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This is senior seminar on state politics with a special emphasis on the
character and role of the state legislatures. The seminar is organized to
achieve five objectives. The first is for us to learn about politics in the
states and their legislatures and how this influences state public
policy. We will approach this by paying particular attention to the
connections between elections, the institutional rules of the state
legislatures, and how legislative power is exercised in the context of other
influences like interest groups and the governor. The second objective is to learn and to practice some new research
skills. Seminar participants will do original research, examining one state quite
closely through the written assignments. In these assignments each seminar
member will draw on a wide variety of research materials and
approaches. The best papers do not just repeat others’ statements
about state politics, but develop from a serious emersion in original
evidence. The third objective is to develop writing skills so that members are comfortable and competent in expressing both facts and arguments in a readable, professional and convincing way. Even if you never pay attention to state politics after this class, you will inevitably be called upon to write reports that clearly convey important information and which makes recommendations or draw conclusions based on evidence and which are persuasive to audience of the report. The fourth objective is to develop and practice effective oral
communication skills. This involves active listening and participation in
class discussions. It is vital to the success of the seminar that members
share their ideas and viewpoints, and to be willing to go out on a limb to
defend their ideas. Out of our various perspectives and viewpoints should
develop a richer and deeper understanding of the state politics. Finally, I hope that by the end of the seminar participants will not
only develop their knowledge and skills, but that each of you comes to a
deeper appreciation of your major of political science as a discipline. It is
not just a lot of facts about politics; rather political science as a
discipline is a collective, evolving, cumulative, but not very organized,
quest for a better, sounder, and more insightful understanding of political
life. Format The class is a seminar which means the format is different from
standard lecture/discussion undergraduate classes. Your active participation
in the seminar is crucial. I will lecture only occasionally; the major dynamic
for discussion is generated by your reactions and thinking about the
material. Toward this end, there will be a "reaction statement" due
each class period. Our readings are a mix of writings by political
scientists, journalists, and politicians writing. We will make ample use of
the wealth of information the states provide about themselves
on the Web. There are four class requirements: 1. The reading for each class. Read the material, and just as
importantly, think about it. The quality of our
discussions will be only as good as the effort that members put in before
class. Class participation is an important component of the grade to reflect
its importance to the success of the seminar. 2. To reinforce and facilitate lively and considered class discussion
each student will submit a "reaction statement" concerning the
readings at the beginning of each class period. The reaction statement is
your assessment of (1) the important question or questions raised by the
readings, together with (2) a short summary paragraph of how you might
address this question. They should be no more than a couple of paragraphs. Reaction statements are not due from
seminar members presenting a report for that week (see the next assignment
type). Note: reaction papers are to be submitted to Prof Wright via
email by 3. Reports: Each seminar member will deliver an oral book review during
the course of the semester. The objectives here are to (1) describe the book
in understandable terms, (2) relate the basic approach and theme as the
author presents them, (3) evaluate the book in terms
of its bias, readability, audience, and contribution to what we know about
the state politics and legislatures. Where relevant, please address
how the book adds to or informs the topic of the week. (4) Are there
important methodological or theoretical issues that limit the validity of the
arguments or the findings? This report will form the basis for one of the
written assignments. The oral presentation is important. You will have
ten minutes for the basic presentation. Practice beforehand to make sure you
can say what you want in this amount of time. There will be more time for
questions. 4. Papers: These satisfy the Assignment 1.
A State Political Profile. This will provide a readable, hopefully even
entertaining, portrait of your state. What is distinctive about the politics
of your state? What can you say about its political culture? How it differs
from the rest of the nation? What are the enduring political cleavages or
issues in state politics? In short,
what are politics like there? Assignment
2. Legislative Life in the State. Here you will describe the nature of the
legislature and power relations within it.
How is the legislature
organized? What kinds of backgrounds do
the members have and what kinds of legislative resources do members have to
do their jobs? Who are the legislative
leaders and what kinds of power to they appear to yield? How important are proceedings on the floor?
Does roll call voting reflect the real power struggles within the
legislature? What are the relationships of the legislature within
itself (upper and lower houses), and with the governor and interest groups? Assignment 3
is a review of the politics of representation in your state. Assignment4.
A critical book review. Each member will select one book the book review listing.
The book review should be written for members of the class as the audience.
It needs to tell the reader what is in the book, what the author tries to
accomplish and how successful he or she is in that effort, and how the book
related to the major themes of the class. Here it is important to compare the
relevant elements of the book to the readings and, if appropriate, to your
personal state research. Assignment 1 September 16 Assignment 2 October 28 Assignment 3 November 14 Assignment 4 December 5 Writing quality is important and will count in the grades given to the
papers handed in. Please allow adequate time to do a good job. This means not
handing in your first draft. Organizational problems, grammatical mistakes,
and spelling errors should be caught in your editing and revising of the
first draft before I ever see it. Then we can work on the finer and
more interesting points of presentation, emphasis, and argument development. Communications I will be around during my office hours,
and in Woodburn before class. Generally a good way to get in touch is with
e-mail. I check my e-mail most mornings and evenings so you can be
pretty well assured of a reasonably quick response. E-mail is effective for
seminars and we will use it regularly this semester. Please send a message to
me (wright1@indiana.edu) identifying yourself as a member of the seminar this
week. I will make up a mailing list from this and use it for announcements or
changes in class plans. There will be just one exam, a comprehensive final. It will be essay examination, asking you to construct a broad argument drawing explicitly and extensively on the class readings. Study questions will be distributed the last day of class. Grades will be calculated using the following weights: 30% Class participation and oral book reports. The following have been ordered for this class:
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