George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government

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1 1 George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government PUBP Public Opinion and Public Policy Bill Schneider Spring Term 2017 Founders Hall 619 Thursdays, 4:30-7:10 pm Founders Hall 475 Overview The government of the United States was designed not to work. The Constitution was written 220 years ago by leaders who shared a deep distrust of government. They wanted it to be as weak as possible. Hence, they devised a system with divided powers and checks and balances. But somehow, it does work. What makes it work is public opinion. When there is an overwhelming sense of public urgency, all the pieces click into place. Things get done. This course will look at government by crisis and the way public opinion shapes policy. Topics will include taxing and spending, deficits, health care, social issues, national security, military intervention, terrorism and race relations. The course will also look at the dynamics that drive elections, the causes and consequences of political polarization, the rise of political movements and their policy consequences. MDUL Course materials (recommended for purchase) MDNM Recommended for purchase: John W. Kingdon, MDRV America the Unusual MDNM (Worth, 1999) Robert S. Erikson and Kent L. Tedin, MDRV American Public Opinion MDNM, Sixth Edition (Routledge 2015) Additional readings in the course outline below will be placed on reserve.

2 2 Course requirements 1. A paper (approximately 2,500 words) to be assigned from the topics on the next page. The paper should answer the question: How has public opinion affected, or not affected, policy? The paper is due on the day that topic is scheduled for class discussion. 2. A 30-minute class presentation based on the paper written for requirement #1 above, on the day the topic is scheduled for class discussion. 3. A paper (approximately 2,500 words) answering this question: In a deeply polarized political environment, is there any middle ground left on the issue you are writing about? Cite evidence to back up your argument. Paper is due on May 2. Choice of issues: abortion, affirmative action, debt reduction, military intervention, climate change, gun control, government surveillance -- or any other issue you choose, subject to approval by the instructor.

3 3 Topics for presentations and class discussion: The federal budget deficit Raising the debt limit Income inequality Tax policy Immigration Foreign trade Health care Climate change Same-sex marriage Religious freedom Gun control Abortion Terrorism Government surveillance Affirmative action Police accountability Political polarization The electoral college Syria and the Islamic State The Israel-Palestine conflict Populism Infrastructure spending U.S. Russia relations Military intervention

4 4 COURSE SCHEDULE MDBO January 24 MDNM MDBU Standoff: How the U.S.Became Ungovernable MDNM MDBO January 31 MDNM MDBO MDBU America the Unusual MDNM For discussion: Students will be assigned questions based on the John Kingdon book. John W. Kingdon, MDRV America the Unusual MDNM (Worth, 1999) MDBO February MDNM Read Erikson and Tedin, chapter 4, ``Macrolevel Opinion: The Flow of Political Sentiment'' MDBO February 7 MDNM MDBU a. The federal budget deficit MDNM Why is it so difficult to control? Peter Coy, ``The Tea Party's Pyrrhic Victory,'' Bloomberg Businessweek, October 17, 2013 MDBU b. Raising the debt limit MDNM Why is it always a challenge? Doug Hattaway and Steve Pierce, ``The Word That Changed the Debt Ceiling Debate,'' MDRV Politico Magazine MDNM, Feb. 11, 2014

5 5 MDBO February 14 MDNM MDBU MDBU a. Income inequality MDNM Do Americans resent the rich? Christina Pazzanese, ``The Rich and the Rest,'' MDRV U.S. News MDNM, February 9, 2016 MDBU b. Tax policy MDNM Why does the tax reform issue keep coming back? Pew Research Center, ``Federal Tax System Seen in Need of Overhaul,'' March 19, 2015 MDBO February 21 MDNM MDBU a. Immigration MDNM What should be done about illegal immigrants? Pew Research Center, ``Immigration: Key Data Points from Pew Research,'' September 24, 2013 Bradley Jones, ``Americans' Views of Immigrants Marked by Widening Partisan, Generational Divides,'' Pew Research Center, April 15, 2016 MDBU b. Trade MDNM Is the U.S. public protectionist? Pew Research Center, ``Free Trade Agreements Seen as Good for U.S., But Concerns Persist,'' May 27, 2015

6 6 MDBO February 28 MDNM MDBU a. Health care MDNM Why has the public been so resistant? Joseph R. Antos, ``Health Care Reform after the ACA,'' MDRV The New England Journal of Medicine MDNM, May 7, 2014 Vann R. Newkirk II, MDRV Atlantic MDNM, ``The Delayed Gratification of Obamacare,'' October 17, 2016 MDBU b. Climate change MDNM Why can't we deal with the problem? Joseph Castro and LiveScience, ``Popular Opinion on Climate Change,'' MDRV Scientific American MDNM, February 7, 2012 Cary Funk and Brian Kennedy, ``The Politics of Climate,'' Pew Research Center, October 4, 2016 MDBO March MDNM Read Erikson and Tedin, chapter 7, ``Group Differences in Political Opinions'' MDBO March 7 MDNM MDBU a. Same-sex marriage MDNM Why did public opinion change so dramatically? David von Drehle, ``How Gay Marriage Won,'' MDRV Time MDNM, March 28, 2013 Karlyn Bowman, ``Gay Marriage, One Year Later,'' MDRV Forbes MDNM, June 23, 2016 MDBU b. Religious freedom MDNM Is it tolerant or repressive? Jonathan Rauch, ``The Great Secession,'' MDRV The Atlantic MDNM, July/August 2014 Joan Frawley Desmond, ``Tolerance, Religious Freedom and the 2016 Election,'' MDRV National Catholic Register MDNM, August 5, 2016 MDBO March 21 MDNM MDBU a. Gun control MDNM Why is it so difficult to pass?

