Spring 1999 Office: Room 1723 HW

Monday, 10:00-12:00 Phone: 772-5507 (direct)

Room 1731 HW 772-5500

Office Hours: M, 2:45-4:00 PM e-mail: apolsky@shiva.

Th, 11:00-12:00 hunter.cuny.edu
 

Course Description
 

We have all heard the expression, "There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come." On first reading, this appears to be a bold claim about the power of ideas - they can sweep away all the obstacles to change that usually characterize politics. A second, closer look suggests, however, that the expression is in fact more conditional. A timely idea will have a profound impact, yes, but the crucial issue is what conditions must exist for that idea to demonstrate its potential. From this perspective, the larger analytical task involves identifying the enabling social, political, and institutional conditions that pave the way for ideas. Further, the expression seems to give ideas an independent existence, as though they were immune to the efforts of political actors to frame, alter, and manipulate the meaning of words.
 

In this seminar we will examine the place of ideas in American politics. We will look at ideas as independent variables that have shaped politics and policies, as outcomes that reflect the struggles of political actors, and as resultants that take on a life of their own and influence subsequent events. Evaluating the role of ideas raises difficult questions of how to measure and weigh the influence of ideas upon practices and practices upon ideas. You can expect to wrestle with these questions throughout the course.
 

We begin the semester with ideas in the largest sense - the broad political principles that help define the nature of American politics and life. Scholars have long debated the nature of American political culture. We will examine one classic statement on that theme and several recent attempts to reinterpret American political culture and to examine its consequences for the development of American politics. We will then turn to ideas on smaller scale, to the impact of specific discourses on the emergence of various sectors of the modern state and to how institutions in turn have shaped the terms of political debate. Finally, we will look at the striking increase in the visibility and prestige of policy experts in contemporary American politics.
 

Course Requirements
 

1) Complete assigned reading before class meetings. (See attached schedule.) I expect to call on students to summarize arguments presented in readings and to identify key issues for discussion; usually I will tell students during the previous session which portion of the reading they will be asked to summarize.
 

2) Attend class regularly and on time. A weekly seminar has relatively few meetings and requires the active participation of all students. Absence is accordingly a serious matter. If you miss more than one session without a valid, documented reason, your grade for the course will be reduced by one-third of a letter grade. Also, lateness tends to be very disruptive to the flow of a discussion. No student shall be permitted to enter the classroom more than two minutes late (unless the Hunter elevator system collapses, as is so often the case). Lateness will be treated as an unexcused absence.
 

3) Participate in class discussion. Your grade will reflect your contribution to class meetings.
 

4) Complete all written assignments. Written work for the course consists of two take-home essay exams and one major research paper of 20-25 pages.
 

The exams will involve the analytical discussion of assigned readings. You will receive the questions in advance.
 

The research paper will give you the opportunity to expand upon the topics we have discussed in class -- to explore the role of ideas in areas of American politics that we will not have the chance to cover, to look at the impact of other ideas besides those examined in readings, or to review critically a number of books not included in the syllabus that touch upon the political impact of ideas. A hand-out will be distributed early in the semester on the paper assignment. Although the paper itself will be due late in the term, you will have to meet various deadlines before then for a bibliography and an outline. (The paper grade will be penalized if you fail to meet these deadlines.) I will schedule an individual conference with every student on the paper before the middle of the semester. Students will be given the opportunity to revise the paper to earn another written grade. Details on this will follow.
 

Grading
 

The calculation of the written component of the grade will be based on the following percentages:
 

Mid-term 25%

Final exam 25%

Research paper 50%
 

In addition, should you choose to rewrite your paper, the new grade will be computed into your course average with the same weight as the first version; each paper then counts for one-third of your written grade, while each exam counts for one-sixth. Any missing exam or paper counts as an "F."
 

Class participation then will be incorporated into the grade decision and may raise or lower the final course grade by as much as one-third of a letter grade. Excessive absence (see above) may further lower the final grade by one-third of a letter grade.
 

I expect you to complete written assignments on time. If you miss an exam due date, you will be permitted to turn in the test only when you have a valid excuse supported by written documentation. Late papers, without a documented, valid excuse, will be penalized through grade deductions. Incompletes will be granted only with a documented excuse and only for a limited time (usually no longer than the time you were incapacitated), the duration to be set at the time the incomplete is approved. No extra credit assignments, other than the paper rewrite, will be accepted.
 

Note on credit/no credit grading: Hunter College rules specify that credit/no credit grading may be selected only when a student has completed all course requirements. In order to be eligible for the CR/NC grading option in this course, you must have taken the mid-term exam, met the preliminary paper requirements, submitted the paper by the specified due date, and met the requirement for attendance with no penalty (see above).
 

Books
 

This course relies upon books and a number of articles that have been placed on reserve. The following titles have been ordered for purchase at the Hunter College bookstore:
 

Louis Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America (1955; reprint ed., San Diego: Harvest/HBJ, 1991).

