The Logic of American Politics
SAGE Journal Articles and Readings
› Respondus Journal Articles Quiz
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article examines explanations for diminished levels of popular support for the American government (i.e. institutions, leaders, etc.). The authors find a strong connection between citizens ‘ partisanship and feelings about political parties and their support for the political regime and overall democratic processes.
Questions to Consider:
1. What do the authors identify as the solution to representative democracies upgrade to the 21st century?
2. In the section, “Importance of Representational Experience,” what do the authors mean by “external political efficacy”?
Learning objective: 1.6 Relate how representative government works
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This article examines the origins of direct democracy, also referred to as participatory democracy, in the United States. The authors assess how direct democracy processes has affected the American political institution of parties. Though the initiative historically led to more restrictive state legal environments for parties, the authors discuss how the party organizations are now visible actors in the direct democracy campaigns.
Questions to Consider:
1. What was the initial purpose of the popular initiative?
2. What is the link between direct democracy and American political institutions?
3. In the section, "Parties in American and European Direct Democracy," what is the comparison between the role of direct democracy in the United States and in European countries such as Switzerland?
Learning objective: 1.1 Summarize the importance of institutional design in governance
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This article discusses the problems of pluralist theory research that are highlighted in the works of renowned political theorists Robert A. Dahl, James R Wilson, and Edward Banfield, among others. Using Dahl’s New Haven, Connecticut and Oberlin, Ohio empirical studies, the author concludes that not is it true that different persons wield the power of the state at different times, but the power is not dissolved through social structure.
Questions to Consider:
1. According to the author, what is the central problem?
2. What is the difference between the pluralist theory and the classical democratic model?
3. What does the author conclude with in terms of Dahl's studies? Was there an issue with the pluralist theory? Do you agree with the author's assertion that there is something wrong with the study?
Learning objective: 1.6 Relate how representative government works
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh1-reexaminingconstitution.pdf
Jost, K. (September 2012). Re-examining the Constitution. CQ Researcher. 22(31). 741-764.
This article discusses the Constitutions system of checks and balance and separation of powers and how these two systems are often blamed for congressional gridlock. The author discusses the issues in detail and then provides a succinct background on the creation and evolvement of the U.S. Constitution. The author concludes by discussing American’s favorable views towards the Constitution.
Questions to Consider:
This article discusses the Constitutions system of checks and balance and separation of powers and how these two systems are often blamed for congressional gridlock. The author discusses the issues in detail and then provides a succinct background on the creation and evolvement of the U.S. Constitution. The author concludes by discussing American’s favorable views towards the Constitution.
Questions to Consider:
1. What does the author mean when he portrays the Constitution as being "durbale"?
2. Do you believe a constitutional convention should be held?
3. What is congressional gridlock and how does it impact policymaking?
4. What si the Second Constitution and what impact did it have on individuals and the state?
Learning objective: 1.2 Discuss the ways in which governments are composed of institutions and the qualities of those institutions
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discuss the inherent flaws in the Articles of Confederation, most importantly how the American states systematically failed to pay their requisitions to the national government. In order to illustrate this the authors analyze Shay’s Rebellion and find that the articles failed to prevent free riding among states, which contributed to the conflict of the union, and prevented Congress from accomplishing its tasks.
Questions to Consider:
1. What led the states to pursue policies of self-interest? What factors influenced these rational states from withholding their contributions?
2. What led to Shay’s Rebellion and why was Congress unable to suppress the opposition?
3. What influence did the Articles of Confederation have on the states need to suppress their contributions?
Learning Objective: 2.1 Describe how the colonies’ experience in self-government contributed to their willingness to revolt
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This article discusses the Bill of Rights controversial inclusion in the U.S. Constitution. In order to understand the controversies of the Bill of Rights and the complexity and diversity of the American founding era, the author research’s James Wilson, a statesman of the era and chief opponent of the Bill of Rights.
Questions to Consider:
1. What were James Wilson’s contributions to American politics?
2. What are James Wilson’s arguments against the Bill of Rights? Were they warranted?
3. Do you believe that the Bill of Rights has discouraged individuals from exerting their sovereign power?
Learning Objective(s): 2.3 Identify the issues the Founders considered when drafting the Constitution; 2.4 Discuss the debates over ratification of the Constitution
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This article discusses the transition from the Articles of Confederation to the U.S. Constitution and how it affected gridlock. The authors find that the U.S. Constitution decreased gridlock, but also made policy more responsive to the issue of gridlock.
Questions to Consider:
1. In the section, “A Tale of Two Governments,” what are the issues of gridlock that were apparent during the Articles of Confederation?
