POLS 288, Fall 2014

The Assignments Page

Required readings are in the resources section of the course Sakai site. You will also find there the course bibliography.

The Final Essay. Please answer any one of the following questions.  Answer all parts of the question, and limit yourself to 1,000 words.  Remember that last essays are opportunities to demonstrate your command of course material.  This is due Tuesday, December 16, at 11:00 a.m.  You may turn it in via the Sakai dropbox for the course, or via email. 

1. Does the four networks theory adequately account for the power relationships you studied as part of your policy paper assignment? Explain why or why not. With respect to your topic, how does using this approach to power differ from that required in the policy paper assignment? Be specific about the concepts you use and the evidence one uses in each approach.

2. In one course unit you read about a new understanding of trends and dynamics of inequality. What is the central new idea about inequality? What does this have to do with the operation of political power in the United States? How does the application of this idea affect our understanding of the color line in the United States?

3. One premise of the humor unit is that some serious parts of life contain ridiculous dynamics of power. John Locke is not funny. His argument in the Second Treatise of Civil Government is full of foundational ideas about understanding power. Select three of his most important claims or conclusions, and show what is ridiculous about them. Your standards for what is ridiculous must be based on other course material. You may but are not required to include a joke based on each idea you found to be ridiculous.

Week of December 9 and 11. The End.

Tuesday, December 9. Today we will hear from at least one group on their findings. Everyone show up! For all groups, the assignment says "the report has an adequate conceptual description, and contains a competent description of the empirical evidence about power." This means you will take 7 minutes to describe to the class the target of your investigations, the network you followed (probably accompanied by a diagram), the evidence that should give us confidence the network is real, and what this says to us about power. If you want specific guidelines, try modeling yours after the examples given by Domhoff. Groups volunteering to go today will get significant additional credit. Email professor Olufs with your intention to go today, please, by Monday noon.

Also today we will look at clips from some feature-length political comedy, in particular Dr. Strangelove, Wag the Dog, and Burn After Reading. For those of you who want more political movie humor, particularly good examples are Thank You for Not Smoking, In the Loop, and Bulworth.

Thursday, December 11. The End (continued). Today we may hear from one last group, if not all presented on Tuesday, and we discuss what should be on an examination.

Week of December 2 and 4.

Tuesday, December 2. Today with finish the unit on finance. Read the following articles in the Sakai folder for this unit, (1) austerity_Wolf, (2) Warren_unsafe, and (3) wall_street_mafia. For those of you developing a further interest in this unit, see also in the articles POLS_IPE_on_the_crash and housing_mort_pol. They are about approaches to the study of financial issues within the discipline of political science. Keep track in your notes of new concepts you have not previously encountered--make a list. Bring to class a written response to this question: Is there evidence in this unit's reading that helps answer the questions posed in the October 9 reading on oligarchy? Please be specific.

Your policy papers are due today.

Thursday, December 4. Today we begin our last unit, power and humor. One premise of the unit is that humor is a tool for contesting power situations. We will use mostly video sources here. Do see what The Onion is doing with politics (warning: language and content advisory...), what the New Yorker has in the current issue (down at bottom of page), what David Horsey is drawing, and note other cartoonists display work at that site. You will be asked to write about how humor draws attention to other analyses of power we have seen in this class.

Week of November 25. Those of you who have not yet sent your polished first 3 pages of your paper need to do that, please. Next week Tuesday is paper consulting day, Olufs will be in his office during class hours and until about 3:30. No office hours Wednesday. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Week of November 18 & 20. Please note Olufs' office hours are cancelled for the 20th.

Tuesday, November 18. Today we finish the unit on power in international politics. Read the essays in the Sakai folder for this unit, (1) stephan_chenoweth, and (2) sharp_fdtd. For the first, note the introduction is followed by a section heavy on social science methods. If you have not had a methods or statistics class, this will be a challenge-- but pay attention to the hypotheses tested and which ones seem to stand up to the tests. Then do read closely the case studies and the conclusion. For the second source, read up through chapter five, browse the remaining contents, and read the first appendix. Keep notes on the claims in the articles and any questions that arise, and bring to class a written response to this question: What are the key features of a successful nonviolent resistance movement?

