Political Parties and Elections (324-0-20)

Instructors

Matt R Pryor

Meeting Info

University Hall 121: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

Elections have regularly occurred since the inception of this country. Highly visible elections occur every 2 to 4 years, and less visible elections occur more frequently. How do political campaigns and elections produce representation? And how do citizens assess how well they are represented? This class addresses these questions by focusing on three domains. First, we will examine how the process and structures of representation and American Elections. Then, we will investigate the contributions of key political actors to campaigns: parties, interest groups, and the media, and they interact through elections. Finally, we will examine voter perceptions of parties and campaigns, and how voters are targeted (or not) by political actors. The class will focus on critical political science articles (and can follow along with the text) to investigate these topics. Time will also be spent observing and interacting with the current presidential primary campaigns as well.

Registration Requirements

Recommended: POLI_SCI 220-0 American Government and Politics

Learning Objectives

Major questions in this course include how the structural arrangement of electoral process shapes election choices and outcomes; how money impacts the electoral process; how citizens develop political preferences; and how those preferences are translated through the electoral process into vote choices. In all of our discussion, we will reflect upon the role that elections play in regard to democracy in the United States.

Teaching Method

Discussion/Seminar

Evaluation Method

We will utilize a mid-term and final with some short writings too.

Class Materials (Required)

Hershey, Majorie R. 2021. Party Politics in America, 18th Edition. New York: Pearson Education Inc. ISBN 13 978-1032354248

Class Attributes

Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Pre-registration -- Reserved for Political Science students until the end of preregistration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites.