Course Schedule & Reading List
Week 1: August 28, September 4th – Introduction, Outline of Course Requirements: The Roots of the American Political System and the “First” Constitution
1) American Government, Chapter 1.1 – 1.2
2) Articles of Confederation
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/artconf.asp
3) Declaration of Independence
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/declare.asp
Monday, September 2: No Class; Wednesday, September 4, The Constitution: Its Support and its Opposition
1) American Government, Chapter 2
2) The Constitution of the United States and the First 12 Amendments: 1787-1804.
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch1s9.html
3) Madison, James, Federalist no. 51.
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed51.asp
4) The Ratification Debate: The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Arguments
https://judiciallearningcenter.org/the-ratification-debate/
Monday, September 9, The Constitution: Its Support and Opposition, cont’d.
1) American Government, Chapter 2
2) The Constitution of the United States and the First 12 Amendments: 1787-1804.
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch1s9.html
3) Madison, James, Federalist no. 51.
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed51.asp
4) The Ratification Debate: The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Arguments
https://judiciallearningcenter.org/the-ratification-debate/
Wednesday, September 11, and Monday, September 16 – Federalism
1) American Government, Chapter 3
2) Randy Barnett, Why Federalism Matters. Accessed 2020.
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/article-i/section/8712#why-federalism-matters
3) . Statement and Proclamation of Governor George C. Wallace, University of Alabama, June 11, 1963.
http://www.emersonkent.com/speeches/school_house_door_speech.htm
4) Conor Friedersdorf, The Superiority of a States’ Rights Approach to Marijuana – The Public Wants it, and the Tenth Amendment demands it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/the-superior-morality-of-a-states-rights-approach-to-marijuana/549707/
Week 4: Wednesday, September 18 and Monday, September 23rd – Civil Liberties
1) American Government, Chapter 4.
2) Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1941 State of The Union Address: The Four Freedoms (6 January 1941)
http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/fdr-the-four-freedoms-speech-text/
3) Excerpt from Justice Harry A. Blackmun, U.S. Supreme Court, Decision: Roe et.al. v. Wade, District Attorney of Dallas County 410 U.S. 113. Online:
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/113/case.html (Read Part I and skim Part II, then read IX thru XII)
4) Summary of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992)
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1991/91-744
5) Summary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)
https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/19-1392
Week 5: Wednesday September 25 and Monday, September 30 – Civil Rights
1) American Government, Chapter 5
2) Slave Petition to the Governor, Council, and House of Representatives of the Province of Massachusetts. May 25, 1774.
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch14s9.html
3) Justice John Marshall Harlan’s dissent, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5484/
4) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from a Birmingham Jail
https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
5) Lyndon B. Johnson, Howard University Commencement Address
https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/27-the-sixties/lyndon-johnson-howard-university-commencement-address-1965/
6) Malcolm X. 1964. The Ballot or the Bullet, Blackpast.org http://www.blackpast.org/1964-malcolm-x-ballot-or-bullet
[To listen to the audio of the speech go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRNciryImqg
Note: No Classes Scheduled Wednesday, October 2nd
Monday, October 7th – Midterm Review Session
Wednesday, October 9th Midterm Examination (during normal class time)
No Classes Scheduled Monday, October 14th
Tuesday, October 15 (Classes follow Monday schedule) – Review of Midterm
Wednesday, October 16th, Monday, October 21 and Wednesday, October 23 – Public Opinion/Political Participation
1) American Government, Chapter 6.
2) Pew Research Center, Partisanship by Race, Ethnicity, and Education
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/partisanship-by-race-ethnicity-and-education/
3) Center for American Women and Politics. 2024. “Gender Gap – Voting Choices in Presidential Elections”
https://cawp.rutgers.edu/gender-gap-voting-choices-presidential-elections
4)Lichtenberg, Nick, and Hoffower, Hillary (2020). A Book Published Nearly 25 Years Ago Predicted America Would Hit A Great Crisis Climaxing in 2020 – And That Up Next Is A Millennial vs. Boomer Standoff That Will Usher in A New World Order
https://www.businessinsider.com/protests-coronavirus-crisis-fourth-turning-theory-millennials-boomers-2020-6.