Thursday, November 20. Today we start unit seven, Finance. Read the following essays in the Sakai folder for this unit, (1) money_talks, (2) wealth_disappear, and (3) banking_systems. Keep track in your notes of new concepts you have not previously encountered--make a list. Bring to class a written response to these questions: What do the authors of the third essay mean when they claim we get the banking system we deserve? What does your answer suggest about your interpretation of the second essay?

Week of Nov. 11 & 13.

Tuesday, Nov. 11. Today is Veterans Day, and PLU events mean the class meets from 9:55-10:55. We continue the unit on power in international politics. Read the pieces in the Sakai folder for this unit, (1) Hammes_Offshore, (2) Russia_Cohen, and (3) decade_of_war_lessons_learned (numbered pages 1-18). Note that these are about the centrality of warfare as a feature of international politics. Bring notes to class on the arguments in each of the essays, in which you identify central themes and claims, and include any questions that arise. A late addition on this topic: a retired general on stories we tell about war.

We should briefly discuss a shift in the timetable for your policy papers.

Another late addition: Here is how material in our inequality unit is being discussed in the press.

Thursday, Nov. 13. We continue the unit on power in international politics. Read the pieces in the Sakai folder for this unit, (1) bennett_no_two_state, (2) US_Israel_tension, and (3) ME_peace_initiative_advice. Note that these are about addressing what are often called intractable conflicts. Bring notes to class for each of the readings, in which you identify central themes and claims, and include any questions that arise. In your notes also answer this question: What do today's readings draw your attention to, in comparison to Tuesday's readings?

Week of Nov. 4 & 6.

Tuesday, Nov. 4: This is Election Day. We finish the unit on inequality. Read the piece in the sakai folder for this unit, Stiglitz_tax_reform. Also read this brief report on recent trends in the USA (both authors have collaborated with Piketty). The site links a pdf version. Each of these reports makes judgments about the meaning of the data, and each make policy recommendations. Apply the logic of policy papers to the recommendations, and make a list of questions to answer and observations to discuss (bring to class) to better make sense of the policy recommendations. Also, a carry-over from Thursday, we will also conduct a workshop on how to study power. You have your group project targets. Read the Domhoff pieces on how to study power, and the four networks theory of power. Know them well enough to decide which ideas help your study. Note there are other interpretations of power.

Late note: Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report 2014 mentions, p. 6, that the wealth/income ratio is getting high... and that previous times when it has been this high "have always signaled recession...."

And, today an electronic draft of your policy paper is due.

And, a late entry: Someone took the USA data from Piketty's project and produced Piketty in One Graph.

Thursday, Nov. 6. We will know more about election results. Any consequences for course topics? Today we start a unit on power in international politics.

Read the study in the Sakai folder for this unit, China_drought_Arab_Spring. Draw a diagram that illustrates the argument. Also read Kagan_myth_decline and Kagan_review_Bacevich. In about a page, describe the differences between the two views of the proper use of power in US foreign policy.

Week of Oct. 28 & 30.

Tuesday, Oct. 28. We begin Unit Five, Inequality. Read the essay in Sakai, Milanovic_review. This is a summary of the argument in Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century. What are the central concepts in the argument? We will examine the current arguments about the nature and significance of economic inequality. Late addition: Read at least the second paragraph in the recent speech by Janet Yellen, head of the Federal Reserve Board. Also, some interesting pieces on civil forfeitures, one courtesy of the NYT, and one from John Oliver. Here is a story about power & public ideas, from today's NYT.

Thursday, Oct. 30. We continue Unit Five, Inequality. Read the essays in Sakai, Solow_review and Krugman_review. Bring to class a half-page essay summarizing the main claims in each of the reviews. Than, in a second half page on the same sheet, write out the questions you have about the nature and political significance of inequality. Bring this page to class, on paper.

We will also conduct a workshop on how to study power. You have your group project targets. Read the Domhoff pieces on how to study power, and the four networks theory of power. Know them well enough to decide which ideas help your study. Note there are other interpretations of power.

Week of Oct. 21 & 23: Halfway through the Semester.

