NOTE: The correct title of this course is: Party Polarization in American Politics (NOT Congress ) Party Polarization in American Politics

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1 NOTE: The correct title of this course is: Party Polarization in American Politics (NOT Congress ) Spring 2014, Tues. 4:15-6:15pm Course location: room TBD Party Polarization in American Politics Professor: David R. Jones david.jones@baruch.cuny.edu (best method to contact) Office: GC, room 5210 / Baruch, room 5278 Phone: (646) Office hours: by appointment Course Description Has the American public become more polarized? What about political elites running in elections and serving in government? Is there any connection between mass and elite polarization? Why does polarization seem to be taking place, and what are its consequences? This class will delve deeply into all of these questions. We will begin by taking a historical perspective and asking whether current levels of polarization within the U.S. government are unusually high, or whether the seemingly low levels from a half century ago were the real aberration. We will explore several different possible causes for why the parties in government have become more divided from each other over the past 50 years or so, including institutional, electoral, and activist-based explanations. After that, we will shift our attention to the mass public. We will examine evidence both for and against the notion that the American public is currently polarized, and try to document the specific ways in which the American public has and has not become more polarized over time (e.g., culturally, economically, geographically). To the extent that the public has polarized, we will explore possible causes including the influence of polarized elites and of polarized news media. Finally, we will analyze the consequences of elite and mass polarization for public policy, for representation, and for public s attitudes towards politics and government. Many of the readings in the class will be drawn from the American politics reading list integrating both American institutions and processes. Course Requirements You must have a functioning Blackboard and GC account that you regularly access. You are expected to regularly, actively participate in class discussions. Everyone must critically read each assigned reading before class. You should be prepared to make informed and thoughtful comments regarding each author's research question(s), the questions theoretical or empirical relevance, and the research design. To facilitate your class preparation each week, beginning in week 2, I ask that you submit no later than NOON on the day of the class (via Blackboard s assignment page) a short thought paper on an issue raised by that week s readings. These thought papers should not be treated as summaries of the readings. Instead, they should take one of the following forms: 1. Develop a counter-argument to a theoretical claim made in the week s readings. 2. Discuss interesting connections between one of the week s readings and other readings from that week or from a previous week. 3. Discuss an interesting question raised (by not answered) by the readings. How would you answer it? 1

2 4. Are there key dependent or independent variables that the authors neglected to address? Why is this failure important? These thought papers should have a maximum length of two double-spaced pages. They should be concisely written and have a clear point or argument. Because situations may arise making certain weeks particularly hectic for you, I will allow you to skip two weekly papers of your choosing without penalty (you must still attend those classes). However, any additional week you miss counts as a zero no excuses. These weekly assignments, along with your weekly class participation, count as 50% of your course grade. The other 50% of your grade will be based on a research proposal you will write. The proposal should lay out an empirical research question. You don t have to answer it, but it needs to be answerable. Your question will ask how some independent variable(s) affect a dependent variable relevant to the class. You will also need to specify a theory that connects them, and discuss the kinds of evidence you would collect to answer your question. Think of the paper this way: you are writing the equivalent of the first half of the articles that we ll read during the term: stating a question, outlining a theory, and stating you ll how support that theory, without actually generating the evidence to test it. The essay should be no more than pages. We will discuss it extensively during class. The essay will be due at the assigned final exam time. Readings The course requires a wide array of readings, all of which I will post on our Blackboard site, either as links to electronic copies through the library or in pdf format. You will find that a lot of the literature in this class (and in American Politics generally) is highly quantitative. In case you are not comfortable reading quantitative pieces, I have posted some recommendations for primers on this subject on Blackboard. Class Schedule (Subject to change. Changes will be announced on Blackboard) Part 1: Background and Overview 1. Introduction to the Course and to Political Parties Aldrich, John Why Parties? A Second Look, ch. 1. Madison, Federalist 10 APSA "Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System: A Report of the Committee on Political Parties." APSR 44 (3) Part 2, Supplement. Downs, Anthony An Economic Theory of Democracy, esp. chs. 1, 2, 7, 8. Part 2: Party Polarization in Government (Elite Polarization) 2. Are Party Elites More Ideologically Polarized than Usual? How Do We Measure? Gerring, John Party Ideologies in America, , chs. 1 & 2 McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal Polarized America, pp Brady, David W., and Hahrie C. Han "Polarization then and now: A historical perspective." Red and Blue Nation Vol. 1, pp

