Friday, September 30, 2011
Exam 1 Study Guide
The study guide for our first exam is posted under the course information tab in the top right corner of this website.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
SI Facebook Group
Marisa, your friendly neighborhood SI for both sections of POLS206, has created a Facebook group for my sections of Introduction to American Government this semester. She has promised me all sorts of political science shenanigans will be coordinated through the group's page. I think you have to be a member of Facebook to see the page, but, of course, you need not be on Facebook to go to SI sessions or talk with Marisa. The group page is here.
Morning Office Hours, Wednesday September 28
This morning's office hours will be held in room 422 on the 4th Floor of Evans Library.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Lecture Slides
I have just posted slides for lectures from this past Monday and Wednesday.
Also, for those of you who are interested, the data I presented in class on the relationship between public opinion and congressional support for the judiciary are from an article I published in the Journal of Politics in 2010. You can download it here.
Also, for those of you who are interested, the data I presented in class on the relationship between public opinion and congressional support for the judiciary are from an article I published in the Journal of Politics in 2010. You can download it here.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Office Hours Today, Wednesday, September 21
I apologize for the late notice, but my office hours are canceled for today and tomorrow morning. I will hold extra office hours tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon from 2:00PM-4:00PM in my office on West Campus (2117 Allen Building) and again on Friday morning from 10:00AM-12:00PM in Evans Library in the groups study area on the 4th Floor (outside room 1.422). If these alternative times are inconvenient, please e-mail me or see me before or after class to make an appointment at another time.
I am very sorry for the scheduling problem.
I am very sorry for the scheduling problem.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Extra Credit Opportunity
In the early month's of President Obama's term, the House of Representatives considered an economic stimulus legislation. The bill originally contained provisions providing funding for family planning, including birth control programs, in addition to spending on infrastructure projects and tax cuts. In pairwise competition with the status quo of no stimulus bill, it is likely that this proposal, including the controversial birth control provisions, would have passed the House with majority support. However, Republicans successfully pressured the Democratic leadership to consider an alternative proposal that stripped the family planning funds from the bill. It was clear that this amended proposal was preferred to original bill by a majority of the House, and the final legislation that passed the House did not include the birth control provisions.
News coverage of these developments are here and here.
Though a formal vote was not take on the floor to amend the stimulus bill by dropping the family planning funding, the outlines of a majority cycle are clear. Indeed, we might conceptualize this as a story about majority rule in two dimensions: stimulus spending on infrastructure and spending on family planning. Imagine three voters, a liberal Democrat (who wants high stimulus spending on infrastructure and family planning), a moderate Democrat (who wants high stimulus spending on infrastructure and some moderate level of funding for family planning), and a Republican (who wants low infrastructure spending and no funding for family planning). We could easily draw our policy space with infrastructure spending on one dimension and family planning spending on the other. We could place our voters in the space based on their preferences, draw indifference curves with respect to the status quo of no stimulus, and find a win set of alternatives including one with spending for both infrastructure and family planning. Then, we could repeat the process, drawing indifference curves with respect to the first bill to defeat the staus quo and identify a winning alternative that includes no spending on family planning.
I will award 5 points of extra credit on our first exam to all students in each of my two sections entire class if any 60 students in a respective section (about 20% of each class) turn in two hand-drawn diagrams showing (1) the original bill (infrastructure plus family planning) defeating the original status quo (no stimulus at all) and (2) the revised bill (only infrastructure spending) defeating the original bill.
Rules:
1. Both diagrams should include two dimensions of spending and the three voters described above along with the relevant indifference curves and win sets. Diagrams without these features or that do not show the correct sequence of events will not count toward the 60 student total.
2. Hard copies of diagrams must be turned in to me by the start of each class this Monday, September 19. Late diagrams will not count toward the total. E-mailed diagrams do not count toward the total.
3. Diagrams must be hand-drawn. Photocopies, etc., will not count.
4. Students who turn in drawings will not receive extra credit unless the required number of drawings are turned in.
5. Students who turn in diagrams will not receive additional credit above points awarded to the class.
6. Diagrams from each section of the class count separately.
7. I am the sole judge of the acceptability of diagrams and all other aspects of the administration of this extra credit opportunity. My decisions are final.
Good luck.
News coverage of these developments are here and here.
Though a formal vote was not take on the floor to amend the stimulus bill by dropping the family planning funding, the outlines of a majority cycle are clear. Indeed, we might conceptualize this as a story about majority rule in two dimensions: stimulus spending on infrastructure and spending on family planning. Imagine three voters, a liberal Democrat (who wants high stimulus spending on infrastructure and family planning), a moderate Democrat (who wants high stimulus spending on infrastructure and some moderate level of funding for family planning), and a Republican (who wants low infrastructure spending and no funding for family planning). We could easily draw our policy space with infrastructure spending on one dimension and family planning spending on the other. We could place our voters in the space based on their preferences, draw indifference curves with respect to the status quo of no stimulus, and find a win set of alternatives including one with spending for both infrastructure and family planning. Then, we could repeat the process, drawing indifference curves with respect to the first bill to defeat the staus quo and identify a winning alternative that includes no spending on family planning.
