Political Science 100: Foundations of US Politics

Prof. Patrick Schmidt [email protected]

Spring 2025, TTh 1:20 – 2:50 p.m., CARN 206 Office hours: Tuesday and
Office: Carnegie Hall 207-C Thurs., 9:00 to 10:30 a.m., with much flexibility
Tel: 651.605.1319 (cell) for zoom meetings in late afternoon and evenings.

Course Description:

An introductory course in U.S. Politics—“POLI 100” no less—strikes me as a bit arrogant. At

many of the best universities around the world, there is only “comparative politics”—the study of national
political systems—using individual countries as case studies of wider political questions. Why should we
study the United States as the sole topic, without regard to how it compares to other countries? In this
course, I try never to forget what takeaway lessons will matter in the long-run, and those are not
necessarily specific to U.S. Politics.
Students bring many objectives to a course such as this. Some of you, already conversant in the
people and issues of American politics, are seeking the terminology and concepts that will structure those
views and launch them to further study in political science. Other students will want to acquire both the
“basic facts” and conceptual framework simultaneously. American and international students may have
different needs in this respect, though make no presumptions: international students are frequently better
positioned by background and approach to undertake this course. Some students take a course such as this
to fulfil a “general education” requirement in their undergraduate curriculum. Many of you may simply be
exploring, unsure of major or vocation, waiting to find inspiration or curious about politics. All of these
are acceptable, though the many goals of students in a course likes this make it difficult for any instructor
to satisfy everyone. I will try.
One of the ways that this course attempts to finesse this problem is to offer the “foundations” of
American politics—and political science—rather than an “introduction” to American government. An
introduction would imply a basic survey, while “foundations” implies the building blocks of
understanding, upon which you will learn more throughout your lives.
A second feature of how I believe we should talk about the U.S. is the aim of talking about and
considering the politics of other countries. That offers new and challenging angles for everyone, no matter
what your level of familiarity with American government. If you know a lot already about American
politics, I challenge you to learn more about other systems and to understand how the United States
compares and contrasts with those systems. If you have lived in a country other than the United States, I
want your perspective to benefit everyone. Hopefully this course will reach everyone, no matter their
background or ambitions in taking this course.
What is it, at heart, that I want for you to gain from our time together? One, I want you to grow
political antennae, sensors that give you greater critical distance from every statistic, idea, and argument
that you hear uttered in the public sphere. No authority, no voice, no argument is beyond a critical
response, and many may deserve skeptical and even cynical reactions. By spending time immersed in
political terminology, concepts, and theories, you should be better able to take the posture of one who
lives within a society and yet critically distant from it. Act boldly, but be a thinker in a world of action.
Second, I want to share wonderment and the complexity and inherent problems of politics in a country of
335 million people (in world of eight billion people). Part of the wonderment stems from the appreciation
that humankind has displayed both remarkable capacity for cruelty and also a remarkable endurance and
perseverance. Just as the astronomer wonders at the power of gravitational physics, or as the English
professor sits in awe of the power of language, the political scientist cannot help but be amazed at the
ways that humans, pursuing the shared ambition of living together in this planet, combine and conspire to
organize themselves (both for good and ill). Join with me in appreciation.

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Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, you should be able to demonstrate that you:

1. Understand a set of key political science concepts and can explain the implications of these when applied
to American politics;
2. Possess a broad and conversational understanding of key ideas, issues, and problems particular to
American politics or as understood in the United States, especially as they contrast to other political
systems;
3. Are able to advance a sustained critical reflection or a synthetic affirmative argument in the subject matter
of politics;

Also, an unassessed objective of this course is that you leave with an appreciation for the complexity,
elegance, and significance of politics as viewed in the American context.

Readings:

You will find all of the course readings on Moodle, either directly (as PDFs) or linked to other locations.
Moodle also provides a forum in which we can highlight items of contemporary interest. It is your
responsibility to be aware of those discussions and to participate appropriately. We will read one book in
its entirety (during the last weeks of the course) and if you wish to have it in paper copy, you can secure a
copy on your own: Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt, The Tyranny of the Minority (2023).

