AMERICAN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
POLS410 Summer 2012
"Persecution for the expression of opinions seems to me perfectly logical. If you have no doubt of your premises or your power and want a certain result with all your heart you naturally express your wishes in law and sweep away all opposition...But when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas...that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That at any rate is the theory of our Constitution.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Pinar K Tremblay
Contact info:
Office:
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 11am-1pm and by appointment
Class Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 1:40-4:30pm
Class Location: FASS 1101
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to examine the institutions, complexities and contradictions of American political system. My ultimate goal is that you will have enough tools and knowledge to identify and evaluate the basic concepts, theories and instruments used to explain any contemporary US politics. The class will focus on US foreign policy specifically to help explain the government structure and decision making process.
In the first three weeks, it will be intensely my lecture. As we progress I will lecture less and we will start applying our knowledge to cases to have hands on experience.
Accordingly we will look at the American political process including the President, Congress, public opinion, lobbyists, the media and the bureaucracy.
The goal of the class is neither to praise nor to criticize the US or its policies. Rather, we aim to understand why some of the counterintuitive policies were adopted, may be why some failing policies continued longer than expected and how unintended consequences can alter the course of events. We hope to bridge the gap between policies and theory, between bureaucrats and academics.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK and OTHER DOCUMENTS
1- Rosati, Jerel A., and James M. Scott. The Politics of United States Foreign Policy, 5th
Ed. Boston: Wadsworth, Cenage Learning, 2011 Referred as ROSATI and SCOTT in assignments
2- PDF doc and online resources on this syllabus.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1- Understand the main structure and ideas behind American government and politics. Examining history and documents with the goal to see continuities and changes with the help of analytical and theoretical tools.
2- Learn to write policy briefs. Most college students excel in writing research papers, yet very few know how to write a memo, policy paper or a briefing paper. We will focus on the “policy” aspect along with theory.
3- Ask good questions and be able to develop arguments with proper evidence verbally and in written form. Negotiations, politics, debate and writing are part of any job or graduate school.
RULES OF THE GAME: Policies and Requirements
1- Attend class, do the readings for the day they are assigned, participate in class discussions. Do not miss more than 2 sessions. Submit all work on time.
2- Grading formula is this: 25% participation and attendance, 40 % take home exam, and 35% policy brief. See below for further explanation.
3- AVOID PLAGIARISM. ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY. It is imperative that students follow the standards and provisions set by Sabanci University. Students’ cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences will not be tolerated.
Detailed Explanation of the Requirements:
READINGS: The readings will be discussed on the day they appear in the syllabus. Please DO NOT FALL INTO THE METAL TRAP OF “ALL OR NOTHING”, EVEN IF YOU CANNOT COMPLETE ALL THE READING, READ AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, AND DEFINITELY THE INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSION. I will explain the method of “strategic reading” which some of you might be familiar with already.
SUGGESTED FURTHER READINGS:
In addition to the assigned readings, you MUST keep up with the current events in the US, particularly concerning USFP. I suggest you check out the following sources and find ways to follow them regularly. There are many ways to do this such as receiving alerts on your smart phone as RSS feeds or having email subscriptions. First, read a newspaper daily. The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian (UK), Le Monde (France), El Pais (Spain), La Repubblica (Italy), Suddeutsche Zeitung (Germany) or LA Times. If you have an area of interest, or a country of interest check out their English newspapers if you are not fluent in that native language, such as Turkish Daily News, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Sana News of Syria, Tehran Times Daily, The Daily Star of Lebanon, The Daily News Egypt can provide an idea for those of you interested in the Middle East. Follow the news from China, Japan, Latin America to see how different countries view the US and its policies. This is an election year in the US so keep an eye on the presidential race as well. The instructor reserves the right to add further readings to the last two weeks of class.
In addition several radio and TV programs can help develop the level of argumentation desired in class, such as NPR’s News Programs (The World, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, Democracy Now), PBS has BBC World News, as well as the Newshour. Most of these are available on Al Jazeera English provides a different perspective as well. These will be important to see different viewpoints, and the importance of ―public diplomacy‖. I welcome suggestions and feedback on other journals, radio/TV programs, blogs and newspapers.