Monday, October 28th and Wednesday, October 30th – Political Participation
1) American Government, Chapter 1.3, Chapter 7
2) Kay Schlotzman, The Big Tilt,
https://prospect.org/power/big-tilt/
Robert Putnam, Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America, PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Dec., 1995), pp. 664- 683.
https://www.uvm.edu/~dguber/POLS293/articles/putnam1.pdf
Monday, November 4th and Wednesday, November 6th – Political Parties
1) American Government, Chapter 9
2) Pew Research Center: Political Polarization in the American Republic. 2014.
https://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/
3) Thomas Zittel: The Dark and Bright Sides of Party Polarization. 2018.
https://items.ssrc.org/democracy-papers/the-dark-and-bright-sides-of-party-polarization/
4) Geoffrey Skelley and Nathaniel Rakich: Why the President’s Party Almost Always Has a Bad Midterm. FiveThirtyEight. 2022.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-the-presidents-party-almost-always-has-a-bad-midterm/
*Elections will be held on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5th.
If you are registered to vote, find your polling place at: https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/.
Monday, November 11th and Wednesday, November 13th – Media
1) American Government, Chapter 8
2) Cullen Murphy, The Press at War: From Vietnam to Iraq (2018)
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/iraq-war-anniversary/555989/
3) Jim Rutenburg, A Nation at War: The News Media. (2003)
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/15/us/a-nation-at-war-the-news-media-cnn-s-silence-about-torture-is-criticized.html
Monday November 18th and Wednesday November 20th – Interest Groups and Lobbying
1) American Government, Chapter 10
2) Lobbying is an Essential Part of the Democratic Process
https://lobbyit.com/lobbying-essential-part-democratic-process/
3) George Rennie, The Revolving Door: “Why Politicians Become Lobbyists, and Lobbyists Become Politicians. 2016.
http://theconversation.com/the-revolving-door-why-politicians-become-lobbyists-and-lobbyists-become-politicians-64237
4) Madison, Federalist #10
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed10.asp
5) For fun/class discussion: “Where do You Fit in the Political Typology?” Take the Pew Center Quiz at: http://www.people-press.org/quiz/political-typology/
Monday November 25th and Wednesday 27th – Congress
1) American Government, Chapter 11
2) James E. Campbell, American Democracy Should Represent Only Its Citizens. 2019.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/american-democracy-should-represent-only-american-citizens-period-2019-07-23
3) Pew Research Center, Partisan Conflict and Congressional Outreach. 2017.
https://www.people-press.org/2017/02/23/partisan-conflict-and-congressional-outreach/
Monday, December 2nd and Wednesday, December 4th – The Presidency/the Courts
1) American Government, Chapter 12
2) Lincoln, Letter to Albert Hodges
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/hodges.htm
3) Hamilton, Federalist #69 and #70
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed69.asp
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed70.asp
4) Transcript of David Frost’s Interview with Richard Nixon
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/transcript-of-david-frosts-interview-with-richard-nixon/
Monday, December 9th: The Courts
1) American Government, Chapter 13
2) Hamilton, Federalist 78 & 79
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed78.asp
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed79.asp
3) Adam Liptak, “The Polarized Court”
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/upshot/the-polarized-court.html
Note: Audio recordings of Supreme Court oral arguments can be found at: https://www.oyez.org/
Wednesday, December 11th – Final Exam Review Session
Final Examination Wednesday, December 18th (10:30 – 12:30 in our classroom)
*The overwhelming majority of this syllabus has been created by Maxwell James Fuerderer, PhD student of Political Science at the Graduate Center and Adjunct Lecturer at Queens College. May thanks go out to Max!