Tuesday, Oct. 21. We continue with the color line. Read the two documents in the Sakai folder for this unit, case_for_reparations and stillseparate. For each, write and bring to class on paper an account of the clearest policy recommendations in each (at least 2 for each essay): What are the recommendations, and what evidence supports them? When in doubt, apply the logic required in the policy paper assignment.

Also see the decision in the recent Texas Voter ID case, and read at least the first ten pages. This is a long file, you may stop there. [After the assignment went out, the US Supreme Court weighed in on the case.]

Also for today, bring the printed copy of your description and detailed out line of your policy paper. We will discuss them in class.

Also for today, for your group projects you will "select a person or organization that is the center of your project and declare it in class," as it says on your assignment. You may need to communicate with other group members on this.

Thursday, Oct. 23: Midterm Examination. Here is the exam. Good Sailing.

Week of Oct. 14 & 16. The Color Line.

Tuesday, Oct. 14. We begin today with a Workshop on Policy Paper Approach. You have chosen your topic, so read the assignment carefully, collect and read background material on your topic, and bring a 300-word description of what all you will do in your paper, including a description of what kind of evidence you need to collect.

For today, Read the two files in The Color Line folder in Sakai, Alexander_NJC and Alexander_Moyers_transcript. The first file emphasizes legal doctrines for police behavior. We will watch a recorded interview with the author of The New Jim Crow. She gives speeches, some of which turn up on youtube. Also, Read this site at the Brookings Institution on these themes, and watch the four "video highlights" clips (they are in the video box you reach by scrolling down a short way). The entire program and transcript are available... transcript is on the right. The entire event is available in a rather long video, if you are interested. Keep notes that identify policy recommendations or implications of all authors and speakers! Make a list and include enough detail so that you can describe each or identify questions that would be useful to answer.

Thursday, Oct. 16. For today, read the two files in Sakai, The_Color_Line and Stand your Ground. As you read them, keep detailed notes on the major claims about power. We will discuss these. Also, come with a list of suggestions on what we should study next in this topic.

Also for today, the 16th, we will have a Workshop on approaches to the study of power. For that, you need to have read the postings on Domhoff's page about The Basics of Studying Power and How to Do Power Structure Research. Also read very carefully the essay on Four Networks Theory of Power. Note this approach is distinct from alternative theories of power. You will work with your group on how to apply this.

Week of Oct. 7 & 9. Organize Projects, and continue Political Power in the USA.

Tuesday, Oct. 7. In class you will announce your choice of questions for your policy paper. Also, we will organize groups for the group projects.

For today, Read two files from the Sakai folder for this unit, polarized_pol_usa and gun_control_slow. (1) The polarized article is a review of 3 books about polarization. Pay attention to the article subheadings! Note that the 3 leave out a fourth view, provided by the reviewer. Bring to class on paper a description of the basic approach of each of the four, and compare the advice on fixing polarization in the four. (2) In the gun control piece, the author tries to get at why legislation failed. Did he? Bring to class a detailed list of the conclusions of the author that address that why question. Note: This might have something to do with understanding polarization.

Also read the abstract and study the first chart at this site.

Here is that story about the Supreme Court and same-sex marriage, and the story about naming our military campaign in Syria and Iraq.

Thursday, Oct. 9. We complete the unit Political Power in the USA.

For today, Read the piece in the Sakai folder for this unit, oligarchy_usa. Bring notes to class that contain answers to these questions: (1) How do the authors define oligarchy, and what evidence do they suggest allows us to see oligarchy? (2) Which policy areas do the authors suggest are most appropriate for examining oligarchy? Why? (3) What do the authors conclude about oligarchy, given the existing research? What (to you) is the most interesting next question to ask about it?

Week of Sept. 30-Oct 2. This is the start of Unit Three, Political Power in the USA.

Tuesday, September 30. Please Read Obama_Campaign_Data. Bring on paper to class an answer to these questions: (1) Using the concept legitimacy, describe the relationship between the campaign and voters. Keep in mind, this is a way of approaching the power situation. (2) Which of the techniques described in the article appear to be most effective at reaching voters of your age? Why? The Pew Research Center for People and the Press look at the relationship between campaigns and voters, and public many reports on their surveys.

Today we will also discuss the paper assignments, your individual paper and your group project.

