when the DemocraticRepublican Thomas Jefferson served as vice-president under Federalist President John Adams.
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Communication difficulties and differences in agenda existed. The same issues arose in the 1800
election when Jefferson won the presidency with Aaron Burr. Congress, in response, issued the
Twelfth Amendment which stated that the electoral college would vote for President and VicePresident separately. Parties then promoted teams of two candidates for the two offices.
A period of Democratic Republican dominance was ended by what is known as the “Era
of Good Feelings” which lasted from 1820 until about 1860. It was a time of changes in the
electoral college’s rules and an increase in public political participation. During this interlude,
Andrew Jackson and his party, the Jacksonian Democrats or the Democrats, came out on top,
beating the incumbent president John Quincy Adams in 1828. A new party called the Whigs
developed soon after Jackson’s election; they were against the President’s “autocratic nature.”
Jackson also brought about other changes to American politics. He ran for President in 1824,
gaining the most popular and electoral votes but not a majority. When this situation arose, the
Congress was then the deciding factor on who would win the election, and they picked Adams,
his opponent. When Jackson ran again the following election, he came backed by the strong
support of his party. This displayed how important it is for the common man to organize himself
in order to win.
During the Second Party System, or the Era of Good Feelings, power was split between
the two parties. Also during this period the Congressional caucus stopped picking the candidates
for president. The new system was introduced by United States Democratic Senator Martin Van
Buren in 1827; it involved the use of national nominating conventions. Support of grassroots,
compromise, bargaining, and cooperating all became important campaigning factors for electoral
victory.
America’s Third Party System, lasting from 1860 to 1896, consisted of few major
political party milestones, according the author of US Elections Today Philip John Davis. There
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was some Republican party dominance, but much of it was balanced between the two parties.
This was followed by the Fourth Party System, approximately 1896 to 1932, which began with
an “anti-party” resulting from people’s opposition to militant and disciplined political
organizations. Middle class Republicans felt threatened by the immigrants and unskilled workers
living in urban areas with influential Democratic political machines operating. New during this
time period were Australian ballots, primaries, efficient voting machines that counted
simultaneously, and recalls, all of which took away some of political parties former powers. The
Great Depression shattered the image of an economically stable Republican party, and
Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt won four consecutive terms.
The Fifth Party System is characterized to have lasted from 1932 to 1968, and the author of the
book suggests that the United States is in its Sixth Party System today.
In conclusion, US Elections Today gave me a better understanding of how the various
political parties had formed. I did not realize how many had existed during the duration of the
United States’ history. Knowing about the past gave me a better understanding of the present and
how the Democratic and Republican parties function. A divided government is unproductive, but
healthy party competition provides our nation with much needed competition and compromise.
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