GOVT 747: Legislation and Lobbying V.1

GOVT 747: Legislation and Lobbying v.1

T: 4:30-7:10 pm Sargent 345

GOVT 747

Legislation and Lobbying

Suffolk University

Spring 2018

Prof. Brian Conley

Office: Government Department, Room 1084, 10th Floor, 73 Tremont Street

Office Hours: T/TH 11:00am-12:00pm and by appointment

Email:

Phone: 617-995-6414

Course Description:

Core course for the Professional Politics Concentration. Students will read and discuss current research on legislative politics and organization, including committees, interest groups and lobbying, legislative voting and decision making, and other topics. Students will conduct their own research and present it to the seminar.

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students only; at least one previous course in legislatures or interest groups, or consent of the instructor.

Credits: Three (3)

Course Goals & Learning Objectives:

GOALS / OBJECTIVES / ASSESSMENTS
Develop an advanced understanding of how the legislative and lobbying processes at the state and federal level in the US are studied in the field of political science. / Develop the ability to analyze and critically evaluate competing theories relating to the legislative process at the federal and state level and lobbying. / - Class Readings Assignments
- Class Writing Assignments
- Class Discussion
Develop an advanced understanding of the social science research process. / Develop the ability to gather and critically evaluate social science research. / - Class Readings Assignments
- Class Writing Assignments
- Class Discussion
Develop an advanced understanding of the social science writing process. / Develop the ability to organize and write a compelling research paper. / - Class Readings Assignments
- Class Writing Assignments
Develop an advanced understanding of how arguments are made in the field of political science. / Develop presentation skills. / - Class Readings Assignments
- Class Discussion

Course Requirements:

A key component of the course will be learning how to organize and field a lobbying campaign for and against a specific public policy issue. The issue to be discussed in this course, and supported by one group of students and opposed by another is the recent debate over expanded casino gambling in Massachusetts.

Specifically, we will use Chapter 194, An Act Establishing Expanded Gaming in the Commonwealth that was signed into law on November 22, 2011 by Governor Deval Patrick. You can find the law at the following link:

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2011/Chapter194

Students are required to complete the following assignments based on an analysis of this law and the legislative process that led to its passage:

Bill Summary
Assessing the Political Landscape
Legislative Overview
Communication Plan
Legislative Hearing Analysis
Class Presentation
Response Papers
Class Participation

Bill Summary:

The first step in the process of developing a lobbying campaign in support or against a particular piece of legislation is identifying all the administrative details associated with the bill. This includes identifying the Bill Title, Number, who the Sponsor(s) are, its History, what the Current Law is, and most importantly, what the Bill does.

Assessing the Political Landscape:

Once you have identified the administrative details of the bill, it is important that you get a sense of the broader political discussion or debate surrounding the legislation. It is important, for example, to find out what various affinity groups or special interests, inside and outside of state government, think about the bill. Doing so is critical to identifying potential supporters and opponents. To be successful, a lobby campaign will need the support of other groups to get things done.

Legislative Overview:

Next, it is necessary to outline the specific legislative path the bill will take. Which committees will consider the Bill? What is the partisan make-up of these committees? Who are the key legislators on those committees? What do we know about them and their districts? Also, which party is in the majority and what do we know about those in leadership?

Communication Plan:

You will also need to develop a Communication Plan to promote your position either in support of or against the bill. Among the questions to ask will be: How do you will plan to win the support of targeted legislators or segments of the public? How will you get the media to cover your issue? Which outlets? In district? Statewide? How will you publicize the hearing? What is your field plan? How will you mobilize supporters and respond to your opponents?

Hearing Analysis:

You will also need to prepare written and oral testimony for the public hearing on the bill. The written testimony will be structured as a one-to-two page letter; the oral testimony will be in the form of talking points that can be used at the hearing and for floor speeches by supporters.

Class Presentations:

During the final class, those supporting and those opposing expanded casino gambling in Massachusetts will present, as groups, their plans to pass or defeat the legislation.

Response Papers:

You will also be required to submit two response papers per class. The response paper assignment requires you to critically engage with the weekly class readings. The response paper should be no longer than a single page. They will be due by the beginning of class each day and should be submitted though the course Blackboard site.

