PSC  312:  American Legislative System

Summer 2008

Professor Steve Borrelli
307 ten Hoor, 348-3802 (voicemail)

Office Hours

sborrell@bama.ua.edu

Course webpage:    http://bama.ua.edu/~sborrell

E-mail for communication:  sborrell@bama.ua.edu

PAPERS FOR THE COURSE SHOULD BE SUBMITTED VIA E-LEARNING’s E-MAIL FUNCTION, or turned in during class.   Do not send papers to my regular bamamail address. 

 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course offers a detailed examination and analysis of the US Congress:  its Constitutional origins and history; its current rules and procedures; the process of congressional selection (election); and its relationships with the executive branch, interest groups, the public, and the courts. 

 

COURSE PREREQUISITES

None;  PSC 101  or the equivalent is highly recommended. 

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Students who successfully complete course requirements will gain:

1.  An understanding of the structure and powers of Congress as created by the Constitution, and as they have evolved over time;

2.  An understanding of the historical dynamics of congressional development in the last 200 years, focusing on the relative influences  of parties, party leaders, committees, and external forces;

3.  A thorough introduction to the current rules of the legislative process in the House and Senate, and how they can be used to shape policy and political outcomes; 

4.  An understanding of the process of electing and re-electing members of Congress, including an appreciation for why re-election rates are generally high, and the relative impact of national and local factors;

5.   An appreciation for what members of Congress do during the significant amount of time they spend “back home,” and why it is necessary to understand constituency relations and activities in order to understand Congress;  

6.  An appreciation for the relationships of mutual influence between Congress and the public, the bureaucracy, interest groups, and the courts. 

 

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

 

Steven Smith, Jason Roberts, and Ryan Vander Wielen.  2007.  The American Congress (Fifth Edition).  Cambridge University Press.

(If ordering from an online bookstore, MAKE SURE you get the Fourth Edition.  If the price seems too good to be true, it’s probably an outdated edition).

 

Richard Fenno.  2006.  Congressional Travels:  Places, Connections and Authenticity.   AB Longman. 

 

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

 

NOTES ON EXAMS:   The two exams will be noncumulative, and will be in identical formats:  50% multiple choice questions, 50% “short essay” questions (depending on your handwriting, a “short essay” will take up anywhere between 1/2 of one side of a page and one whole side of a page in an exam booklet).  In studying for exams, the highest priority should go to material that is covered in BOTH class lecture/discussion and in the textbooks.   The second highest priority goes to material from class lecture/discussion.  I reserve the right to ask about material that is covered only in the textbooks;  if I do I will usually give some specific hints as to what textbook material might be especially likely to show up on the tests. 

LATE PAPERS:  Late papers will be assessed a grade penalty commensurate with the degree of lateness.  Papers that are late because of verified illness or family emergency will not be penalized IF I am informed before or on the due date of the illness or emergency; if I am not informed, the usual penalties will apply.  Participation in University activities (including athletics) is NOT an acceptable excuse for a late paper;  students missing class for this reason are expected to find ways to turn their papers in early or ontime.

HOW TO TURN IN PAPERS:  The preferred method of turning in a paper is in person, during class on the day the paper is due.  The second best method is via e-mail attachment, sent through Learning’s  E-MAIL FUNCTION.  E-submitted papers should be in MS Word or Wordperfect document format, and should not be zipped).  I WILL NOT ACCEPT PAPERS BY ANY OTHER METHOD THAN IN-CLASS SUBMISSION OR WEB-CT E-MAIL.  THIS MEANS I WILL NOT ACCEPT PAPERS SENT TO MY REGULAR BAMA ADDRESS, PUT IN MY MAILBOX OR SLID UNDER MY DOOR.   I WILL TRY TO ACKNOWLEDGE BY E-MAIL EVERY PAPER THAT I RECEIVE VIA E-MAIL.  IF I FAIL TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR E-MAIL SUBMISSION within 3 days of the due date,  PLEASE RE-SUBMIT YOUR PAPER (forwarding the original submission to show that you did it on time initially).    NO MATTER HOW OR WHEN YOU TURN IN YOUR PAPER, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO KEEP A BACKUP COPY ON FILE FOR YOURSELF UNTIL SEPTEMBER 1, 2008 in case anything happens to your original.  The instructor is not responsible for accidental loss or deletion of an original paper if the student has failed to keep a backup replacement copy.

