Politics 30: The United States Congress
Pomona College, Spring 2013
Prof. David Menefee-Libey
Class Schedule and Assignments
Note: Readings for each day are listed after the date, and
readings posted on Sakai are marked with an *asterisk.
Note also: I will let you know if/when I modify this schedule and post updates online.
- Wednesday, January 23: Overview of the course and requirements, reading and writing
- >> Readings: this syllabus
- >> *Bartholomae & Petrosky, "Reading With and Against the Grain,"
Adapted from David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky, eds., Ways of
Reading, 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008, pp. 10-12.
- Friday, January 25: Approaches to the study of Congress
- >> DOL ch. 1, "The Two Congresses"
- >> Mettler, "Introduction: Confronting the Submerged State"
- >> David M-L, "Social Science and Its
Assumptions" [Available on-line; follow this link.]
-
PART ONE: CONGRESS AS AN INSTITUTION
- Monday, January 28: The pre-cursors and creation of Congress
- >> *Barbara deBoinville, "Colonial Background" ch 1 of The Origins and Development of
Congress, 2nd ed. (CQ Press, 1982)
- >> *deBoinville ch. 2, "Revolution and Confederation"
- Wednesday, January 30: The initial vision of the institution and
its place in the national government
- >> *deBoinville ch. 3, "The Constitution"
- >> *deBoinville ch. 4, "The Structure of Congress"
- >> *deBoinville ch. 5, "Powers of Congress"
- Friday, February 1: Two contrasting textbook overviews of congressional
origins and history
- >> DOL ch. 2, "Evolution of the Modern Congress," through p. 36
- >> *Charles B. Cushman, Jr., "Origins and Evolution of the Congressional System,"
ch 2 of An Introduction to the U.S. Congress (Armonk, NY: M.E.
Sharpe, 2006).
- Monday, February 4: Congress disappoints everyone. Should we be surprised?
- >> *James L. Sundquist, "Endemic Weaknesses of Congress," ch. 7
of The Decline and Resurgence of Congress (Brookings,1981).
- >> *Norman Ornstein,
"Worst.
Congress. Ever." Foreign Policy, July 19, 2011.
- >> [optional]*Thomas Mann & Norman Ornstein, "The Seeds of Dysfunction" and "Beyond the Debt Ceiling Fiasco," chs 2 & 3 of
It's Even Worse Than It Looks (NY: Basic Books, 2012).
- Wednesday, February 6: A contrasting argument: important things about
Congress have become hidden from the public view
- >> Mettler ch. 1, "Governance Unseen"
- >> Mettler ch. 2, "The Politics of the Submerged State"
- Friday, February 8: Institutional Feature 1: Bicameralism -- the House
- >> *Cushman, "Speaking for the People: The Majoritarian House"
- Monday, February 11: Institutional Feature 1: Bicamerialism -- the Senate
- >> *Cushman, "Representing the States: The Individualistic Senate"
- Wednesday, February 13: Institutional Feature 2: Party leadership in the House and Senate
- >> DOL ch. 6, "Leaders and Parties in Congress," through p. 162.
- >> Jeremy Peters, "For Democrats in G.O.P.-Led House, a New Congress
Means Some New Muscle," New York Times, February 7, 2013; and especially the accompanying chart:
"A
More Significant Minority," ibid.
- Friday, February 15: Institutional feature 3: Division of labor into committees
- >> DOL ch. 7, "Committees: Workshops of Congress," through p. 185,
then 196-end.
- >> Short paper #1 due by 4:30 pm today.
- Monday, February 18: Assigning roles for the simulation
- >> For background on the simulation, read
the on-line description. I'll update it as the simulation nears.
- Wednesday, February 20: Institutional feature 4: Rules and procedures
- >> DOL ch. 8, "Congressional Rules and Procedures"
- >> For fun, watch some illustrative YouTube videos
here and
here and
here.
People in Congress get worked up about these things. Not as much as in
some places, tho.
- >> *Steven S. Smith, "Reporter's Guide to Filibuster Reform in the U.S.
Senate," January 2010.
- >> *"Senate Action on Cloture Motions, 1963-2012," DML-generated chart from
U.S. Senate data.
- >> (Optional) *Associated Press, "Mixup Negates House Override of Farm Bill Veto," May 21, 2008,
originally posted online at http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/21/bush.farmbill.ap/index.html.
-
PART TWO: CONGRESS AS A COLLECTION OF POLITICIANS
- Friday, February 22: Membership in Congress as a job, held by human beings
- >> DOL ch. 2, pp. 36-end.
- Monday, February 25: Who are these people? Who and/or what do they represent?
- >> DOL ch. 3, "Going For It: Recruitment Roulette"
- >> (Optional) Go read some individual entries in The Almanac
of American Politics or CQ's Politics in America.
- >> (Optional) Emma Dumain,
"Members
who took their boss' seats: A list of the 28 Members of Congress who took the jobs of their
former bosses." Congress.org, posted March 15, 2010.
- Wednesday, February 27: How do they get into office?
- >> DOL ch. 4, "Making It: The Electoral Game"
- >> (Optional): Go read more individual entries in The Almanac
of American Politics or CQ's Politics in America.