It may come as no surprise to you that we will talk about current events on a regular basis. People get
their news in many places; everyone should commit themselves to reading from sources that challenge
their instinctive beliefs.

Course Requirements:

The course components and their weights are as follows:

Final Essay 70 points

Engagement Portfolio 130 points

Engagement Portfolio: An important component of taking this course, and especially at a college in a
major metropolitan area—one well-regarded for its political engagement and civic culture—is the
opportunity for you to develop your understanding of politics. Early in the semester you will develop a
plan for your semester, and then execute it. You will have much flexibility to tailor your work to your
interests. An essential component of the portfolio will be reflection writing.

Deadlines and Deductions:

In order to facilitate your work, your coursework has a few consequential deadlines, as follows:

February 10: First installment of portfolio due. Submission after this date will incur a three-point penalty.
March 14: You must have three installments of your portfolio completed by then. Having fewer than three
will incur a five-point penalty.
April 16: Installments 1 – 6 of your portfolio must be submitted by this date, subject to a five-point
penalty.

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April 25: Completed portfolio must be submitted by this date, subject to an eight-point penalty.

Attendance deduction: I will impose up to a 20 point deduction for exceeding a limit of three unexcused
absences from class over the course of the semester.

Course Outline:

Week 0: Introduction

Thursday, Jan 23 Introductions and Starting Points

Week 1: Key Concepts in Political Science

Tuesday, Jan 28 Collective Action and Power

Reading:

• Mancur Olson, “The Logic of Collective Action” (1971)

• John Gaventa, “Power and Powerlessness” (1980)
• Benjamin Ginsberg, “Why Violence Works” (2013)
• Jamelle Bouie, “America Punishes Only a Certain Kind of Rebel”
(2021)
• David Marchese, “How this Climate Activist Justifies Political
Violence” (2024)
• Optional: Zack Beauchamp, “How Death Threats Get the
Republican Party to Fall in Line Behind Trump” (2024)

Thursday, Jan 30 Politics at the National Scale

Reading:
• Francis Fukuyama, “Why National Identity Matters” (2018)
• Rogers Smith, “Progressive Narratives of American Identity”
(2020)
• Milos Brocic and Andrew Miles, “College and the Culture War”
(2021)
• Debra Satz and Dan Edelstein, “Colleges Helped Create the Culture
Wars” (2023)

Week 2: Nation and State

Tuesday, Feb 4 Constructing Identity for Individuals and Sub-National Communities

Reading:
• Nancy Isenberg, White Trash (2016), Epilogue
• Isabel Wilkerson, Caste (2020), Ch. 2
• Ian Haney-Lopez, White By Law (1996), excerpt

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 • Anne Caldwell, “One Hundred Years of Instability” (2020)
• Optional: Sam Varela, “A Chicana’s Ongoing Journey to Leave
White Supremacy Behind” (2021)

Thursday, Feb 6 Political Space: Socialization and Windows

Reading:
• Maggie Astor, “How the Politically Unthinkable Can Become
Mainstream (2019)
• Derek Robertson, “How an Obscure Conservative Theory Became
the Trump Era’s Go-to Nerd Phrase” (2018)
• Laura Marsh, “The Flaws of the Overton Window Theory” (2016)
• Jenna Wortham, “A Glorious Poetic Rage” (2020)

Week 3: Ideology and Opinion

Tuesday, Feb 11 The Dimensionality of Interests and Ideology

Reading:
• Michelle Goldberg, “The Right-Winger Calling for Social
Democracy” (2023)
• David Brooks, “What Happened to American Conservatism”
(2021)
• Osita Nwanevu, “The Willful Blindness of Reactionary Liberalism”
(2020)
• Cass Sunstein, “Why I Am a Liberal” (2023)
• A blog post by Frank Wilhoit (2018)