PARTICIPATION and ATTENDANCE: 25 percent of your grade. The class is designed to be interactive. The more you participate the more we can learn. No one will be judged or graded on the basis of their political views, some views can change in time. The purpose is to be able to express our views in a well-educated manner.
Take home MIDTERM: DUE DATE: 40 percent of your grade. This will be a 4 question exam 25 points each about 2-3 pages double spaced answers. No research will be necessary. All questions will be from the readings. I will give options for each question.
Policy BRIEF: DUE DATE: 35 percent of your grade. THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM FOR THE CLASS. I will work with each one of you individually to learn how to write a policy brief. Each student will choose a topic of her/his interest and focus on that throughout the session. There will be specific guidelines on how policy briefs are written. The final product will be 8-10 pages, NO RESEARCH REQUIRED. It will NOT be a research paper.
CLASS SCHEDULE AND READINGS
FIRST THEME: Constitution and the founding era: the institutions and ideas of US government
Week 1: Constitution and ideas behind the US government
Tuesday July 3:
1- US Constitution
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.pdf
2- Rosati and Scott Chapt 2
Thursday July 5:
1- Rosati and Scott Chap 4
2- American exceptionalism: Joseph S Nye Jr. The 21st Century Will Not Be a “Post-American” World, International Studies Quarterly, 2012. PDF
Optional Readings for the Week: DON’T PRINT just read through online –strategic reading
1- National Security Strategy, President Barack Obama. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strategy.pdf
2- New World Coming: American Security in the 21st Century: Major Themes and Applications http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/nssg/NWR_A.pdf
3- Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World, National Intelligence Council, CIA http://www.dni.gov/nic/PDF_2025/2025_Global_Trends_Final_Report.pdf\
Week 2: Presidency and the Courts
July 10: Rosati Chapter 3
July 12: COURTS
NYRB: New York Review of Books
David Cole, "The Roberts Court vs. Free Speech", Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project a case decided by the Supreme Court, June 24, 2010, NYRB, August 19, 2010, Volume 57, Number 13.
Anthony Lewis, "How the Supreme Court Should and Should Not Work," Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View, by Stephen Breyer, NYRB, November 11, 2010, Volume 57, Number 17.
Ronald Dworkin, The Court's Embarrassingly Bad Decisions, NYRB, May 26, 2011, Volume 58, Number 9.
Guantanamo: http://www.justice.gov/ag/guantanamo-review-final-report.pdf
Week 3: Bureaucracy: DoD, CIA and State Department
July 17:
Rosati and Scott Ch 5 and 6
Anthony Cordesman, The US Defense Budget and Changes in US Strategy Pre FY2013 Budget Submission Report, CSIS, Jan 2012 PDF.
OPTIONAL READINGS
1- David Cole, "Getting Away with Torture," NYRB January 14, 2010, Volume 57, Number 1.
2- David Cole, "What to Do About Guantanamo?", eds., The Guantanamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law edited by Mark P. Denbeaux and Jonathan Hafetz, Because It Is Wrong: Torture, Privacy and Presidential Power in the Age of Terror, by Charles
Fried and Gregory Fried, The Guantanamo Review Task Force Final Report, NYRB, October 14, 2010, Volume 57, Number 15.
3- David Cole, "Guantanamo: The New Challenge to Obama", NYRB, June 9, 2011, Volume 58, Number 10.
July 19: 1- Rosati and Scott Chapter 7
2- Amy Zegart 2006 An Empirical Analysis of Failed Intelligence Reforms Before September, 11. http://faculty.spa.ucla.edu/zegart/pdf/2006spring02free.pdf
3- Ron Capps ―Langley Won’t Tell Us: How I fought the intelligence turf wars—and lost FP, Jan 2010. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/11/langley_wont_tell_us?hidecomments=yes
Optional:
1- Amy Zegart, Eyes on Spies: Congress and the US, 2011. Ch 2-3 PDF
2- Amy Zegart, Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC, Ch 1-2. PDF
Week 4: Congress and Electoral Politics: Lobbies are US?
July 24: 1- Rosati and Scott Chapter 10 and chapter 12
2- John J. Mearsheimer, Stephen M. Walt. THE ISRAEL LOBBY AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY, Middle East Policy Volume 13, Issue 3.
OPTIONAL READINGS:
1-Ronald Dworkin, "The Devastating Decision", NYRB, February 25, 2010, Volume 57, Number 3.
