PLS 405
American Parties and Pressure Groups
Roger C. Lowery, Ph.D.

Textbook
Chapter
Outlines
Week 1
     · Introduction to the Course
     · Course syllabus
     · Course schedule

Week 2
     · Hershey 1:     What are Political Parties?

Week 3
     · Hershey 2:     The American Two-Party System
     · Yankelovich: Centrist Public v. Polarized Government
Week 4
     · Hershey 3:     State and Local Party Organizations
      · Hershey 4:     The Parties' National Organizations

Week 5
     · Hershey 5:    Party Activists

Week 6
     · Hershey 6:    Party Identification
     · Abramowitz: The Case for Weighting Partisan Identification

Week 7
     · Hershey 7:    Party Coalitions and Party Change
     · Brewer & Stonecash 1:  Divisions in American Politics
     · Brewer & Stonecash 2:  Inequality and Opportunity in America
     · Party systems
     · Income inequality over time
     · Religion & the 2006 Election
     · An Imperfect Fit:  Mormons and Evangelical Christians

Week 8
     · Hershey 8:    Who Votes -- and Why It Matters
     · Brewer & Stonecash 3:  Parties and Policy Proposals on Class Issues
     · Brewer & Stonecash 4:  Class Divides in the American Public
     · Cross-national data on election turnout
 		 Week 11
     · Hershey 9:    How Parties Choose Candidates
      · Hershey 10:  Choosing the Presidential Nominees

Week 12
     · Hershey 11:  The General Election
     · Presidential Election Maps, 1789-2000
      · Election 2008

Week 13
     · Hershey 12:  Financing the Campaigns
      ◦  The misguided theories behind Citizens United v. FEC.
      ◦  Citizens United paved the way for the return of soft money

Week 14
     · Hershey 13:  Parties in Congress and State Legislatures
     · Brewer & Stonecash 5:  The Rise of Cultural Issues
     · Brewer & Stonecash 6:  Party and Policy Proposals

Week 15
     · Hershey 14:  The Party in the Executive and the Courts
     · Brewer & Stonecash 7:  Cultural Divides in the American Public
     · Brewer & Stonecash 8:  The Dual Divisions of Class and Culture

Week 16
     · Hershey 15:  The Semi-Responsible Parties
      · Hershey 16:  The Place of Parties in American Politics
      · Is There a Culture War?
      · The Culture War and the Coming Election