Introduction to American Politics

MIT | 17.20 | Fall 2024 | Thu 3:00–5:00 | Room 56-114 | https://canvas.mit.edu/courses/26987

Professor Devin Caughey

Last updated: September 19, 2024

Contact information

Instructor Email Office hours Location
Devin Caughey (professor) Thu 12:00–12:30 E53-463
Preston Johnston (TA) TBD TBD
Kim Vaeth (WRAP advisor) Conference sign-up Zoom

Course description

17.20 provides an introduction to the academic study of American politics and to the discipline of political science more generally. It examines a range of substantive topics, including the cultural and constitutional foundations of American politics; its institutional structures, such as Congress and the presidency; the activities of strategic political elites; the political behavior of ordinary American citizens; and various contemporary political controversies. You’ll learn to use a variety of theoretical and empirical frameworks, with particular emphasis on the advantages and limitations of analyzing political actors as rational and strategic decision-makers.

As a communication-intensive HASS (CI-H) subject, 17.20 emphasizes writing and and oral communication as a primary way to evaluate, analyze and clearly communicate ideas. Our WRAP writing advisor Kim Vaeth will help you gain confidence with drafting, revising, and making arguments with claims and evidence for different audiences and rhetorical situations.

Expectations and assessment

Expectations

Students in this course are expected to:

  • Complete the required readings before each lecture.
  • Attend each lecture and recitation.
  • Participate in class activities and discussions.
  • Be open to reasoned criticism of their ideas while avoiding personal attacks on others.
  • Give respectful attention to their instructors and fellow students.
  • Limit extraneous electronic activities and other distracting behaviors.
    • Unless an instructor indicates otherwise, students will be permitted to use an iPad but not a laptop or cell phone.
  • Adhere to MIT’s standards of academic integrity.

Assignments

Students will complete the following assignments:

  • “Appetizer” reading reactions (due weekly) [5% total]
    • By each Tuesday night, students will post a question or comment about something they found interesting or puzzling in the lighter “appetizer” readings.
    • Students whose reactions Professor Caughey highlights in lecture will have their course grade increased by \(+1\) percentage point.
  • “Entree” Perusall assignments (due weekly) [20% total]
    • By each Wednesday night, students will read and comment on the heartier “entree” reading posted on Perusall.
    • Students will be graded based on the quantity and quality of their commenting and will receive extra credit for the engagement they generate from other students.
  • Two analytical papers (due Sep. 29 and Oct. 24) [15% each]
    • These shorter papers will require students to apply an analytical frame to a specific political episode or text.
    • Students are required to meet with the writing adviser before the first paper.
  • Long paper (draft due Nov. 21; final version due Dec. 11) [15% each]
    • The longer paper will focus on a larger topic and will require students to synthesize material from across the semester.
    • The students will receive comments on their draft and revise the paper in light of the feedback they receive.
  • News report (one recitation) [5%]
  • In-class debate (Dec. 5 lecture) [5%]
  • Participation and attendance [5%]

There is no midterm or final exam.

Generative AI

Since a central goal of this subject is to help you become independent and critical thinkers, you are discouraged from using generative AI (GenAI) to create text in your work (assignments, activities, responses, etc). Unless stated otherwise by an instructor or assignment prompt, any submitted work with text created using GenAI will be treated as if it were plagiarized.

If any part of this is confusing or uncertain, please reach out to me for a conversation before submitting your work.

Additional information

Concentrating/minoring political science

The undergraduate program in political science combines professional social science training with opportunities for a broad liberal arts education. Political Science is concerned with the systematic study of government and the political process. At MIT we have classes in these subfields: Political Theory, Political Economy, American Government, Public Policy, International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Methods.

  • HASS concentration (3 subjects): To make Course 17 your HASS concentration, you must take three political science subjects, including at least one upper-level subject. The three subjects must be connected based on a theme, subfield, or other basis.
  • Minor (6 subjects): Course 17 is home to three minor program offerings: Political Science, Public Policy, and Applied International Studies. Each minor program comprises six subjects. You can use three of these subjects towards a concentration as well.

For more information on Course 17, contact the Political Science Undergraduate Administrator, Dr. Kate Hoss.

Registering to vote

MIT partners with TurboVote—a non-profit website that seeks to increase voter turnout by helping its users register to vote, find polling places, and research election issues—to help students, faculty, and staff register to vote in local, state, and national elections, by mail or in person, whether they reside in Massachusetts or another state. It takes five minutes or less to register, and you can use it to request an absentee ballot and/or subscribe to reminders about registration and voting deadlines and locations in relevant elections.