 

 Midterm Exam:  Wednesday, June 18th during class  in class (worth 33.33% of course grade)

 

Final Exam:   Tuesday, July 1st, 1 PM (this is regular class time on the last day of classes;  the exam will NOT be held at the official final exam time listed on mybama).    (worth 33.33% of course grade)

 

Paper (Senate Election Assignment):  see last page of syllabus (or go to http://bama.ua.edu/~sborrell) --   due Wednesday, June 25th, at 5 PM (worth 33.33% of course grade).      

 

Class participation bonus points:   students who contribute to class discussion thoughtfully and regularly (this includes substantive questions, i.e., other than “would you repeat that?”)  will receive one to five points added to their final exam grade.    

 

 

DISABILITY POLICY

If you have a disability that requires special accommodations in this class you need to contact the Office of Disability Services, 133B Martha Parham East, 348-4285 (or ods@bama.edu).  The Office of Disability Services will work with you and me to come up with specific plan that will meet your needs.

 

ATTENDANCE AND MAKEUPS POLICY
Attendance will not be taken on a daily basis.  However, especially given the accelerated pace of the summer term,  daily attendance and effective, personal note-taking is effectively essential in order to perform adequately on exams and in discussion.  Attendance also facilitates participation, which can lead to bonus points.

Makeups for the exams or for the discussions will be allowed only in cases of verified illness or family emergency covering the exact dates of the missed work.  It is entirely the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor in a timely fashion of the reasons for his her absence, to produce adequate verification of those reasons, and to schedule a makeup exam.

 

ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY

The University of Alabama’s policy on academic dishonesty (which includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, and fabrication) can be viewed at
http://www.ua.edu/catalogs/undergraduate/12600.html or

http://www.sa.ua.edu/campusactivities/Handbook9.htm#Codes

I will strictly adhere to and enforce this policy.  Penalties for academic dishonesty can be as severe as indefinite suspension from the University.

 

 

OUTLINE OF TOPICS AND READINGS

This schedule is a general guide and outline;  some topics may take more or less time than what is written here.  I will try to make clear at every class period exactly where we are in terms of readings and topics, and of course I will try to be very clear about the exact material to be covered on upcoming tests.   For those who attend class regularly, there should be little difficulty in knowing what topics are being covered and what readings should be done at any given point in the course (another reason why attending class pays off!)

EVERY FRIDAY, regardless of where we are at in the general course material,  we will devote the last hour of class to discussing the required readings from the Fenno book;  make sure you have done the required readings from that book by Friday.

 

 WEEK ONE (June 3 – 6)  Defining “Congress” and “Legislature”;  The Paradox of Congress;  Constitutional Origins of Congress

Smith/Roberts/VanderWielden (henceforth SRVW) Chapters 1 and 4

Fenno Chapters  1-3

 

WEEK TWO (June 9 – 13)   The Historical Evolution of Congress Since the Founding
SRVW Chapter 2
Fenno Chapters 4-6

 

WEEK THREE (June 16 – 20)   House and Senate Rules and Procedures

SRVW Chapters 5 – 7 (especially 7)
Fenno Chapters 7-9

 

WEEK FOUR (June 23 - 27)  The Budget Process, Congressional Elections, Congress and External Actors

SRVW  Chapters 12, 3, and 10

Fenno Chapters 10 – 12

WEEK FIVE (June 30)  Congress and External Actors, continued
SRVW Chapter 11

 

 

PAPER ASSIGNMENT:   Tracking a Senate election

 

You are to select one of the two Senate seats below whose current incumbents’ last names bracket  your own last name alphabetically.  For example, my last name is Borrelli, so my bracketing Senators would be Joe Biden and Saxby Chambliss;  if my last name were Jones, the bracketing Senators would  have been Tim Johnson and John Kerry.  If your name comes before the beginning or after the end of the list, you may select from the first two or last two Senators on the list. 