2. What was the structure of the Articles of Confederation? How was legislation passed under the Articles?
3. What are the author’s findings in terms of preference between presidential systems and confederal systems?
Learning Objective: 2.2 Explain how the challenges of collective action under the Articles of Confederation undermined early American independence
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh2-usforeignpolicy.pdf
Wanlund, D. (March 2014) U. S. foreign policy. CQ Researcher.
This article discusses the current issues facing U.S. foreign policy in Russia, Syria, Israel, and Egypt. The author discusses America’s foreign policy achievements and failures and the questions about America’s loyalty to its allies, its commitment to democracy and its legacy after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do you believe that U.S. diplomacy bring lasting solutions in Ukraine, Syria, Russia, Israel, and Egypt?
2. What has President Obama done to make U.S. foreign policy more cooperative?
3. What is the U.S. war legacy and how has it impacted President Obama’s foreign policy?
Learning Objective: 2.6 Identify ways in which U.S. political development has evolved to address the founders’ goals
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses the American system of divided government. The author argues that the American system of government is neither a modern presidential system nor an old fashioned system of separation of powers.
Questions to Consider:
1. How does the author define the American political system?
2. What are some of the issues that the author encountered with the current definitions of the American system of government?
3. Does the author believe that the constitution reflects current state of government? How has it change in terms of the presidential and congressional power?
Learning Objective: 3.1 Describe federalism and the way it evolved in the United States
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This article discusses the current controversial debates regarding immigration policy and the role of federalism in the United States. The authors explore pressures leading to state immigration policy innovation and adoption in the United States by explaining how factors that are associated with national policy influence state-level policy.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do you believe that the states should be allowed to enact their own immigration policies?
2. What does the comprehensive theory state and how does it apply immigration policy decentralization in federal systems?
3. What are the incentives that states have to pass immigration laws?
Learning Objective: 3.3 Discuss the factors contributing to a shift toward nationalized public policy
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Article 3: Seamon, M. J. (December 2006). The Legal Status of Medical Marijuana. 40(12). 2211-2215.
This brief article discusses the legal use of marijuana in the United States. The author provide a background and literature review regarding the use of medical marijuana its classification under federal law.
Questions to Consider:
1. What are the inherent issues with federalism and marijuana legislation?
2. Does the federal government have the ability to intervene and criminalize individuals who are adhering to state policies?
Learning Objective: 3.2 Identify the kinds of constitutional protections that guard against an overly powerful national government
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh3-statesandfederalism.pdf
Jost, K. (October 2010). States and Federalism. CQ Researcher. 20(36). 845-868.
This article discusses the issues concerning the health care law and the various states that are challenging the new law as unconstitutional. The article also highlights the current issues regarding state and federal jurisdiction over immigration policy; highlighting the recurrence of high-profile clashes over federal power and state prerogatives playing out against the backdrop of sharp political attacks on the administration and declining confidence in government at all levels.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do you believe that the federal government has too much power? Why or why not?
2. What is new federalism?
3. How have federal powers expanded?
Learning Objective: 3.4 Explain the ways in which the national government dominates the modern federal system
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses how the media and United States newspapers farmed the stories regarding same-sex marriage in 2013. The authors find that the media used various to highlight same-sex marriage news stories, thus providing insight into how citizens of the U.S. are exposed to salient issues such as this.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is the equality versus morality debate and how does it apply to same-sex marriage?
2. How has same-sex marriage been framed in the media?
Learning Objective: 4.4 Explain the legacy of the civil rights movement for groups such as women, Hispanics, and members of the LGBT community
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This article discusses the views of various scholars and activists and their notions that black America is facing a new set of problems that were not addresses by the civil rights movements generation ago. The author analyzes three interrelated uses of the post–civil rights concept and questions its utility in addressing the persistence of urban inequality and the unequal impact of Hurricane Katrina on the African American community.
Questions to Consider:
1. What are the different views on the post-civil rights era proposed by various scholars? How do these views differ from the civil rights era a generation ago?
2. How has the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina highlighted the new issues that black Americans are facing?
3. What does the author suggest the
Learning Objective(s): 4.2 Identify two obstacles in the way of civil rights for African Americans historically; 4.3 Discuss the political efforts to seek civil rights for African Americans from the nineteenth century to the present day
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This article discusses the impact of the civil rights polices of the 1960s, the political and legal movements that reversed them, and the need for a new civil rights strategy. The increasing immigration and democracy transformation is prompts the authors to outline essential components of a new civil rights policy.
