INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Office: Miller Library 256
E-mail: gcmacken@colby.edu
Phone ext.: 3272
Office hours: I am generally in my office all day on Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. I will do my best to be there for certain
on:
Monday: 10:00 - 12:45
Tuesday: 1:00 - 3:00
Wednesday: 10:00 - 12:45
If you need to communicate with me at times other than these, please call or send an e-mail. Alternative office hours can also be arranged.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The objective of this course is to explain the operations and assess the effectiveness of the contemporary Congress. To understand this institution, one must first examine its long history. Then it is necessary to study the members of Congress: the manner of their selection, their personal characteristics, their incentives and objectives, and the way they make decisions. One must also come to know the way the Congress is organized: the structure of its leadership, the operation of its committees, and the individual and collective performance of its principal functions of legislation, representation, and oversight. These are the topics to which we devote most emphasis in this course.
We will concern ourselves with some broader questions as well. Is the organization of the Congress adequate to the task of making important policy decisions in a complex society? Does the Congress continue to serve as the "people's branch" or has it become infected with the undue influence of special interests? Has the Congress become too resistant to leadership, from the president or from its own chosen leaders? Is the congressional capacity for rational decision and action adequate to the needs and demands of a diverse, complex, and increasingly technological society? Those and other questions frame our agenda in this course.
The course will meet twice a week. At most meetings, a lecture will be presented on the topics indicated below. These lectures are intended to stimulate questions and discussion which will be welcome at any time. Class meetings devoted solely to discussion are scheduled throughout the course. These will focus especially on the listed readings which pertain to the topics covered in the preceding class meetings. Participation in course discussions is a very important part of this course and will be considered accordingly in final course grades.
Members of the course are encouraged to communicate with each other and with the instructor by e-mail. This is especially appropriate for clarification of material covered in lectures or readings, for continuation of class discussions, for volunteering insights or uncertainties about course topics or relevant current events.
READINGS
The following books have been ordered for the course and are available at the College Bookstore.
Christopher J. Deering and Steven S. Smith, Committees in Congress (CQ Press, 3d ed., 1997)
Robert E, Dewhirst, Rites of Passage: Congress Makes Laws (Prentice Hall, 1997)
Lawrence C. Dodd and Bruce Oppenheimer, eds., Congress Reconsidered (CQ Books, 6th ed., 1999)
Paul Herrnson, Congressional Elections (CQ Press, 3d ed., 2000)
Ornstein, Mann, and Malbin, Vital Statistics on Congress, 1997-98 (CQ Press, 1997)
Barbara Sinclair, Unorthodox Lawmaking: New Legislative Processes in the U.S. Congress (CQ Press, 2d ed., 2000)
New York Times and Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. You should keep fully abreast of developments and issues in Congress during the semester by reading the Times every day and CQWR every week.
CLASS POLICIES
1. Except in the most unusual circumstances, work submitted by students will be evaluated and returned at the following class.
2. All work in this course is due at the beginning of class on the date on which it is assigned. Work received after the assigned due date will be penalized at the rate of one-half letter grade per day. There will be no extensions of this deadline nor alterations of the penalty for late submission.
3. Everyone is expected to attend every class. Your participation in class is valued, and the quality of your participation will be a component of your grade for the course. Absence will lower that grade. Anyone who misses 3 class meetings risks being dropped from the course.
4. Successful completion of the course requires the submission of all written assignments and proper attention to attendance expectations.
5. Each class will begin promptly at the scheduled time. You should be in your seat and ready to begin at that time. Respect should be paid to anyone who is speaking to the class, whether student or instructor.
6. No audio, video, or photographs of the class may be recorded without the explicit consent of the instructor.
7. All college rules regarding originality of student work and plagiarism apply in this class and will be vigorously enforced.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION
Mid-Term Exam: 20%
Analytical Exercise # 1: 20%
Analytical Exercise # 2: 25%
Discussion Participation: 10%
Final Exam: 25%
COURSE SCHEDULE
6 Introduction to the Course
11 The Purpose of the Legislature: Constitutional Intent
13 Studying Congress: Resources
18 The Congress in the 19th Century
20 The Congress: 1900 - 1970
25 The Reformed Congress: 1970 - Present
27 Discussion
D and O, 1-80
D and S, 25-57
Fred R. Harris, "The Evolution of the United States Senate," 11-30 (Reserve)
Ross K. Baker, "Two Sides of the Capital," 27-52 (Reserve)
Roger Davidson, The Emergence of the Postreform Congress," 3-23 (Reserve)
2 Members: Congressional Elections
4 Members at Work: Washington Operations
9 Members at Work: Homestyle and Constituency Representation
11 Congressional Parties: The House
[Analytical Exercise # 1 Due]
16 NO CLASS: FALL BREAK
18 Congressional Parties: The Senate
23 Discussion
D and O, 81-162
Herrnson, entire.