2- Floyd Abrams and Ronald Dworkin, "The 'Devastating Decision': An Exchange", NYRB, April 29, 2010, Volume 57, Number 7.
3- Jonathan Raban, "At the Tea Party", NYRB, March 25, 2010, Volume 57, Number 5.
4- Heather Horn, "How Did Inequality in the U.S. Get So Out of Hand?", The Atlantic Wire.
July 26: Rosati and Scott Chapter 11 and 13
July 26: TAKE HOME EXAM DUE DATE SUBMIT IN CLASS
Week 5: Media and Public Opinion: How it all affects elections and political party formation?
July 31:
1- Rosati and Scott Chapter 14
2- Marc Lync Arab Public Opinion, Foreign Policy Nov 2011 http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/11/22/arab_public_opinion_2011
3- Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research Associates October 2011
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/files/fp_uploaded_documents/111012_Fall_2011_UNF_Press_Memo.pdf
4- Richard Lugar, “Twitter vs. Terror: How the US State Department should enable and encourage social-networking sites in the global fight for freedom”, Foreign Policy, 2010
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/06/twitter_vs_terror?hidecomments=yes
August 2: This session is dedicated to writing briefing papers. The students are to bring in their outlines to discuss their progress so far and what can be write effective policy briefs.
Week 6: Compare and Contrast: Republican vs Democrat
Getting to Know:
August 7: President Bush
David Bromwich, "The Curveball of Karl Rove", Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight by Karl Rove, NYRB, July 15, 2010, Volume 57, Number 12.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/jul/15/curveball-karl-rove/?pagination=false
Joseph Lelyveld, "Curveballs": Decision Points by George W. Bush, NYRB, January 13, 2011, Volume 58, Number 1.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jan/13/curveballs/
Jeremy Pressman, Power Without Influence: The Bush Administration’s Foreign
Policy Failure in the Middle East, International Security, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Spring 2009), pp. 149–179 PDF
August 9: President Obama
Joseph Lelyveld, "Who Is Barack Obama?", The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama by David Remnick, NYRB, May 13, 2010, Volume 57, Number 8.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/13/who-is-barack-obama/?pagination=false
Michael Tomasky, "Obama at the Edge", Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House by Richard Wolffe, NYRB, February 10, 2011, Volume 58, Number 2.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/feb/10/obama-edge/?pagination=false
Garry Wills, His Finest Hour, NYRB, February 10, 2011, Volume 58, Number 2.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/feb/10/his-finest-hour/
Elizabeth Drew, "Obama and the Republicans", NYRB, March 10, 2011, Volume 58, Number 4
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/mar/10/obama-republicans/?pagination=false.
Week 7: Policy Applications and Concluding: Possible Challenges and Opportunities for US politics –What have we learnt so far?
August 14: Issues of Foreign Policy
1- Jeremy Bernstein, "Nukes for Sale", Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America's Enemies, by David Albright, NYRB, May 13, 2010, Volume 57, Number 8.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/13/nukes-sale/
2- Thomas Powers, "How They Got Their Bloody Way", Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State by Garry Wills, Why Intelligence Fails: Lessons from the Iranian Revolution and the Iraq War, by Robert Jervis, NYRB, May 27, 2010, Volume 57, Number 9.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/27/how-they-got-their-bloody-way/?pagination=false
3- Geoffrey Wheatcroft, "The Voice of Unconventional Wisdom", The Irony of Manifest Destiny: The Tragedy of America's Foreign Policy, by William Pfaff, The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris, by Peter Beinart, NYRB, November 11, 2010, Volume 57, Number 17.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/11/voice-unconventional-wisdom/
August 16: Limits of US Power
1- http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/04/are-the-limits-of-american-power-closer-than-we-think/256238/#.T5YpKxvUUVg.twitter
2- Christopher Layne, The Waning of US Hegemony –Myth or Reality? International Security 34:1, 2009, 147-172.
3- Paul K MacDonald and Joseph M Parent, Graceful Decline? The Surprising Success of Great Power Retrenchment, International Security, 35:4, 2011, 7-44.
AUGUST 22 POLICY PAPER DUE NO LATER than noon. I encourage everyone to provide outline and/or drafts of papers, prior to final copy.