Questions to Consider:
1. In the section, “What we Actually Need?,” what challenges does the author face in creating a vision appropriate to the society of our time?
2. What demographic changes have increased the need for new civil rights policy?
3. Do you believe that the author’s reforms are possible?
Learning Objective: 4.1 Define civil rights
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CQ Researcher
Karaim, R. (March 2011). Gay Rights. CQ Global Researcher. 5(5). 107-132.
This article focuses on gay rights at a global scale. Beginning with the Netherlands in 2001, gay marriage metamorphosed almost overnight from a largely ridiculed notion to a legal reality in at least 10 countries. However, homosexual acts remain illegal in most of Africa and the Muslim world, with severe penalties for anyone found guilty of the crime. In Russia and other Eastern European countries, gay and lesbian “pride parades” have sometimes met with violent responses, leading some observers to believe a backlash against rapid gay and lesbian advances may be developing in parts of the world.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy?
2. Discuss the arguments made by opponents and proponents of same-sex marriage.
3. Do you believe that governments and society are more receptive to gay rights?
Learning Objective: 4.4 Explain the legacy of the civil rights movement for groups such as women, Hispanics, and members of the LGBT community
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SAGE Journal Articles
SJ-userguide.pdf
Article 1: Neier, A. (August 2008). Free Speech for All. Index on Citizenship 37(3). 20-25.
This brief article discusses the issues with freedom of speech and the case of Skokie, Illinois. The author describes her position at the ACLU and the protection of hate speech.
Questions to Consider:
1. What issues arose in Skokie, Illinois?
2. Why is hate speech protected? What are the limitations of hate speech?
3. Do you believe that the ACLU should continue to protect the rights of neo-Nazi groups?
Learning Objective: 5.3 Explain the protections and limitations of freedom of speech
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The author of this article presents ten scenarios that trace the developments in the area of civil liberties between now and the 22nd century.
Questions to Consider:
1. How does the author define civil liberties?
2. Which of the ten scenarios do you believe is most likely to happen and why?
3. Do all these scenarios affect an individuals civil liberties today? If so, explain how.
Learning Objective: 5.9 Discuss the historical evolution of civil liberties and contemporary debates related to them
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This article discusses the role of the media in portraying gun violence victims of color and low-socioeconomic status. The author examines the disparities of race-related gun violence, and uses empirical analyses and other factors to examine the role of the media and their response to the disparity.
Questions to Consider:
1. How does the media perpetuate negative stereotypes for people of color?
2. In what ways can the media influence public policy?
3. What policies were enacted following the Newtown, Connecticut school shootings?
4. Are the new regulations of gun control a violation of our 2nd Amendment rights?
Learning Objective: 5.6 Describe the different positions in the debate over gun rights
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh5-racialprofiling.pdf
Jost, K. (November 2013). Racial Profiling. CQ Researcher. 23(42). 1005-1028.
This article discusses the issue concerning civil liberties and minority groups; both of whom are pressuring police departments to eliminate racial and ethnic profiling in pedestrian and traffic stops, while police groups and some experts insist the complaints about the practice are exaggerated. Two big law enforcement agencies — the New York City Police Department and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, which covers Phoenix — are under court order to eliminate the practice.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is indirect racial profiling?
2. Discuss the stop-and-frisk policy? What is the controversy and how does it violate ones civil liberties?
3. Do you believe that racial and ethnic profiling is prevalent in U.S. law enforcement today?
Learning Objective: 5.7 Identify the four constitutional provisions for criminal rights
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses Black and Latino legislator’s use of bill sponsor and co-sponsorship in Congress. The authors hypothesize that minority legislators’ lack of influence in Congress, they sponsor and cosponsor fewer bills than do non-minorities. The authors find that Black and Latino legislators do in fact sponsor and cosponsor significantly fewer bills than White and non-Latino legislators.
Questions to Consider:
1. What are the goals of members of Congress and how do bill sponsorships and co-sponsorships affect those goals?
2. What do the authors find in regards to their two hypothesis?
3. Do you believe that minority representation in Congress will ever reach a level where they can support greater legislative effectiveness?
Learning Objective: 6.5 Relate the institutional structures in the House and Senate that help members overcome barriers to collective action
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This article examines the contingent party pressures and their effect on gridlock. The authors suggest an alternative contingent party pressure model and find that legislative gridlock is affected by the interactions of issue salience and government types. High issue salience increases legislative gridlock under unified government and decreases under divided government.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is pivotal politics model and how does it apply to legislative gridlock?