Ornstein, Mann, and Malbin, peruse 1-114
25 MID-TERM EXAM
30 Congressional Committees (1)
1 Congressional Committees (2)
6 Discussion
D and O, 163-273
D and S, 1-24, 58-236
Sinclair, entire
Ornstein, Mann, and Malbin, peruse 115-172
8 Discussion: The Election of 2000
13 Legislating: Rules and Procedures
15 Congress and the Budget (1)
20 Congress and the Budget (2)
[Analytical Exercise # 2 Due]
22 NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING
27 Congress and President
29 Oversight
4 Discussion
D and O, 293-413
Dewhirst, entire
Ornstein, Mann, and Malbin, peruse 173-197
6 Conclusions
THE ANALYTICAL EXERCISES
Objective: This exercise is designed to introduce you to the use of quantitative data as a means of testing hypotheses systematically in analyzing Congress.
Character of the Exercise: Listed below are several propositions or hypotheses about the Congress. These are not necessarily true or accurate statements. You should select one of these as the topic of your paper. You should then proceed in the following way.
First, refine the hypothesis, if you find it necessary to do so, in order to structure the gathering and analysis of data.
Second, conduct a literature search to determine what other studies, if any, may have been done to test this or similar hypotheses. You may turn up nothing helpful in this literature search, but it is always prudent to see what others have done before setting out on a research project.
Third, specify your units of analysis. On which defined subjects (for example, members of the House, senators, bills, House subcommittees. etc.) are you going to focus? What time period will you examine? Be sure to justify your choice of units of analysis. Explain why these units of analysis are appropriate for testing your hypothesis?
Fourth, gather the data. In doing this, you should consult the literature you initially reviewed (if you find relevant literature, where did its authors get their data?), the course instructor, and the Colby reference librarians.
Fifth, explore the data to determine whether or not it verifies your hypothesis. If you think it does, explain why. If you think it doesn't, explain why. If the data seem mixed, explain that.
Sixth, consult--if you have not already done so--with the course instructor.
Seventh, write a 6-8 page paper in which you describe your efforts to test the hypothesis you selected and explain your findings. The 6-8 pages need not include your tables and charts, which can be in an appendix. Your paper must include some tables and charts, prepared by you from data you gathered for this project. The paper should also include a bibliography and relevant citations. Write it carefully and literately. Take special care to make your data presentations as clear and persuasive as you can.
Suggestions:
(1) Do not hesitate to consult with the instructor in your work on this project.
(2) If you have not already done so, you will find it helpful to familiarize yourself with Microsoft Excel, an excellent spreadsheet and charting program that will facilitate your management of data. (Knowledge of spreadsheets is also a highly valuable career skill). There will be a special introduction to Excel for members of this class.
(3) Seek the help of the Colby reference librarians. They are wonderful and talented people, and a project like this is just their cup of tea.
Analytical Exercise Number 1
Propositions:
1. Because the country's mood swung to the right in the 1990s, liberal House incumbents had closer re-election outcomes than conservatives.
2. Because they are more vulnerable, incumbents completing their first term in the House or Senate spend more, on average, in their re-election campaigns than incumbents who have already successfully defended their seat at least once.
3. The more conservative a member of Congress, the larger the portion of his or her re-election spending that comes from business PACs.
4. Presidential coat-tails have been getting shorter in the elections since World War II.
5. The safest seats in Congress are those held by committee chairs.
6. In the years since the end of World War II, urban districts have grown in number and rural districts have shrunk in number.
7. Because political parties no longer control access to nominations, there is more competition for congressional seats now than at any time since World War II.
8. Republican or Democratic Party candidates in congressional general elections who are female are less likely to win than male candidates.
Analytical Exercise Number 2
Propositions:
1. Members of the President's party in the House are more likely to support his legislative initiatives if the President received more than 50% of the popular vote in their districts.
2. In floor votes, subcommittee chairs vote with their party leaders more often than members who are not subcommittee chairs.
3. On Congressional Quarterly Key Votes that occur in both House and Senate (not all occur in both houses), senators and representatives from each state vote the same way much more often than not.
4. Members of Congress get to be party leaders because in their legislative votes they come from the mainstream of their parties.
5. The Senate was much more likely to have a recorded vote on the confirmation of presidential appointments in the years from 1981-2000 than in the years from 1961-1980. In the latter period more appointments failed to be confirmed in Senate floor votes than in the earlier period.
6. Minority party unity in the Senate is higher than majority party unity, regardless of which party holds the majority.
7. There is a presidential honeymoon, and it is caused primarily by higher support for the president from the opposition party during the first year of the president's term.
8. Senior members of the House are more likely to vote with their party leaders than junior members.
9. The differences between the House and Senate in representational base and apportionment produce different institutional positions on (choose one of the following):
a. the federal budget
b. foreign policy
c. agricultural policy
d. gun control issues
e. another issue area you propose