Jim Morone, The Democratic Wish: Popular Participation and the Limits of American Government, rev. ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998).

Andrew J. Polsky, The Rise of the Therapeutic State (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991, 1993).

David M. Ricci, The Transformation of American Politics: The New Washington and the Rise of Think Tanks (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).

Margaret Weir, Politics and Jobs: The Boundaries of Employment Policy in the United States (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992, 1993).
 

The reserve readings total roughly 300 pages. You may find it best to photocopy the entire set early in the semester. If you discover that pages are missing from reserve readings, ask for another copy at the reserve desk and then inform me.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Schedule of Class Assignments
 

The dates below are only approximate. As this schedule is subject to revision, students are responsible for keeping up with any announced changes, including changes in deadlines and due dates. If you miss a class, e-mail me to confirm the next assignment.
 

February 1st. Introduction and Overview

No reading assignment.
 

February 8th. Liberalism: Political Culture or Elite Belief System?

Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America, Parts 1-4.
 

February 22nd. Liberalism as a Way of Life

Hartz, Parts 5-6.

David Greenstone, "Political Culture and American Political Development: Liberty, Union, and the Liberal Bipolarity," Studies in American Political Development 1 (1986): 1-49. [On reserve]
 

March 1st. Multiple Traditions and the Darker Side of American Idea Systems. (one-half session)

Rogers M. Smith, "Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in America," American Political Science Review 87 (3) (September 1993): 549-66. [On reserve]

Karen Orren, "Structure, Sequence, and Subordination in American Political Culture: What's Tradition Got to Do with It?," Rogers M. Smith, "Response to Karen Orren," and Karen Orren, "Reply to Rogers M. Smith," Journal of Policy History 8 (4) (1996): 470-94. [On reserve]
 

March 1st. The Consequences of Democratic Ideals. (one-half session)

Morone, Democratic Wish, Introduction and chaps. 1-2.
 

March 8th. The Consequences of Democratic Ideals. (continued)

Morone, Democratic Wish, chaps. 3, 4, 6, and 8.
 

March 15th. Partisanship, Consistent Principles, and Idea Shifts.

John Gerring, "A Chapter in the History of American Party Ideology: The Nineteenth-Century Democratic Party (1828-1892)," Polity 26 (4) (Summer 1994): 729-68. [On reserve]

John Gerring, "Continuities of Democratic Ideology in the 1996 Campaign," Polity 30 (1) Fall 1997): 167-86. [On reserve]

Eldon J. Eisenach, "Reconstituting the Study of American Political Thought in a Regime-Change Perspective," Studies in American Political Development 4 (1990): 169-228. [On reserve]
 
 

March 22nd. Ideas Writ Small: The Discourse and Practice of the Helping State.

Polsky, Rise of the Therapeutic State, chaps. 1-5.
 

March 29th. Institutions and the Persistence of Ideas.

Polsky, Rise of the Therapeutic State, chaps. 6-9 and Conclusion.
 

[Spring Recess]
 

April 12th. Ideas and Problem Definition.

Weir, Politics and Jobs, chaps. 1-4.
 

April 19th. State Capacity, Path Dependence, and the Limits of the Possible. (one-half session)

Weir, Politics and Jobs, chaps. 5-6.
 

April 19th. Specifying the Short-Run Impact of Ideas. (one-half session)

M. Stephen Weatherford with Thomas B. Mayhew, "Tax Policy and Presidential Leadership: Ideas, Interests, and the Quality of Advice," Studies in American Political Development 9 (2) (Fall 1995): 287-330. [On reserve]
 

April 26th. The Emergence of the Policy Expert.

Ricci, Transformation of American Politics, chaps. 1-5.
 

May 3rd. Expertise for Sale? Think Tanks and the Politics of Ideas.

Ricci, Transformation of American Politics, chaps. 6-9.
 

May 10th. Embedded Ideas and Policy Conflict. (one-half session)

Christopher McGrory Klyza, "Ideas, Institutions, and Policy Patterns: Hardrock Mining, Forestry, and Grazing Policy on United States Public Lands, 1870-1985," Studies in American Political Development 8 (Fall 1994): 341-74. [On reserve]
 

May 10th. Comparing the Influence of Ideas Across Political Systems. (one-half session)

W. Lance Bennett and Erik Åsard, "The Marketplace of Ideas: The Rhetoric and Politics of Tax Reform in Sweden and the United States," Polity 28 (1) (Fall 1995): 1-23. [On reserve]
 

May 17th. Conclusion: How, When, and Why Ideas Matter.

Albert S. Yee, "The Causal Effects of Ideas on Policies," International Organization 50 (1) (Winter 1996) 69-108. [On reserve]
 

May 24th. Take-Home Final Exam Due.