2. What differences do the authors find in terms of gridlock under their model? Does issue salience make a difference?
Learning Objective: 6.6 Describe what influences public opinion about Congress and its performance
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This article examines the public’s attitude towards the Senate’s practice of filibuster and cloture. The authors measure those attitude and find that the attitudes change in ways predicted by respondent’s partisan and policy preferences.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is the balance between majority and minority rights? Is this a common Elite argument?
2. What is the conventional wisdom in regards to the public opinion about congressional procedures?
3. What are the author’s suggestions for future research on the public opinion and congressional procedures?
Learning Objective: 6.4 Explain six basic problems of legislative organization
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CQ Researcher
Clemmitt, M. (April 2010). Gridlock in Washington. CQ Researcher. 20(17). 385-408.
This article discusses historic health-care legislation that was enacted the spring of 2010 and the state of gridlock in Washington. Political scientists blame the increasingly fierce competition for power between the ideologically rigid Democratic and Republican parties, which has risen to levels not seen since the Civil War. Analysts blame the Senate's cloture rule, which requires a 60-vote supermajority to end a filibuster and proceed to voting.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do you believe Congress needs a makeover?
2. What is the cloture rule?
3. What is the reconciliation procedure?
Learning Objective: 6.2 Identify factors that create advantages and disadvantages in congressional electoral politics
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses Presidents use of executive orders as a way to circumvent the policymaking process. The authors argue that strategic presidents often use executive order to circumvent a hostile Congress, but not likely if they are to be overturned by Congress. The authors test their hypothesis by looking at the annual variation in the number of orders issued during the post World War II period.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is the conventional wisdom regarding presidents and the use of executive orders?
2. What approach to the authors take when testing their hypothesis? Are there any issues with their methodology?
3. Which measures are used to test the hypothesis that president issue more executive orders as their support in Congress declines?
4. Are executive orders a viable strategy for presidents?
Learning Objective: 7.1 Describe the historical role of the presidency
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This article discusses the use of popular rhetoric within the presidents State of the Union Addresses in order to determine whether presidents consistently use the tool of going public and whether it is in fact a modern development. The author finds that former presidents also exhibited modern tendencies in their addresses.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is the difference between the traditional and modern presidency?
2. What is the going public thesis and do all presidents use this tool to gain the publics support on various policies?
Learning Objective(s): 7.1 Describe the historical role of the presidency; 7.2 Discuss the modern presidency’s roles, powers, and challenges; 7.3 Explain the dilemma of the president as a strategic actor.
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This article addresses the conventional wisdom that president’s pardons are political. The authors move beyond this assertion and assess five ways that pardons may be influenced by the policy agendas in the American system of separated powers. The authors find that probability for pardon denials reflects the president’s agenda and ideological position, congressional attention to crime rates, and homicide rates.
Questions to Consider:
1. What does the existing literature focus on?
2. How is the clemency power used to check the power of the judicial branch?
Learning Objective(s): 7.1 Describe the historical role of the presidency; 7.2 Discuss the modern presidency’s roles, powers, and challenges
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh7-presidentialpower.pdf
Lyons, C. L. (March 2015). Presidential Power. CQ Researcher 25(10). 217-240.
This article discusses President Obama's recent moves to shape U.S. policy, ranging from taking executive action on immigration to beginning to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba. Every president has stretched the constitutional boundaries separating the executive branch from the legislative and judicial, using executive orders, recess appointments, vetoes and other tools to accomplish policy goals. The debate over executive power has become more heated in recent years, partly because congressional gridlock has made it harder for presidents to carry out their agendas through legislation.
Questions to Consider:
1. How has congressional gridlock impeded President Obama’s executive power?
2. Discuss the controversy over presidential power.
Learning Objective(s): 7.1 Describe the historical role of the presidency; 7.2 Discuss the modern presidency’s roles, powers, and challenges
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses representative bureaucracy and its importance and influence on the nature, scope, and implementation of public policies. The authors use data that examines the distribution of women in leadership in federal regulatory organizations. The authors find that women remain underrepresented in the these organizations.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do the characteristics of bureaucrats resemble the people they serve?
2. What is representative bureaucracy theory? Identify the two types of representation. When do these occur?
3. What did the authors find in terms of female leadership in federal regulatory agencies? Where is the female leadership mostly centered?
Learning Objective(s): 8.1 Describe the development of the federal bureaucracy over time; 8.3 Explain the bureaucracy’s culture and the challenges it faces
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This article discusses the federal bureaucracy from the perspective of the founders, Madison and Hamilton, and the Federalist Papers. The author affirms that it is important to look at the instruction of both Hamilton and Madison and that effective government demands an administration that is trusted by the people.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do you agree with Ostrom’s critique the class model of hierarchically arranged professional organizations? Why or Why not?