- Friday, March 1: Instead of class today, go to "Law at the Fault Lines" symposium in the Blue Room
- Monday, March 4: What do they do after they win?
- >> DOL ch. 5, "Being There: Hill Styles and Home Styles"
- Wednesday, March 6: Members of Congress = Members of parties
- >> DOL ch. 6, "Leaders and Parties in Congress," pp. 162-end.
- >> Go read the entry for your simulation-role Senator in The Almanac
of American Politics or CQ's Politics in America.
- Friday, March 8: Committee work and voting
- >> DOL ch. 7, "Committees: Workshops of Congress," pp. 185-196.
- >> (Optional) Eric Lipton & Kevin Sack, "Fiscal
Footnote: Big Senate Gift to Drugmaker," New York Times, January 22, 2013.
-
PART THREE: THE SIMULATION
Monday, March 11: Some initial prep- >>
Simulation
Manual 2013 will be posted on-line by today
- >> Simulation-related research links:
committees; members;
policy and legislation
- Wednesday, March 13: Ways of thinking about how to approach your role
- >> DOL ch. 9, "Decision Making in Congress"
- Friday, March 15: Interbranch relations
- >> DOL ch. 10, "Congress and the President"
- >> Short paper #2 due by 4:30 pm today.
March 16 through 24: SPRING BREAK-
Monday, March 25: The details of the simulation
- >> Look at your notes on DOL ch. 7, "Committees"
- >> Readings: the simulation manual, the role rosters
- Wednesday, March 27: The details of parliamentary procedure
- >> DOL, ch. 8, pp. 238-248.
- Friday, March 29: Frantic final preparation on Cesar Chavez Day
- >> No readings or class meeting planned. Meet in classroom if you like.
- >> Go read about
Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.
- April 1 through April 4: The Simulation will meet every
evening this week at 6:30 p.m..
- >> Short paper 3a due by
4:30 today on Sakai. Bring a paper version to the
Simulation.
- >> There will be no daytime classes Monday or Wednesday. You should
use the class time for meetings. (It's the only time you can be sure everyone
will be available.)
- Friday, April 5: No class meeting. Catch up on sleep.
- Monday, April 8: The Monday debrief
- >> Look through your notes from the Simulation and your paper drafting,
come prepared to discuss what happened and tell others what happened that
they might not have seen.
- >> Short papers 3b and 3c due by 4:30 pm
today
-
PART FOUR: THE EVOLVING LEGISLATIVE POLITICS OF CONGRESS
- Wednesday, April 10: Adler & Wilkerson challenging the cynical view of Congress as
unproductive
- >> A&W ch 1, "Congress and the Politics of Problem-Solving"
- Friday, April 12: Mettler's contrasting view of what's really going on
here
- >> Mettler and Matt Guardino ch 3, "From Nudge to Reveal"
- Monday, April 15: Do elections tie policy-making to public opinion?
- >> A&W ch 2, "Problem-Focused Voters and Congressional Accountability"
- >> A&W ch 3, "Congressional Approval and Incumbent Accountability"
- Wednesday, April 17: Connecting Adler & Wilkerson's explanation to the institutional
dimensions of Congress
- >> A&W ch 4, "Problem-Solving Constraints and Legislative
Institutions"
- >> A&W ch 5, "Agenda Scarcity, Problem-Solving, and Temporary Legislation"
- Friday, April 19: Does Congress need to be "fixed?"
- >> A&W ch 6, "Rethinking Committee Reform"
- >> A&W ch 7, "Agenda-Setting in a Problem-Solving Legislature"
- Monday, April 22: How does Mettler's approach to cases
compare/contrast with Adler & Wilkerson's?
- >> Mettler ch 4, "Scaling Back the Submerged State: The Victory for
Student Aid"
- Wednesday, April 24: Taxes and health care reform as more cases for comparison/contrast
- >> Mettler ch 5, "Sustaining and Expanding the Submerged State: Tax
Policy and Health Care Reform," esp. pp. 88-90 & 98-109
- Friday, April 26: Rethinking whether these really are "crises"
- >> A&W ch 8, "Problem Solving and Focal Points"
- Monday, April 29: Budget Politics as a Special Case?
- >> A&W ch 9, "Problem Solving and Policy Change"
- >> Mettler ch 5, esp. pp. 90-97.
- Wednesday, May 1: So what? Who cares? And what next?
- >> A&W ch 10, "Problem Solving and American Politics"
- >> Mettler ch 6, "Toward Visible and Vibrant Democacy"
- Friday, May 3: Getting closure on your research, writing up your
own findings
- >> no readings assigned
- Monday, May 6: Making Sense of Congress?
- >> DOL ch. 15 "The Two Congresses and the American People"
- >> Paper 4 due by 4:30 pm today for seniors.
- Wednesday, May 8: Evaluating the Course, ideas for next time
- >> Read your notes, your daily papers. Come in with one developed idea
about how to improve the course.
- Monday, May 13: Paper 4 due by 4:30 pm for non-seniors.
© David Menefee-Libey
Last modified: February 13, 2013.