Here are some stories connected to today's topics:

---the White House intruder story expands

---Does Khorasan exist?

---Testifying to Congress...

---Getting Messages to Voters

---A story on Bayesian statistics, and why you should understand

Thursday, October 2. More Political Power in the USA. Please Read (a) donors_funds_sidestep and (b) freshmen_money. Also read (c) this recent story about an unintended revelation about party financing. For each, answer this question, and bring notes about it to class: Does this demonstrate that money is a central feature of the power situation in US politics? Be specific about how. If this is not an adequate demonstration, what more would you want to know about money and power? There are a lot of data about money and US institutions, such as this page about one House committee and donations to members, courtesy of the Center for Responsive Politics. More data on campaigns and elections are available from the Campaign Finance Institute.

Assignments for week of September 23 and 25

Tuesday Sept. 23. We try again on Locke. Here are a few more questions about Locke, for your weekend consideration. Bring notes on them to class Tuesday.

Does Locke prohibit authoritarian capitalism of the sort we see in Russia and in China? The oligarchs in control there allow some liberties-- as Michael Ignatieff put it, private freedoms: "to buy and sell, to inherit, to travel, to grumble in private..." while denying them public liberty. And this mix of private liberties and public prohibitions allows the oligarchs to seize what private wealth they can while hoarding political power.

Farmer, in pathologies of power (week 1 reading), encourages us to adopt something like a scientific approach (see the next paragraph), and part of that, he insists, is a greater recognition of suffering than is common in our public discourse. Farmer makes brief suggestions about barriers to compassion--that is, reasons that can be used to not recognize or feel obligated to respond to the suffering of others. This is a sharp point of comparison with Locke. Can you identify any barriers to compassion in Locke?

Farmer insists on an approach to knowledge Locke does not completely share. He insists on an empirical, pragmatic, nominalist, materialist epistemology in pursuit of our purposes. [We can go over this in class, but do make sense of that sentence.] It is an approach found in medicine and agriculture, and many other places. While Locke, too, is a creature (perhaps a central figure) in the Enlightenment, his account of natural rights is difficult to sustain on those grounds. Farmer tells you why he advocates human rights as part of his approach. Do you see a tension between the two on this score? How should we judge claims to know things?

Locke's views add up to an unusually cohesive outlook, indeed, an ideology. There are very few differences between his views and those of President Ronald Reagan. An ideology that survives almost intact for 300 years must have something going for it. You should identify those elements.

The following reading guide is the same one as posted last week.

Read Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government. Please read paragraphs 1-51, 72-3 (optional: 52-76, chapter on Paternal Power), 85-91, 94-99, 119-168, and 196-end. Be ready to discuss these questions:

1. What is the distinction between the state of nature and civil society? Note that by paragraph 13, most of the essential assumptions of the argument are asserted. If something is in the state of nature, it is presumably not the business of politics to change it.

2. The state of nature is NOT the state of war (compare to Hobbes, in Leviathan). How is Locke’s state of nature different from Hobbes’? See para 13, and also 124-7.

3. The central human motivation is self-preservation, and this is based on reason. It is a law of nature? (But note that it is a natural right.) How so? See para. 6, and up through para. 15.

4. Locke’s argument on slavery is brief—see paras. 22-4, and also 85, 172, 180, and 182.

5. What are the beginnings of property for Locke? Why is this one of his central ideas?: After the discussion of the value of nature, accumulation of property has a limit in the SN—the limit of spoilage. Why? What is the significance of the way he overcomes this limit? This chapter is quite important. By the time you are up to para. 36, we have the beginnings of the argument about consent. On that concept, see also paras. 45, 67, 74, 95, 112, and 134. A closely related concept is obligation; see paras. 72-3, 97, and 116-120.