2. What is the spoils system?
Learning Objective(s): 8.1 Describe the development of the federal bureaucracy over time; 8.3 Explain the bureaucracy’s culture and the challenges it faces
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This article discusses whether the bureaucracy represents the interests of the public or whether it reacts to the partisan and ideological demands of political leaders. The authors use date from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Central Personnel Data File to show that both partisanship and ideology influence the demographic composition of the senior executives.
Questions to Consider:
1. What did the author’s analysis show in terms of ideological views?
2. What methodology was used by the authors?
3. What implications do the authors findings have on women and people of color?
Learning Objective(s): 8.1 Describe the development of the federal bureaucracy over time; 8.2 Relate when the federal government grows most quickly and why; 8.3 Explain the bureaucracy’s culture and the challenges it faces
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh8-federalregulatoryagencies.pdf
This article discusses in detail the federal regulatory agencies during the Nixon Administration. The report focuses on the criticism of trade commission, the evolution of regulation by commission, and plans for improving agency performance.
Questions to Consider:
1. Discuss some of the plans for improving performance. How do those differ to the regulation today?
2. What has been the evolution of regulation by commission?
3. What is the current state of regulation now?
Learning Objective(s): 8.1 Describe the development of the federal bureaucracy over time; 8.2 Relate when the federal government grows most quickly, and why
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SAGE Journal Articles
SJ-userguide.pdf
This article discusses how the Supreme Court justice’s make their decisions and how the Supreme Court as a whole makes their decisions. The authors examine the disconnect between the individual and institutional level by developing a model to help explain decision making in the judicial branch.
Questions to Consider:
1. What factors contribute to institutional decision-making?
2. Explain the disconnection between individual and institutional decision-making.
3. Do you believe that the court is the keeper of the covenant?
Learning Objective(s): 9.3 Describe the structure of the federal judiciary; 9.4 Relate the judicial decision-making process
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This article discusses the debate over the U.S. Supreme Court’s ability to influence public opinion through its decisions and attempt to bring clarity to the current approaches by studying an issue area that is very contentious: gay civil rights. The authors argue that the ability of Court decisions to influence public opinion is a function of a myriad of factors.
Questions to Consider:
1. What factors are important in analyzing the influence of court decisions on public opinion?
2. What do the author’s findings state in regards to the legitimation hypothesis?
3. What suggestions for future research are made the authors and how can these assist the study of supreme court influence on public opinion?
Learning Objective: 9.3 Describe the structure of the federal judiciary
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This article discusses the amount of power that is held by the U.S. Supreme Court in terms of criminal justice policies. The adopts a different approach to test power of the U.S. Supreme Court. The findings show that decision-making by the Supreme Court is positively associated with long-term shifts in new admissions to the U.S. federal prisons.
Questions to Consider:
1. What do the authors findings suggestion in terms of the Court’s power and influence in the criminal justice system?
2. How do the author’s findings differ from Hamilton’s assertion that the court “has no influence over either the sword or the purse”?
3. Do you believe the court plays a counter majoritarian role in the political system?
Learning Objective: 9.4 Relate the judicial decision-making process
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh9-supremecourtcontroversies.pdf
Jost, K. (September 2012). Supreme Court Controversies. CQ Researcher 22(34). 813-840.
This article discusses the Roberts Court and the controversial President Obama health care law. The critics and the court’s defenders are highlighted: liberal critics continue to accuse the Roberts Court of political decision-making, judicial activism and a pro-business orientation. The court's defenders say the justices are acting without regard to politics and following judicial restraint.
Questions to Consider:
1. Did the Roberts Court engage in judicial activism? If so, how?
2. Should the Supreme Court prohibit racial preferences in university admissions? Discuss the pros and cons identified in the article
Learning Objective: 9.6 Assess to what extent the Supreme Court’s judicial review is checked by other branches of the government
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article examines the role of public opinion during the California governor Gray Davis’ recall in 2003 compared to partisanship and ideology. In using the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) statewide surveys, the authors find that public support for the recall was consistent over time and related to negative political attitudes.