Term schedule

1. Thu, Sep 5: Course overview and logistics

Topics

  • Course expectations
  • Overview of semester
  • Recitation scheduling

2. Thu, Sep 12: Theoretical foundations

Topics

  • Social dilemmas
  • Formal and informal institutions
  • Alternative conceptions of democracy
  • The three dimensions of power
  • Cooperation and coercion

Required reading

Appetizers

Entree

  • Gaventa (1980), 3–20 [Perusall]

Total: 59 pages

Research spotlight

  • Wawro and Schickler (2006)

3. Thu, Sep 19: The American Constitution

Topics

  • Written and unwritten constitutions
  • Political culture
  • Liberalism, republicanism, and ascriptive hierarchy

Required reading

Appetizers

Entree

  • Smith (1988) [Perusall]

Total: 66 pages

Research spotlight

  • Graham and Svolik (2020)

4. Thu, Sep 26: Political parties

DUE: Meeting with writing advisor re paper #1

Topics

  • Parties as institutions created by politicians
  • Parties as coalitions of policy demanders
  • Asymmetry between the parties
  • Partisan polarization
  • Electoral rules and the two-party system

Required reading

Appetizers

Entree

  • Bawn et al. (2012) [Perusall]

Total: 75 pages

Research spotlight

Sun, Sep 29

DUE: Paper #1

5. Thu, Oct 3: Congress

Topics

  • The reelection motive
  • Party leadership
  • Congressional committees
  • Spatial models of congressional voting
  • Lawmaking in the contemporary Congress

Required reading

Appetizers

Entree

  • Krehbiel (1998), 20–48 [Perusall]

Total: 76 pages

Research spotlight

  • Grimmer and Powell (2013)

6. Thu, Oct 10: The Presidency

Topics

  • Tension between powers and expectations
  • Veto bargaining
  • Unilateral action
  • Presidents and “political time”
  • Presidents and the media
  • Perils of presidentialism

Required reading

Appetizers

Entree

  • Lowande (2024), 1–4, 19–29, 31–46, and 55–60 [Perusall]

Total: 74 pages

Research spotlight

7. Thu, Oct 17: Courts and bureaucracies

Topics

  • The logic of delegation
  • Principal–agent problems
  • Judges and bureaucrats as policymakers
  • Design of bureaucratic structures
  • Relationships with the public

Required reading

Appetizers

Entree

  • Moe (1989), 267–285 [Perusall]

Total: 67 pages

Research spotlight

  • Jessee, Malhotra, and Sen (2022)

8. Thu, Oct 24: Public opinion

Topics

  • Differences between political elites and ordinary citizens
  • Public attention to and interest in politics
  • Low-information (ir)rationality
  • Micro vs. macro opinion
  • Interests and identities

DUE: Paper #2

Required reading

Appetizers

  • Stimson (2015) 1–84 (chap. 1–3) [PDF]

Entree

  • Walsh (2012) 517–532 [Perusall]

Total: 100 pages

Research spotlight

  • White, Laird, and Allen (2014)

9. Thu, Oct 31: Participation, mobilization, and the media

Topics

  • Varieties and determinants of political participation
  • Media and politics
  • Electoral campaigns
  • Final predictions for the 2024 election

Required reading

Appetizers

  • Schlozman, Verba, and Brady (1999) [PDF]
  • Gillion ([2020] 2022) [reader]
  • Stimson (2015), 85–124 (chap. 4) [PDF]

Entree

  • Mutz (2012) [Perusall]

Total: 102 pages

Research spotlight

  • DellaVigna and Kaplan (2007)

Tue, Nov 5: Election Day

10. Thu, Nov 7: Elections and representation

Topics

  • Dynamic representation
  • Retrospective voting
  • Selection and adaptation
  • Limitations of elections as mechanisms of popular control
  • Electoral institutions and votes–seats representation
  • 2024 election recap

Required reading

Appetizers

  • Stimson (2015), 146–157 (chap. 6) [PDF]
  • Achen and Bartels ([2016] 2022) [reader]

Entree

  • Rodden (2019), 1–13 (introduction), 15–38 (chap. 1), and 165–196 (chap. 6)

Total: 92 pages

Research spotlight

11. Thu, Nov 14: Federalism and subnational politics

Topics

  • Costs and benefits of federalism
  • How state and local politics differ from national politics
  • Causes and consequences of nationalization

Required reading

Appetizers

  • Riker ([1964] 2022) [reader]
  • Peterson (1995) [PDF]
  • Anzia (2022), excerpts from chapters 1, 2, 4, and 8 [PDF]

Entree

Total: 83 pages

Research spotlight

  • Einstein, Palmer, and Glick (2019)

12. Thu, Nov 21: Policy and political economy

DUE: Final paper draft

Topics

  • Social construction of policy “problems”
  • Policy feedback
  • The submerged state
  • The American political economy in comparative perspective

Required reading

Appetizers

Entree

Total: 65 pages

Research spotlight

Thu, Nov 28: Thanksgiving

13. Thu, Dec 5: In-class debates

Wed, Dec 11: Last day of MIT classes

DUE: Final paper

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