6. How does money change property? What is the justification for inequality of possessions? See 44-7.

7. Locke’s chapter on the family, “of paternal power,” is oblique but interesting with respect to power. Note, at para. 57, that liberty has implications for the family. Note also, paras. 63-5, that the family has a natural origin—but, as Rousseau asked, if families are regarded as natural, why isn’t politics regarded as natural? We see what he is doing by para. 66—the mother’s share in family power shows us, he asser4ts, that paternal power in no way leads to political power. This is linked to his argument in the first treatise. Note, at paras. 72-3, that inheritance is an important part of families, and that it confers a political obligation. You might also see: para. 80, the family is natural; para. 82, the husband rules the wife (but what about those earlier exceptions?); para. 118, children are subject to the father; and para. 158, economic power is joined to political power. But wait--aren't the conditions of economic power pre-political, and thus not to be changed through politics?

8. Why do people form societies? What are the signs that Locke believes humans are naturally inclined towards virtuous behavior? When dealing with the argument, starting in para. 87, remember the great role of government, at paras. 42, 124.

9. What are the deficiencies of the state of nature? See paras. 13, 124-7.

10.All are bound to the political order, which is governed by majorities. Why? Perhaps the central ingredient is at para 119, about express and tacit consent. See para. 97 as well.

11.The legislative is the primary political power. Why? At paras. 136-140, we see several limits to the state. See also paras. 163-4.

12.Resistance to tyrants is a right. Why? See para. 203, 235. Note carefully what all gets changed in a revolution—at 211. Also see paras. 222-225. Does some of this language seem familiar?

Thursday, September 25. The edition of Machiavelli in Sakai has these reading questions on the first page. If you are reading a different edition or translation (which will likely have different pagination), email Olufs to get an amended guide to reading.

You should know there is still a vigorous scholarship over how to read Machiavelli. For example, see this recent letter. With regards to The Prince, a common misreading of Machiavelli is cured by reading the last chapter first.

READING QUESTIONS-- please bring your notes to class.

Page 4—Note his claim to an objective method of analysis. How is this presented? He will wait for the end to tell you, but keep this question in mind: What is M’s project in The Prince?

5-6—Change is ever-present. The political world is a fluid thing.

7—People should be caressed or crushed. Why? Note his appeal to Roman examples.

12-13—He mentions “liberty.” Notice how the actions of leaders can, says M, be copied.

17—Remiro had power, and was cut in half. Why?

19, 1st para. of Ch. 8—M is not focused on the rights and wrongs of policies (whether they are 'wicked' or have general support. Why?

21—"I believe this follows from severities [or 'cruelties'] being badely or properly used." Is this the beginning of a theory of legitimacy?

22—Note the juxtaposition of the elite, the nobles, and the populace. And, what is the relationship between legitimacy and liberty? How does M conceive of liberty?

27—What does he say about mercenaries? Why?

33—What does history show us, according to M? How does it show us?

34-5—On generosity….

Chapters 17, 18 and 19 discuss related themes-- centered around the advice "to choose the fox and the lion" (at 38)—Is this a further development of that theory of legitimacy?

38-9—Shall a ruler break his word? When, and why?

42-3—These stories bring up a question: When does doing good produce harm? Is this another piece of that tiny theory of legitimacy?

44-5—Should a leader choose traits? How?

46-7—More on legitimacy? Is it good to be hated by one’s subjects?

50-1—Does this sound like M is applying for a job?

52—What kind of rulers can take good advice? Hmm, how is this connected to his larger project?

Chapter 25—On fortune in human affairs.

Chapter 26—Italy has no one else—it needs a leader. To do what? This is the overriding concern of The Prince. What becomes of a leader that loses sight of this?

**A story about talking heads conflicts of interest

**A story about think tanks and conflicts of interest

**A report that looks at costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Assignments for week of September 16 & 18

Tuesday, September 16: Read the last 3 essays in Unit One. Bring to class written notes on your responses to these questions:

(1) The Melian Dialogue. Briefly describe the positions of the two sides. Specifically, how did each see the power situation?

(2) Bacevich, End of Military History. For Bacevich, what is the "Western way of war"? Why is it over? He says there are powerful organized interests that continue to pursue this doomed approach. What are they?

(3) Farmer, Pathologies of Power. This is a complicated argument, one that is at the core of this course. How do human rights and public health intersect? Note this is an assertion of how we should approach knowledge. What is meant by "structural violence"? Are you able to see structural violence? How? What does he suggest we do?