Exercise: Complete the Political Compass (see link) and record your
coordinates

Thursday, Feb 13 The Limits of Ideological Thinking

Reading:
• Bloomberg, “The Choice Isn’t Between Capitalism or Socialism”
(2019)
• Larry Bartels, “The Irrational Electorate” (2008)
• Matthew Walther, “I Viewed the Rise of Barstool Conservatism…”
(2024)
• American Compass, “The American Appetite for Government”
(2024)

Week 4: Constitutionalism: The Politics of Creating and Constraining Power

Tuesday, Feb 18 From Charter to Covenant to Contract to Constitution

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 Reading:
• Magna Carta
• Colonial Contracts
• Short Selection from John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government
• The Declaration of Independence

Thursday, Feb 20 The American Revolution as a Collective Action Problem

Reading:
• Don Cook, The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American
Colonies, Chapter 8.
• Jason Sharples, The World That Fear Made, Chapter 6.
• Gerald Leonard and Saul Cornell, The Partisan Republic, Chapter 1

Week 5: The Constitution of a Society

Tuesday, Feb 25 Features of the U.S. Constitutional System

Reading:
• Federalist #10, 46, 51
• Emily Pears and Emily Sydnor, “American State Identity” (2022)
• Jamelle Bouie, “It’s not looking too good…” (2022)
• Walter E. Williams, “Why We Are a Republic, Not a Democracy”
(2018)

Thursday, Feb 27 What is Democracy?

Reading:
• Jamelle Bouie, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Understands Democracy
Better than Republicans Do” (2019)
• Paul Cartledge, “10 Things You Should Know About Democracy
in Ancient Greece” (2017)
• Armin Schafer and Michael Zurn, “The Populism Trap“ (2024)
• Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, “When Should the Majority
Rule?” (2025)
• Alexis DeTocqueville, Excerpts from Democracy in America,
Books I and IV

Week 6: What Makes a Political System Work?

Tuesday, March 4 When is Protest Effective? Why?

Reading:

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 • Jeanne Theoharis, A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The
Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History (2018), Ch. 9
• Omar Wasow, “Agenda Seeding: How 1960s Black Protests
Moved Elites, Public Opinion and Voting” (2020)
• Shuman, et. al., “When Are Social Protests Effective?” (2023)

Thursday, March 6 Trust, Public Opinion, and What Actually Happened in 2024?

Reading:
• Robert D. Putnam, “The Prosperous Community: Social Capital
and Public Life” (1993)
• George Gallup, Excerpt from “Public Opinion in a Democracy”
• Nate Cohn, “How One Polling Decision…” (2024)
• Eric Neyman, “Seven Things I Didn’t Learn on Election Day
(2024)
• Ross Douthat, “The Crank Realignment and the Paranoid Center”
(2024)
• Steven Hahn, “The Deep Roots of American Illiberalism” (2024)
• Cooper Lund, “The Low-Trust Election” (2024)

Week 7: Parties and Polarization

Tuesday, March 11 Partisanship and Parties

Reading:
• John Aldrich, “Why Parties?” (1995)
• Bawn, et. al., “A Theory of Parties” (2012)
• Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, “The Seeds of
Dysfunction” (2012)
• Ian Ward, “Democrats are Feckless…” (2024)

Thursday, March 13 Polarization

Reading:

Everyone will read the following articles:

• Milan W. Svolik, “Polarization versus Democracy” (2019)

• Thomas Zimmer, “Why America’s Elites Love to Decry
‘Polarization’” (2023)

You will read one of these, designated the prior class period:

• Steven Webster et al “The Social Consequences of Political Anger”

(2022)
• Trevor Brown and Suzanne Mettler, “Sequential Polarization
(2023)

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 • Brianna Mack and Teresa Martin, “Party Rocking” (2024)