 

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Wayne Allard (R-CO, retiring)
John Barrasso (R-WY)
Max Baucus (D-MT)
Joe Biden (D-DE)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Larry Craig (R-ID, retiring)
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
Pete Domenici (R-NM, retiring)
Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Michael Enzi (R-WY)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Chuck Hagel (R-NE, retiring)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
James Inhofe (R-OK)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
John Kerry (D-MA)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Jack Reed (D-RI)

Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Ted Stevens (R-AK)
John Sununu (R-NH)
John Warner (R-VA, retiring)
Roger Wicker (R-MS)*

 

Imagine that you’re working for a nonpartisan, nonideological group that is providing free information to voters.  Your job is to write a report about the race in your assigned state as it stands in mid-summer, that can be a guide for voters trying to decide which candidate to support.  Your report should include:
1.)  Brief biographies of the candidates who are running for the Senate seat (note: if your assigned Senator is retiring, keep in mind that it will be two different people who are running for the seat!  I don’t need/want a biography of the current Senator in cases of retirements, UNLESS the retiring Senator is somehow a factor or issue in the race).  If an incumbent Senator is involved, information about his or her legislative accomplishments and committee assignments should be included.   For non-incumbents who have held some state or local or Federal office before, talk about their performance and accomplishments in those prior positions.

2.)  Information on who is supporting these candidates financially.
3.)  Information about specific issues on which the candidates disagree  (I’m talking about policy issues here like health care or energy or Iraq), and which issues each candidate tries to emphasize or not to emphasize during the campaign (their high-priority issues;  e.g. immigration for Senator Sessions in AL).     
4.)  Information about misstatements, accusations, endorsements, criticisms, scandals, or personal flaws that has come out concerning one or both candidates during the campaign (these are non-issue factors that may reflect on candidate personality, judgment, or character, e.g. a candidates’ failure to file income taxes properly, or hiring illegal aliens).

 

INFORMATION SOURCES

1.)      The best general sources to use are the candidates’ own “official” campaign websites.  (Note that  incumbent Senators will probably have BOTH “campaign” sites used for publicity and fundraising, AND their official U.S. Senate website which is used only for official Senate business (accessible thru www.senate.gov) ;  both are appropriate sources.  Note also that incumbent House members who are running for the Senate maintain U.S. House websites separate from their campaign websites, which may likewise be good sources of info— see  www.house.gov)

2.)     For information about candidates’ sources financial support, go to either www.fec.gov (there is a clickable US map entitled “US House and Senate Campaigns” ) or www.opensecrets.org

3.)     The two national party committees that specialize in Senate races --  www.dscc.org and www.nrsc.org  –maintain excellent websites tracking all of their races and giving regular (of course, highly partisan!) updates.

4.)     www.votesmart.org  is a respected, nonpartisan source of information, particularly about candidates’ issue positions, speeches, and voting records (if they’ve held office before).   Vote Smart often administers issue questionnaires to which both candidates often respond, enabling voters to compare their positions directly. 

 

If you use one of these “approved” sources listed above , all you need do for citation purposes is write the website and the date you accessed it.  You are free to use other websites, but if you do so, you need to provide me with the complete URL for the webpages you accessed.  Make it as easy as possible for me to retrace your footsteps, or fingersteps!)  You are NOT encouraged to cite personal blogs or other web sources that do not properly document their information.

 

 



  *Roger Wicker was appointed by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to fill the vacancy left by  longtime Mississippi Senator Trent Lott, who recently resigned.  Wicker is running for re-election in his own right.