Thursday, September 18: Read Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government. Please read paragraphs 1-51, 72-3 (optional: 52-76, chapter on Paternal Power), 85-91, 94-99, 119-168, and 196-end. Be ready to discuss these questions:

13.What is the distinction between the state of nature and civil society? Note that by paragraph 13, most of the essential assumptions of the argument are asserted. If something is in the state of nature, it is presumably not the business of politics to change it.

14.The state of nature is NOT the state of war (compare to Hobbes, in Leviathan). How is Locke’s state of nature different from Hobbes’? See para 13, and also 124-7.

15.The central human motivation is self-preservation, and this is based on reason. It is a law of nature? (But note that it is a natural right.) How so? See para. 6, and up through para. 15.

16.Locke’s argument on slavery is brief—see paras. 22-4, and also 85, 172, 180, and 182.

17.What are the beginnings of property for Locke? Why is this one of his central ideas?: After the discussion of the value of nature, accumulation of property has a limit in the SN—the limit of spoilage. Why? What is the significance of the way he overcomes this limit? This chapter is quite important. By the time you are up to para. 36, we have the beginnings of the argument about consent. On that concept, see also paras. 45, 67, 74, 95, 112, and 134. A closely related concept is obligation; see paras. 72-3, 97, and 116-120.

18.How does money change property? What is the justification for inequality of possessions? See 44-7.

19.Locke’s chapter on the family, “of paternal power,” is oblique but interesting with respect to power. Note, at para. 57, that liberty has implications for the family. Note also, paras. 63-5, that the family has a natural origin—but, as Rousseau asked, if families are regarded as natural, why isn’t politics regarded as natural? We see what he is doing by para. 66—the mother’s share in family power shows us, he asser4ts, that paternal power in no way leads to political power. This is linked to his argument in the first treatise. Note, at paras. 72-3, that inheritance is an important part of families, and that it confers a political obligation. You might also see: para. 80, the family is natural; para. 82, the husband rules the wife (but what about those earlier exceptions?); para. 118, children are subject to the father; and para. 158, economic power is joined to political power. But wait--aren't the conditions of economic power pre-political, and thus not to be changed through politics?

20.Why do people form societies? What are the signs that Locke believes humans are naturally inclined towards virtuous behavior? When dealing with the argument, starting in para. 87, remember the great role of government, at paras. 42, 124.

21.What are the deficiencies of the state of nature? See paras. 13, 124-7.

22.All are bound to the political order, which is governed by majorities. Why? Perhaps the central ingredient is at para 119, about express and tacit consent. See para. 97 as well.

23.The legislative is the primary political power. Why? At paras. 136-140, we see several limits to the state. See also paras. 163-4.

24.Resistance to tyrants is a right. Why? See para. 203, 235. Note carefully what all gets changed in a revolution—at 211. Also see paras. 222-225. Does some of this language seem familiar?

EARLIER MATERIAL IS BELOW

Please pay careful attention to how you read. For most of us, we encounter the printed page differently than we do electronic sources. The latter require very good note taking skills. They also require machines to store, display, and mark up. A printed version of the entire set of readings is available.

· If you have access to unlimited printing, you may download the files in sakai and print them. There are some caveats: In Unit 1 only the first two chapters will be assigned in the Climate of Corporate Control document; In Unit 2, Locke's Second Treatise and Machiavelli's Prince might already be on one of your shelves, and you will not have to print them--Library copies are available; In Unit 4 the Shelby case is 68 pages long, and you will be assigned the first 4 and then be asked to browse the dissenting opinion; In Unit 6 the Decade of War Lessons Learned file is laid out like a power-point, and probably should not be printed out; and the Sharp:FDTD document, at over 100 pages, is another candidate for a quick read online.

· A complete printed copy of the course readings, minus the Unit 2 Locke and Machiavelli readings, is available on short-term reserve in the Library.

For Thursday, September 11, Read (1) Abolition_mvt, (2) Mott Green, and (3) A_Climate_of_Corporate_Control (chaps. 1, 2, and any additional parts you find interesting). For each reading, write a short description of the power situation-- who is trying to do what, what tactics they use, and whether the effort to wield power seems to be successful. You may also note who is harmed by the exercise of power, if any can be identified. Bring this in writing to class today.

NYT think tanks and foreign influence