3 voteview.com 3. Is Party Conflict Truly Ideological, or Merely a Function of Context? Heberlig, Eric, Marc Hetherington, and Bruce Larson The Price of Leadership: Campaign Money and the Polarization of Congressional Parties. Journal of Politics 68: Theriault, Sean Party Polarization in Congress. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ch. 8. Lee, Frances Beyond Ideology, chs. 3 & 4 (pp ) McCarty, Nolan, Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal Polarized America, pp Sinclair, Barbara Party Wars. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, chs Did Electoral Institutions Cause It? (Gerrymandering and Primaries) Carson, Jamie L., Michael H. Crespin, Charles J. Finocchiaro, and David W. Rohde Redistricting and Party Polarization in the U.S. House of Representatives. American Politics Research 35: McCarty, Nolan, Keith T. Poole, and Howard Rosenthal "Does Gerrymandering Cause Polarization?" American Journal of Political Science 53(3): Brady, David, Hahrie Han and Jeremy Pope Primary Elections and Candidate Ideology? Out of Step with the Primary Electorate? Legislative Studies Quarterly 32: Hirano, Shigeo, James M. Snyder, Stephen Ansolabehere, and John Mark Hansen Primary Elections and Partisan Polarization in the U.S. Congress. Quarterly Journal of Political Science 5(2): Masket, Seth, Jonathan Winburn and Gerald C. Wright The Gerrymanderers Are Coming! Legislative Redistricting Won't Affect Competition or Polarization Much, No Matter Who Does It, PS: Political Science and Politics 45 (1): Gerber, Elisabeth and Rebecca Morton Primary Election Systems and Representation Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 14: Bullock, Will and Joshua D. Clinton More a Molehill than a Mountain: The Effects of the Blanket Primary on Elected Officials Behavior from California. Journal of Politics 73(3): Eric McGhee, Nolan McCarty, Steve Rogers, and Boris Shor A Primary Cause of Partisanship? Nomination Systems and Legislator Ideology, American Journal of Political Science (forthcoming) 5. Did Elite Strategic Behavior Cause It (via Party Realignment)? If So, When? Carmines, Edward and James Stimson Issue Evolution: Race and the Transformation of American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, chs. 2-3 McCarty, Nolan, Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal Polarized America, pp Brewer, Mark D., and Jeffrey M. Stonecash Dynamics of American political parties. Cambridge University Press, ch. 4 Baumgartner & Jones The Politics of Information, ch5 (pp ) 3

4 Key, V.O., Jr Secular Realignment and the Party System. Journal of Politics 21(2): Sundquist Dynamics of the Party System. chs. 1, 2, 7 & 8 Gerring, John Party Ideologies in America, , chs. 6, 8 Stonecash, Jeffrey Understanding American Political Parties: Democratic Ideals, Political Uncertainty, and Strategic Positioning. Routledge, ch. 10 Motyl, Matt. "Party Evolutions in Moral Intuitions: A Text-Analysis of US Political Party Platforms from " Available at SSRN (2012). 6. Or Did Activists Cause It? Aldrich, John Why Parties? A Second Look, ch. 6, READ ONLY pp Noel, Hans The Coalition Merchants: The Ideological Roots of the Civil Rights Realignment. Journal of Politics Vol. 74, No. 1, pp Sinclair, Barbara Party Wars. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, ch. 2. Skocpol, Theda, and Vanessa Williamson The Tea Party and the remaking of Republican conservatism. Oxford University Press, ch. 5. Miller, Gary, and Norman Schofield. "Activists and partisan realignment in the United States." American Political Science Review 97, no. 2 (2003): Feinstein, Brian D. and Eric Schickler Platforms and Partners: The Civil Rights Realignment Reconsidered. Studies in American Political Development 22: Masket, Seth No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures, Intro and ch. 1. Michael A. Bailey, Jonathan Mummolo, Hans Noel. "Tea Party Influence: A Story of Activists and Elites." American Politics Research (2012). Part 3: Party Polarization in the Electorate (Mass Polarization) 7. Are Citizens More Polarized than Usual? How Do We Measure? Fiorina, Morris P., and Matthew S. Levendusky "Disconnected: The political class versus the people," AND commentary by Alan Abramowitz and Gary Jacobson, "Disconnected, or Joined at the Hip?" in Red and blue nation Vol. 1, pp Iyengar, Shanto, Gaurav Sood, and Yphtach Lelkes "Affect, Not Ideology: A Social Identity Perspective on Polarization." Public Opinion Quarterly 76 (3). READ ONLY pp DiMaggio, Paul, John Evans, and Bethany Bryson Have Americans Social Attitudes Become More Polarized? American Journal of Sociology 102: Fiorina, Morris, Samuel Abrams, and Jeremy Pope Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. 2 nd ed. New York: Pearson Longman, chs. 2 & 4. Abramowitz, Alan The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization and American Democracy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, esp. ch Geographic Polarization: Are Citizens Sorting Themselves into Red and Blue Regions? Bishop, Bill, and Robert G. Cushing The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart. 1st ed. Houghton Mifflin, ch. 1. (pp. 1-15) 4