Class Participation:

Students are also expected to attend and participate in class. I also strongly encourage you to read any of the major national newspapers, journals of opinion, news magazines and political blogs as well as watch cable and broadcast news programs in order to stay abreast of current political issues and developments. You should feel free at any time to introduce issues you find relevant in our class discussion and on the class blog.

Grading / Due Dates
Bill Summary 10%
Assessing the Political Landscape 10%
Legislative Overview 10%
Communication Plan 20%
Hearing Analysis 20%
Class Presentation 10%
Response Papers 13%
Class Participation 7% / January 30
February 13
February 27
March 20
April 10
May 1
Weekly
***

Class Website:

The syllabus as well as ALL of the class readings will be posted on the following class website:

https://sites.suffolk.edu/govt747/

Password: govt747

Student Engagement Hours

To complete this course, students will need to dedicate, at a minimum, the following amount of time to the listed activities:

Item / Activity / Hours (total)
Course Readings: / 1024 Pages x 8 min per Page / 136.5
Review Power Points: / 31 PP x .30 Hour per PP / 15.5
Bill Summary: / 5 Hours Preparation / 5
Legislative Overview: / 5 Hours Preparation / 5
Communication Plan: / 10 Hours Preparation / 10
Hearing Analysis: / 5 Hours Preparation / 5
Presentations: / 4 Hours Preparation / 4
Response Papers: / 14 x .30 Preparation / 7
Class Attendance: / 14 Classes x 160 minutes / 37.3
Total: / 225.3

Source:

University Policies:

Common Suffolk University Syllabus Policies

In addition to those described on this syllabus, this course adheres to policies and

procedures that apply to all Suffolk courses with regard to disability accommodation, academic misconduct, academic grievance, attendance, and credit hour compliance. A description of these policies can be found at the link http://www.suffolk.edu/academics/72770.php.

Unexpected course cancellation plan: if there is a snow day, your syllabus needs to include information about what students are to do to cover that time … Will you send them an email? Will you post something on BB? You just need to specify what they are to do.

Expected Course Cancellation Plan: If there is a Monday holiday and your class meets on a Monday, you need to include that course cancellation on your syllabus and just make sure that the time is somehow covered elsewhere (extra reading).

If you are traveling and your class is cancelled, the same thing applies.

For more information on University Policy, please consult the following website:

http://www.suffolk.edu/syllabus

Student Resources

The university provides a range of student services. To learn more, explore this webpage: www.suffolk.edu/syllabus

Course Schedule: Unless indicated otherwise, the following reads are required

January 16: Introduction: Review Syllabus

Part I: Legislative Foundations

Studying Congress

January 23: (C1)

Readings:

Herbert F Weisberg et al. 1999. “The Study of Congress:

Methodologies and the Pursuit of Theory.” In Classics in Congressional Politics. ed. Herbert F Weisberg et al. New York: Longman, Inc. 1-20.

John Berg. 1994. Unequal Struggle: Class, Gender and Power in the

U.S. Congress. Boulder: Westview. Chapter 1.

Congress

January 30: (C2) Bill Summary Due

Readings:

Lawrence Dodd and Bruce Oppenheimer. 2016. “The House in a

Time of Crisis: Economic Turmoil and Partisan Upheaval.” In Congress Reconsidered, ed. Lawrence Dodd and Bruce Oppenheimer, 10th Edition. Washington, D.C: CQ Press. 27-58.

Barbara Sinclair. 2016. “The New World of U.S Senators.” In

Congress Reconsidered, ed. Lawrence Dodd and Bruce Oppenheimer, 11th Edition. Washington, D.C: CQ Press. 1-26.

Frances Lee. 2010. “Senate Deliberation and the Future of Congressional Power.” PS: Political Science and Politics. 227-229.

State Legislature

February 6: (C3)

Readings:

Peverill Squire and Gary Moncrief. 2015. State Legislatures Today.

New York: Rowman and Littlefield. Chapter 3.

Ralph Wright. 2005. Inside the Statehouse: Lessons from the

Speaker. Washington, D.C: CQ Press. Chapter 2.

John McDonough. 2000. Experiencing Politics: A Legislator’s Stories

of Government and Health Care. Berkeley: University of California Press. Chapter 2.