Campaigns Elections Dr Casey B K Dominguez Office 285 IPJ Phone 260 7925 Email caseydominguez sandiego edu Webpage http home sandiego edu caseydominguez Elections are absolutely essential to representative democracy They are the means by which citizens empower elected officials to speak on their behalf and hold them accountable for their actions in public office The goal of this class is to help you become a more informed consumer of campaign information and a more sophisticated analyst of electoral politics The first half of this class is theoretical examining how the rules that govern the electoral process affect the roles that political parties organized interests voters the media and political elites play in the processes and outcomes of elections Its main emphasis is on American federal elections but also considers elections in a comparative context and sub national elections in the United States The second half of the class emphasizes the practical manifestations of electoral theory by focusing on contemporary political campaigns Through campaigns voters and political elites communicate with each other about policy and culture By examining campaign strategy staffing polling advertising turnout and symbolic communication the course will help you see campaigns through a more critical eye The major projects in the class ask you to apply this theoretical and practical knowledge by working together to design a campaign for a competitive 2008 Senate contest Learning objectives 1 To better understand the way rules and laws affect elections in the United States 2 To develop the ability to independently evaluate news about elections and campaigns 3 To critically analyze and be able to identify weaknesses in the American system of elections and campaigns The texts for the course are as follows C Stephen C Craig The Electoral Challenge Theory Meets Practice Washington DC Congressional Quarterly Press 2006 F Z William H Flanigan and Nancy H Zingale Political Behavior of the American Electorate 10th ed Washington CQ Press 2002 Other readings are on E Reserve at Copley Library ER 1 The requirements for the course include successful completion of one midterm exam one final exam one 5 7 page paper one 7 10 page paper and group project a class presentation and daily attendance and participation Your final grade will be composed as follows Final Exam Midterm Exam Short Paper Group project paper Class presentation Daily Attendance and participation 25 20 15 25 10 5 In this class we will discuss contemporary campaigns in great detail In order to fully participate in these discussions I ask that you read a newspaper daily Your midterm and final will be composed of short answer questions some based solely on the readings some based on class discussions Even though I may not explicitly discuss every reading assigned you are responsible for doing and understanding all of them I welcome questions about readings in class I reserve the right to conduct reading or current events quizzes and include them as a substantive component of your participation grade You will write two papers For the first you will research a congressional district and write a 5 7 page paper about its political environment For the second you will be teamed with a couple of other students and each of you will contribute to the design of a 2008 U S Senate campaign Each student on your campaign team will be assigned to complete specific tasks and to write a paper developing a campaign strategy on the basis of that specific research Your group s papers should fit together into one comprehensive strategy that will help your candidate win the election Classroom policies I welcome questions and class discussions as long as everyone is respectful of each others viewpoints We will talk about politics in this class and people will disagree I will attempt to moderate such discussions as neutrally as possible and to challenge everyone to critically analyze their own assumptions In general I reward thoughtful consideration of both arguments and will be more critical of strictly one sided arguments Assignments are due at the beginning of class on announced days Late assignments will be penalized one third of a grade for each day late Barring extraordinary medical circumstances extensions will not be given 2 Please come to class prepared to discuss readings on the day they are listed Date Topic and reading questions Jan 25 Introduction Jan 27 Why are elections important What is necessary for elections to serve their functions Readings F Z Chapter 1 Rules of the game Jan 29 ER David M Farrell Electoral Systems A 1 General Election Rules How are the rules governing American Comparative Introduction Palgrave 2001 elections different from rules in other pp 1 12 19 31 68 88 countries How do those rules influence the behavior of political actors Feb 1 What is the median voter theorem What ER James D Morrow Game Theory for are its underlying assumptions How does it Political Scientists Princeton NJ Princeton affect candidate and party strategy Univ Press 1994 pp 104 111 Feb 3 How are district lines drawn for elections to the U S House of Representatives Is there any truly neutral way to draw lines What are the consequences of the way those lines are drawn Feb 5 What are the legal rules about redistricting Complete Redistricting Simulation Feb 8 How has the Supreme Court weighed the various values associated with redistricting What do they say about partisanship Race Would you prioritize the same values that it has How does the Electoral College affect presidential campaign strategy How would campaign strategies change if the Electoral College were eliminated ER Bruce Cain Chapter 3 Aesthetic Considerations and Chapter 4 The Consistency of Good Government Criteria from The Reapportionment Puzzle Berkeley CA University of California Press 1984 Chapters 3 and 4 pp 32 81 ER Warren Richey On Demand Redistricting Upheld Christian Science Monitor June 29 2006 ER Dave Hopkins and Darshan Goux The Consequences of Electoral College Reform Paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association Washington D C August 28 2005 3 Feb 10 2 Candidate Selection Rules How do we select candidates What affect do primary election rules have on the number and types of candidates that run for office How do primary election laws vary in different states ER L Sandy Maisel and Kara Z Buckley Parties and Elections in America the