SPRING BREAK: No class on March 18 and 20

Week 8: Institutions of American Politics

Tuesday, March 25 Congress and Representation

Reading:
• Anne Applebaum, “History Will Judge the Complicit” (2020)
• Kenneth Lowande, Melinda Ritchie, and Erinn Lauterbach,
“Descriptive and Substantive Representation in Congress: Evidence
from 80,000 Congressional Inquiries” (2019)
• Pamela Karlan, “The New Countermajoritarian Difficulty” (2021)

Thursday, March 27 Redistricting and Gerrymandering

Reading:
• Reading: Vann R. Newkirk II, “How Redistricting Became a
Technological Arms Race” (2017)
• Horton, McCarthy and Glenza, “How Gerrymandering Paved the
Way…” (2019)

In-class Activity: Redistricting and Gerrymandering

Week 9: Institutions Continued

Tuesday, April 1 The Presidency

Reading:
• Federalist #69 & 70
• F.H. Buckley, The Once and Future King (2014), Chapter 6
• Jennifer Wright, “Why Female Presidential Candidates Are Still
Overlooked” (2019)

Thursday, April 3 Courts and Judicial Policymaking

Reading:

• Federalist #78
• Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “The Case for Ending the Supreme
Court As We Know It” (2020)
• Jamelle Bouie, “The Supreme Court is just doing…” (2022)
• Thomas M. Keck, “The U.S. Supreme Court and Democratic
Backsliding” (2024)

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Week 10: Institutions Finally Wrapping Up, Sort Of

Tuesday, April 8 Data Visualization Workshopping Session #1

Reading:
• Hardin, et. al. “Which chart or graph is right for you?” (n.d.)
• Atkinson, “How to make bar charts better” (2021)
• Segger, “Coping with outliers” (2021)

Thursday, April 10 The Transformation of Media

Reading:
• Jon Grinspan, “How a 19th Century News Revolution Sparked…”
(2024)
• M.J. Crocket, “Moral Outrage in the Media Age” (2017)
• Matthew Dallek, “How Fox Helped Break the American Right”
(2023)
• Kate Starbird, “Facts, Frames, and (Mis)interpretations (2023)
• Karl Bode, “America’s Right Wing Propaganda Problem Might Be
Terminal (2025)
• Optional Only: Andrew Trexler, “The Paradox of Consumer
Demand for Under-informative News” (2024)

Week 11: The Biggest Problem of Policymaking

Tuesday, April 15 Data Visualization Workshopping Session #2

Reading:
• Bergstrom and West, Calling Bullshit (2020), Ch. 7.
• Sarah Leo, “Off the Charts: Breaking the Axis” (2022)

Thursday, April 17 Wicked Problems: Why It’s So Hard to Get Policy Right

Reading:
• Horst W. J. Rittel and Melvin M. Webber, “Dilemmas in a General
Theory of Planning (1973)
• Sonja Blignaut, “Why We Suck at Solving Wicked Problems and 6
Ways to Become Better” (2019)

After discussing the general concept, we will consider as a case study how
combatting institutional racisms may be a wicked problem, and what to do
about it.

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 • Elizabeth Hinton, “George Floyd’s Death is a Failure of
Generations of Leadership” (2020)
• Keanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “We Should Still Defund the Police”
(2020)
• Tressie McMillan Cottom, “What Bama Rush Reveals About the
South” (2023)

Week 12: Reading Together: The Tyranny of the Minority

Tuesday, April 22 The Road Traveled

Reading:

• Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt, The Tyranny of the Minority

(2023), Introduction through Chapter 2 (pages 1 to 64)

Thursday, April 24
Reading:

• Levitsky and Ziblatt, Chapters 3 – 4 (pages 65 – 132)

Week 13: Pulling Things Together

Tuesday, April 29
Reading:

• Levitsky and Ziblatt, Chapters 5 – 7 (pages 133 – 223)

Thursday, May 1 Where Next, America?

Reading:

• Scheppele and Eisen, “Sleepwalking Into Autocracy” (2025)

Final Essay Due By End of Finals Week, Monday, May 12 at Noon