Questions to Consider:
1. What was the significance of the political climate on voice choices in the recall?
2. What are the origins of direct democracy?
3. Identify the three tools of direct democracy. Which one is the most popular in your state?
4. What led to the negative political climate during the recall?
Learning Objective(s): 10.2 Describe the ways public opinion can be measured; 10.4 Discuss to what extent public opinion is meaningful; 10.7 Discuss the influences and limitations of public opinion in American politics
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This article examines whether direct democracy institutions have a similar effect of enhancing the impact of public opinion on judicial behavior and reducing the likelihood of judges voting in favor of minority rights. The author’s study provides evidence that the institution of direct democracy does in fact increase the effect of public opinion on judicial decisions.
Questions to Consider:
1. How can the direct democracy institutions influence elected officials?
2. What is the primary criticism of direct democracy? Do you believe that it restricts minority rights?
Learning Objective(s): 10.2 Describe the ways that public opinion can be measured; 10.4 Discuss to what extent public opinion is meaningful
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This article discusses the limited research on the bandwagon effects of the polls. In order to address the gap, the authors conduct an experiment using a diverse sample of people. The authors find that opinions expressed through polls affect individual-level attitudes.
Questions to Consider:
1. Discuss the three different policies that were used in the poll.
2. Do you believe that polls can be self-fulfilling prophecies?
3. What are bandwagon effects and how do they affect polls?
Learning Objective(s): 10.2 Describe the ways that public opinion can be measured; 10.4 Discuss to what extent public opinion is meaningful; 10.5 Summarize the role of consensus in politics and policy issues
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh10-politicalpolling.pdf
McCutcheon, C. (February 2015). Political Polling. CQ Researcher 25(6). 121-144.
This article discusses the gathering and measuring of public opinions in this current technological age. An emphasis is placed on smart phones, social media and the Internet and how they have made it easier for people to make their views known. However, new technology can also make it harder for political pollsters to gather and measure public opinions with precision or consistency.
Questions to Consider:
1. How has the polarized political climate affected polling?
2. How did Obama’s campaign use new technologies? Do you believe that they helped Obama win the election?
3. Discuss the evolution of polling.
Learning Objective(s): 10.2 Describe the ways that public opinion can be measured; 10.6 Relate the role that group difference such as gender and race can have on public opinion; 10.7 Discuss the influences and limitations of public opinion in American politics
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article extends recent research on issue voting and campaign agenda setting to voting decisions in congressional elections. Using a unique data set from 1998, the authors study the impact of campaign-specific variables on citizens’ voting decisions, while controlling for relevant attitudinal and demographic factors. The findings show that when a candidate and voter agree on what is the most important issue in the election, the voter is more likely to vote for that candidate if that candidate’s party “owns” the issue.
Questions to Consider:
1. What conditions are necessary for issue voting?
2. What theories link voting behaviors and issues?
3. What is the importance of an agenda in a campaign?
Learning Objective: 11.3 Discuss the factors that affect how people vote
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This article reports the findings of an analysis of undecided swing state voters during the presidential debates of the 2008 and 2012 elections. The authors found that presidential debates are in fact capable of influencing undecided voters’ impressions of the candidates.
Questions to Consider:
1. What are the characteristics of an undecided voter?
2. What is the traditional campaign model and how do swing voters fit into that model?
3. What are the limitations of the authors’ study?
Learning Objective: 11.4 Summarize the role of campaigns in elections
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This article discusses the impact of gender on gubernatorial and senate candidates’ issue prioritization. The author argues that women running for statewide office prefer to play against gender stereotypes in their issue priorities. Women will only run a gendered campaign in response to male candidates who do it first.
Questions to Consider:
1. What are the two options that women generally have when framing their issues?
2. What is the author’s fundamental conclusion? Do gender and context matter?
Learning Objective: 11.3 Discuss the factors that affect how people vote
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh11-votingcontroversies.pdf
Jost, K. (2014, February). Voting controversies. CQ Researcher, 24(8), 169–192.
This article discusses election laws and voting procedures and how they have been a major source of controversy in the United States ever since the stunted recount in Florida that determined the outcome of the 2000 presidential contest. The author also focuses on the controversies with a Supreme Court decision in June to disable a major provision of the federal Voting Rights Act that required some states and localities with a history of discrimination to obtain permission from the government before instituting any change in voting procedures.
Questions to Consider:
1. What did the U.S. Supreme Court rule in Shelby County v. Holder?
2. Should states make registration and voting easier?
Learning Objective: 11.4 Summarize the role of campaigns in elections;
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses the research on women legislators in the United States and how that research has made significant progress toward understanding how women legislators affect public policies. The author contributes to the research by examining legislative variations and how they affect policy making.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do parties matter?