7 7 Pew Research Center, ``Continued Bipartisan Support for Expanded Background Checks on Gun Sales,'' August 13, 2015 MDBU b. Abortion MDNM Has public opinion changed since MDRV Roe MDNM? Danielle Kurtzleben, ``Despite Constant Debate, Americans' Abortion Opinions Rarely Change,'' National Public Radio, September 21, 2015 MDBO March 28 MDNM MDBU a. Terrorism MDNM Does the public accept the trade-off of privacy for security? Darren W. Davis, ``Public Opinion, Civil Liberties and Security in the Post-9/11 Context,'' chapter 5 in Barbara Norrander and Clyde Wilcox, Eds., MDRV Understanding Public Opinion MDNM, Third Edition (CQ Press, 2010) MDBU b. Government surveillance MDNM How much are we willing to tolerate? Lee Rainie and Shiva Raniam, ``Americans Feel the Tensions Between Privacy and Security Concerns,'' Pre Research Center, February 12, 2016 MDBO April MDNM Read Erikson and Tedin, chapter 4, ``Public Opinion and Democratic Stability'' MDBO April 4 MDNM MDBU a. Affirmative action MDNM Do white Americans support it? Simon Waxman, ``Poll: Yes to Affirmative Action, No to Racial Preferences,'' MDRV Boston Review MDNM, August 9, 2013 MDBU b. Police accountability MDNM

8 8 Rich Morin and Renee Stepler, ``The Racial Confidence Gap in Police Performance,'' Pew Research Center, September 29, 2016 MDBO April 11 MDNM MDBU a. Political polarization MDNM What's behind it? Bill Bishop, MDRV The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart MDNM (Houghton Mifflin, 2008), chapter 1, ``The Age of Political Segregation'' MDBU b. The electoral college system MDNM Andrew Prokop,~ ``Why the Electoral College is the Absolute Worst, Explained,'' MDRV Vox MDNM, November 10, 2016 MDBO April 18 MDNM MDBU a. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict MDNM Is there a consensus? Connie Bruck, ``Friends of Israel,'' MDRV The New Yorker MDNM, September 1, 2014 Walter Russell Mead, ``Change They Can Believe In,'' MDRV Foreign Affairs MDNM, January/February 2009 MDBU b. Syria and the Islamic State MDNM What should the U.S. do to defeat the Islamic State? Stephen Biddle and Jacob Shapiro, ``America Can't Do Much About ISIS,'' MDRV The Atlantic MDNM, April 20, 2016 Shibley Telhami et al., ``American Public Attitudes Toward ISIS and Syria,'' Brookings Institution, January 8, 2015 MDBO April 25 MDNM MDBU a. Populism MDNM Is it liberal or conservative -- or both? Michael Kazin, ``Trump and American Populism.'' MDRV Foreign Affairs MDNM, October 6, George Packer, ``Hillary Clinton and the Populist Revolt,'' MDRV The New Yorker MDNM, October 31, 2016 MDBU b. Infrastructure spending MDNM Why is spending on public works sdiffrent from spending on social welfare?

9 9 Wharton, ``Can Infrastructure Spending Be a Silver Bullet?'' October 11, 2016 David Wessel, ``Spending on our Crumbling Infrastructure,'' Brookings Institution, March 10, 2015 MDBO May 2 MDNM MDBU a. U.S.-Russia relations MDNM A new Cold War? David Remnick, ``Watching the Eclipse,'' MDRV The New Yorker MDNM, August 11, 2014 Dina Smeltz, Stepan Goncharov and Lily Wojtowicz, ``U.S. and Russia: Insecurity and Mistrust Shape Mutual Perceptions,'' The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, November 4, 2016 MDBU b. Military intervention MDNM Where do Americans draw the line? John Mueller, ``The Iraq Syndrome,'' Foreign Affairs, November/December 2005 MDUL Academic Accommodation for a Disability MDNM If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at All academic accommodations must be arranged through the DRC. MDUL Policy on Plagiarism MDNM The profession of scholarship and the intellectual life of a university as well as the field of public policy inquiry depend fundamentally on a foundation of trust. Thus any act of plagiarism strikes at the heart of the meaning of the university and the purpose of the School of Public Policy. It constitutes a serious breach of professional ethics and it is unacceptable. Plagiarism is the use of another's words or ideas presented as one's own. It includes, among other things, the use of specific words, ideas, or frameworks that are the product of another's work. Honesty and thoroughness in citing sources is essential to professional accountability and personal responsibility. Appropriate citation is necessary so that arguments, evidence, and claims can be critically examined.

10 10 Plagiarism is wrong because of the injustice it does to the person whose ideas are stolen. But it is also wrong because it constitutes lying to one's professional colleagues. From a prudential perspective, it is shortsighted and self-defeating, and it can ruin a professional career. The faculty of the School of Public Policy takes plagiarism seriously and has adopted a zero tolerance policy. Any plagiarized assignment will receive an automatic grade of "F." This may lead to failure for the course, resulting in dismissal from the University. This dismissal will be noted on the student's transcript. For foreign students who are on a university-sponsored visa (eg. F-1, J-1 or J-2), dismissal also results in the revocation of their visa. To help enforce the SPP policy on plagiarism, all written work submitted in partial fulfillment of course or degree requirements must be available in electronic form so that it can be compared with electronic databases, as well as submitted to commercial services to which the School subscribes. Faculty may at any time submit student's work without prior permission from the student. Individual instructors may require that written work be submitted in electronic as well as printed form. The SPP policy on plagiarism is supplementary to the George Mason University Honor Code; it is not intended to replace it or substitute for it. <