5 Abrams, Samuel J., & Fiorina, Morris P The Big Sort That Wasn't: A Skeptical Reexamination. PS: Political Science and Politics 45(2): Levendusky, Matthew S., and Jeremy C. Pope "Red states vs. blue states: Going beyond the mean." Public opinion quarterly 75(2): Nall, Clayton, and Jonathan Mummolo "Why Partisans Don t Sort: How Neighborhood Quality Concerns Limit Americans Pursuit of Like-Minded Neighbors." (Working paper) Klinkner, Philip Red and Blue Scare: The Continuing Diversity of the American Electoral Landscape. The Forum. Bishop, Bill, and Robert Cushing Response to Philip A. Klinkner s Red and Blue Scare: The Continuing Diversity of the American Electoral Landscape. The Forum. Klinkner, Philip Counter Response from Klinkner to Bishop and Cushing. The Forum. Glaeser, Edward L., and Bryce A. Ward Myths and Realities of American Political Geography. The Journal of Economic Perspectives 20 (2): READ ONLY pp (Myths 1-3) McDonald, Ian Migration and Sorting in the American Electorate. American Politics Research. 39: Do Elites Cause Partisan Polarization in the Electorate? If So, How? Abramowitz, Alan I., and Kyle L. Saunders "Ideological realignment in the US electorate." The Journal of Politics 60(3): Levendusky, Matthew S The partisan sort: How liberals became Democrats and conservatives became Republicans. University of Chicago Press, 2009, chs. 2, 4, 6 Highton, Benjamin, and Cindy D. Kam "The long-term dynamics of partisanship and issue orientations." Journal of Politics 73(1): Carmines, Edward G., and James A. Stimson. "On the structure and sequence of issue evolution." The American Political Science Review (1986): Zaller, John The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge University Press, esp. chs. 2,3,7,9. Adams, Greg Abortion: Evidence of Issue Evolution. American Journal of Political Science 41: Hetherington, Marc Resurgent Mass Partisanship: The Role of Elite Polarization. American Political Science Review 95: Carsey, Thomas M. and Geoffrey C. Layman Changing Sides or Changing Minds? Party Identification and Policy Preferences in the American Electorate. American Journal of Political Science 50: Abramowitz, Alan The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization and American Democracy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, esp. ch. 4 Lupu, Noam. "Elite Polarization and Voter Partisanship: A Comparative Perspective." Unpublished manuscript (2013). 10. Does the Media Cause Mass Polarization? 5

6 Levendusky, Matthew S "Why Do Partisan Media Polarize Viewers?" American Journal of Political Science. Prior, Markus "Media and political polarization." Annual Review of Political Science 16: [a literature review] Lelkes, Yphtach, Shanto Iyengar, and Gaurav Sood "The Hostile Audience: Selective Exposure to Partisan Sources and Affective Polarization." Working paper. Cohen, Martin, Hans Noel, and John R. Zaller Without a Watchdog: The Effect of Local News on Political Polarization in Congress. Working paper. Stroud, Natalie Polarization and Partisan Selective Exposure. Journal of Communication 60: LaCour, Michael J A Balanced News Diet, Not Selective Exposure: Evidence from a Direct Measure of Media Exposure. UCLA working paper. 11. Are Citizens Divided by Moral Issues or by Economic Issues? Frank, Thomas What s the Matter with Kansas? New York: Metropolitan Books, pp. 1-12, Bartels, Larry M Class Politics and Partisan Change in Unequal democracy: The political economy of the new gilded age. Princeton University Press, ch. 3 Gelman, Andrew, Boris Shor, Joseph Bafumi, and David Park Rich State, Poor State, Red State, Blue State: What s the Matter with Connecticut? Quarterly Journal of Political Science 2: Putnam, Robert and David Campbell American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon and Schuster, ch. 11 Ansolabhere, Stephen, Jonathan Rodden and James M. Snyder Purple America? Journal of Economic Perspectives 20: Benjamin Highton Sorting the American States into Red and Blue: Culture, Economics, and the 2012 US Presidential Election in Historical Context. The Forum. Part 4: Consequences 12. What are the Consequences for Governing? McCarty, Nolan, Keith Poole, and Howard Rosenthal Polarized America, ch. 6 Sinclair, Barbara Spoiling the Sausages? How a Polarized Congress Deliberates and Legislates. In Nivola and Brady (eds.), Red and Blue Nation? Volume II, pp Keith Krehbiel Party Polarization and Bad Legislation, in Nivola and Brady, eds, Red and Blue Nation? Vol. II, pp Jones, David R "Party Polarization and Legislative Gridlock." Political Research Quarterly 54(1): Cornell W. Clayton & Lucas K. McMillan The Roberts Court in an Era of Polarized Politics. The Forum Lindqvist, Erik, and Robert Ostling. "Political polarization and the size of government." American Political Science Review 104, no. 3 (2010):

7 13. What are the Consequences for Public Opinion and Elections? Hetherington, Marc Turned Off or Turned On? How Polarization Affects Political Engagement. In Red and Blue Nation, Vol. II. Jones, David R "Partisan Polarization and Congressional Accountability in House Elections." American Journal of Political Science 54(2): Druckman, James, Erik Peterson, and Rune Slothuus "How Elite Partisan Polarization Affects Public Opinion Formation." American Political Science Review 107(1). Bafumi, Joseph, and Michael C. Herron "Leapfrog Representation and Extremism: A Study of American Voters and Their Members in Congress." American Political Science Review 104(3): Harbridge, Laurel, and Neil Malhotra "Electoral Incentives and Partisan Conflict in Congress: Evidence from Survey Experiments." American Journal of Political Science 55(3): Part 5: New Research Ideas 14. Class Presentations 7