2. How can leadership help women increase their institutional power?
3. What challenges for future research were identified by the author?
Learning Objective(s): 12.3 Discuss the revival of partisanship over the last two decades and how modern parties are structured; 12.4 Assess modern parties’ influence and effectiveness as a vehicle for politicians and voters to act collectively within the established institutional framework
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In this article, the author discusses the effects of celebrity support for political parties in the U.S. Using results from a pretest-posttest control group experiment, the author finds that celebrity political activity is more likely to influence citizens views of political parties than it is to affect either citizens’ vote choices or views of individual candidates.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do you believe celebrities matter? Are celebrity endorsements significant for candidates?
2. Identify the author’s hypotheses. What methodology is used to test these hypotheses?
3. How does meaning transfer theory affect party identification?
Learning Objective(s): 12.3 Discuss the revival of partisanship over the last two decades and how modern parties are structured; 12.4 Assess modern parties’ influence and effectiveness as a vehicle for politicians and voters to act collectively within the established institutional framework
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This article discusses political parties and their use of platforms to make symbolic statements. In using data from the American Presidency Project and the American Reference Library the authors were able to conduct an analysis of part platforms as they relate to criminal justice issues.
Questions to Consider:
1. What are symbolic policies? Identify their functions.
2. How is symbolic language used by parties and their platforms?
3. How much influence can political parties have on issues such as crime?
Learning Objective(s): 12.1 Describe the origins of political parties and their basic features; 12.2 Summarize the development and the evolution of the party systems
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CQ Researcher
McCutcheon, C. (October 2014). Future of the GOP. CQ Researcher 24(38). 889-912.
This article discusses the future of the Republican Party. Political observers say the GOP should be concerned about the longer term, developing policies that can entice greater numbers of women, minorities and young people. Nonpartisan scholars say Republicans must shed the identity they have acquired as the uncompromising and confrontational “party of no.” The 2016 contest for the White House is seen as critical in determining whether Republicans can assemble a diverse coalition beyond their traditional base of older whites.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do you believe the Republican Party will be able to assemble the diverse coalition that they need to win the 2016 election?
2. How will the rise of minorities hurt Republicans?
Learning Objective(s): 12.4 Assess modern parties’ influence and effectiveness as a vehicle for politicians and voters to act collectively within the established institutional framework
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses the lobbying tactics utilized by interest groups. The author attempts to explain variations in interest group behavior at the policy level and finds that measures of legislative context are important components of models of direct and indirect lobbying.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is the author’s primary hypothesis?
2. Identify the four categories of legislative context. How do they relate to interest group strategy selection?
3. Which factors contribute to the interest groups decision about how to lobby?
Learning Objective: 13.4 Distinguish between different types of interest group activities
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This article examines how state house can overcome entrenched interests to pass more restrictive legislative lobbying laws. The author presents a model that explains that under normal political conditions, legislatures face strong pressures from organized interests to resist tougher regulation. The findings show that the prospects for reform are tempered by the power of organized interests.
Questions to Consider:
1. How do states regulate interests and lobbying?
2. Identify the different typologies of political culture as stated by Elazar. Do interests groups use political culture to their advantage?
3. How does the professionalism of the legislature allow for greater control over the policy process? How do the judiciary and executive branches differ?
Learning Objective: 13.5 Debate the role of interest groups in American politics
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This article discusses how interest groups decide policy positions through case studies of organizations shifting stances on the issue of immigration. The three case studies are: AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club, and the Christian Coalition. The author finds that in all three cases, from across the political spectrum, the groups changed their policy stances and struggled with the notions of race and organizational identity.
Questions to Consider:
1. What tools are used by leader to craft new narratives about what the group stands for?
2. What is the two-way relationship between groups and constituents?
Learning Objective: 13.1 Define lobbying and its role in the political process
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CQ Researcher
Logic7eCh13-regulatinglobbying.pdf
McCutcheon, C. (June 2014). Regulating Lobbying. CQ Researcher, 24(21). 481-504.
This article discusses lobbying and its transformation. Federal government lobbyists today face multiple challenges: a gridlocked Congress, an end to special-interest funding provisions known as earmarks that once created big business for lobbyists and an Obama administration that has taken steps to curtail their access and influence. Meanwhile, lobbyists are forming closer alliances with public relations firms and other entities while trying to better explain the breadth of their services.
Questions to Consider:
1. What does a lobbyist have to do to be effective today?
2. Does lobbying produce results?
Learning Objective: 13.3 Explain why contemporary interest groups have proliferated
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses labeling in major U.S. newspapers. The authors test the hypothesis that major newspaper sources disproportionately label conservative politicians. The authors find that disproportionate labeling does exists but not in a way that it can constitute as bias constitutes.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is ideologically biased reporting and how can it affect elections and campaigns?