I will award 5 points of extra credit on our first exam to all students in each of my two sections entire class if any 60 students in a respective section (about 20% of each class) turn in two hand-drawn diagrams showing (1) the original bill (infrastructure plus family planning) defeating the original status quo (no stimulus at all) and (2) the revised bill (only infrastructure spending) defeating the original bill.
Rules:
1. Both diagrams should include two dimensions of spending and the three voters described above along with the relevant indifference curves and win sets. Diagrams without these features or that do not show the correct sequence of events will not count toward the 60 student total.
2. Hard copies of diagrams must be turned in to me by the start of each class this Monday, September 19. Late diagrams will not count toward the total. E-mailed diagrams do not count toward the total.
3. Diagrams must be hand-drawn. Photocopies, etc., will not count.
4. Students who turn in drawings will not receive extra credit unless the required number of drawings are turned in.
5. Students who turn in diagrams will not receive additional credit above points awarded to the class.
6. Diagrams from each section of the class count separately.
7. I am the sole judge of the acceptability of diagrams and all other aspects of the administration of this extra credit opportunity. My decisions are final.
Good luck.
Friday, September 9, 2011
SI Information
Here are the times and locations for SI sessions for both sections 504 and 505:
Monday 8:00-9:00 HECC200
Tuesday 8:00-9:00 HECC202
Thursday 8:00-9:00 HECC202
Monday 8:00-9:00 HECC200
Tuesday 8:00-9:00 HECC202
Thursday 8:00-9:00 HECC202
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Main Campus Office Hours Location
Today, I will be in the group study area on the 4th floor of Evans Library, outside of room 1.422.
Monday, September 5, 2011
The "Hidden Primary" for the GOP Nomination in 2012
This article from Politico.com describes the competition between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry for endorsements and contributions from Republican elites across the country. The process of courting the relatively small number of wealthy and influential activists within each major party is part of a process that is sometimes called a "hidden primary." Most of the delegates who will ultimately select a party's nominee for president are chosen through competitive primaries and caucuses, which any qualifying candidate could theoretically win. Yet, the ability to raise sufficient funds to run a professional campaign and to attract the free publicity that comes from being taken as a serious contender by traditional media outlets is closely related to the support candidates gather from elected official, party leaders, and wealthy donors. As such, competition for the support of party elites among candidates vying for high office can be intense.
Candidates who fail to attract the support of these elites often experience difficulty raising sufficient funding for an extended election campaign or receiving positive attention from the news media. The presidential campaign of Rep. Ron Paul is, perhaps, indicative of the importance of elite support. Despite Rep. Paul's enthusiastic base of political support among libertarian-leaning Republicans within a large and competitive field for the Republican presidential nomination, his alienation from most Republican Party elites undermines his campaign's ability raise the large contributions and attract the positive media attention that would help him attract enough support among Republican voters to win the nomination. The Daily Show makes light of Rep. Paul's nearly complete absence from media discussions of the results of the Ames Straw Poll, in which he finished second, but the reality of the situation is quite serious. Despite the opening the presidential election process that accompanied the development of the primary system in the second half of the twentieth century, party insiders continue to play a pivotal role in the nomination of major party candidates for the presidency.
Georgetown University political science professor Hans Noel discusses the hidden or invisible primary in an interview here.
Candidates who fail to attract the support of these elites often experience difficulty raising sufficient funding for an extended election campaign or receiving positive attention from the news media. The presidential campaign of Rep. Ron Paul is, perhaps, indicative of the importance of elite support. Despite Rep. Paul's enthusiastic base of political support among libertarian-leaning Republicans within a large and competitive field for the Republican presidential nomination, his alienation from most Republican Party elites undermines his campaign's ability raise the large contributions and attract the positive media attention that would help him attract enough support among Republican voters to win the nomination. The Daily Show makes light of Rep. Paul's nearly complete absence from media discussions of the results of the Ames Straw Poll, in which he finished second, but the reality of the situation is quite serious. Despite the opening the presidential election process that accompanied the development of the primary system in the second half of the twentieth century, party insiders continue to play a pivotal role in the nomination of major party candidates for the presidency.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Indecision 2012 - Corn Polled Edition - Ron Paul & the Top Tier | ||||
| ||||
Georgetown University political science professor Hans Noel discusses the hidden or invisible primary in an interview here.
Friday, September 2, 2011
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