2. How does the media play a role in how citizens understand politics?
3. What were the authors’ recommendations for future research?
Learning Objective(s): 14.1 Summarize the development of the news business and technology; 14.6 Contrast historical and contemporary politician-press relations
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This article discusses the origins of the Bradley Effect within the 1982 gubernatorial election in California and its emergence as an explanation for Bradley’s unexpected loss. The author explores the validity of the effect in politics and how individuals, such as journalists focus on race.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is the Bradley Effect and how does it apply to the 2008 election?
2. What were the author’s findings in terms of the validity of the effect?
Learning Objective: 14.2 Discuss the ways in which news is a consumer product and how that influences the news
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This article discusses media coverage in campaigns and patterns of gendered reporting that have discouraged citizens from voting for female candidates. The authors examine the patterns in the media reporting of Sarah Palin, former candidate for the Vice President of the U.S. Their findings show that gendered reporting consequences are not uniform; they vary according to the issues or symbolic focus of the campaign.
Questions to Consider:
1. What were the effects of media coverage on Palin’s campaign?
2. Do you believe gendered reporting severely impacts a women candidates campaign?
3. What do the authors suggest for future research? Did their study to the field of media and politics?
Learning Objective: 14.5 Describe the relationship between politicians and reporters
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CQ Researcher
Kiener, R. (May 2013). Media Bias. CQ Researcher, 23(17). 401-424.
An unprecedented number of Americans view the news media as biased and untrustworthy, with both conservatives and liberals complaining that coverage of political races and important public policy issues is often skewed. Polls show that 80 percent of Americans believe news stories are often influenced by the powerful, and nearly as many say the media tend to favor one side of issues over another. Experts question the future of U.S. democracy if American voters cannot agree on what constitutes truth.
Questions to Consider:
1. What is media bias? Give some examples.
2. Do you believe that journalists should be more objective? Why or why not
Learning Objective(s): 14.1 Summarize the development of the news business and technology; 14.4 Identify the ways in which news is a product of politics.
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SAGE Journal Articles
This article discusses the employment growth and employment stability effects of the Clear Air Act regulations and whether the implementation of the regulations weakens local economies.
Questions to Consider:
1. What are the provisions of the Clean Air Act and when was this legislation passed?
2. What did the authors find in terms of the effect of the Clear Air Act regulations on local economies?
Learning Objective(s): 15.3 Identify the political costs and benefits of teetering on a fiscal cliff
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This article discusses the declining eligibility for social security and widow benefits in the U.S. by tracing trends in marriage for women in five cohorts and predicting marital patters for the last three cohorts. The authors find that eligibility of the women is disproportionate. Women of African American descent are more likely to be ineligible for the benefits.
Questions to Consider:
1. How does social security work and how does it improve the American citizens lives at the age of retirement?
2. What policy changes need to be made so that benefits are distributed equally among women?
3. Are the benefits and policies responsive to women who get a divorce?
Learning Objective: 15.4 Relate the ways that entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security are subject to the prisoner’s dilemma
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This article discusses the effects of term limits on the states fiscal health. The author examines whether states with term limits encounter more fiscal problems than non-term-limited states. In using budget fata from 1983 to 2009 the author’s findings show that legislative turnover decreases budget balances.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do you believe that term limits are useful, or are they an impediment of states that have implement them into the structure of their state legislature?
2. How do term limits affect fiscal policy in states?
3. Are term-limited legislators less knowledge than their career counterparts?
Learning Objective: 15.3 Identify the political costs and benefits of teetering on a fiscal cliff
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CQ Researcher
Weeks, J. (September 2013). Future of the Arctic. CQ Researcher, 23(33). 789-812.
This article discusses the global interest in the Arctic and how it is rising as climate change causes Arctic sea ice to melt at record rates. Many observers say uncontrolled Arctic development could damage fragile ecosystems and communities already under serious pressure. Others say the United States is not paying enough attention to the Arctic and has not set detailed priorities for the region. Now critics want to bar such projects, but the energy industry and Alaska officials say Arctic oil and gas reserves can be tapped responsibly.
Questions to Consider:
1. Identify the three main priorities of President Obama’s national strategy.
2. Should the U.S. build an Artic deep-water port? Why or why not?
3. What are some of the outside interests identified in the article?
Learning Objective: 15.2 Explain how the tragedy of the commons complicates nations’ attempts to address climate change siness and technology; 14.4 Identify the ways in which news is a product of politics.