Proposed New Undergraduate Class: Minority Representation in American Politics. Course Description

Transcription

1 Proposed New Undergraduate Class: Minority Representation in American Politics Course Description This course is an exploration of whether and how racial and ethnic minorities are able to organize effectively and press their demands through the American political system. Specifically, we will focus on the political behavior of minority citizens, the relative strength and effect of these groups at the polls and in political office, the theory and practice of group formation as it applies to minority groups, the responsiveness of elected officials, and the legal and constitutional obstacles and instruments that provide context and shape these phenomena. We will begin with a focus on African-American disfranchisement and their struggle to achieve voting rights and representation in the political process and then explore the particular issues facing other racial and ethnic minority groups in American politics. Texts Reading assignments for the class will mostly come from the following books. Additional readings may be used for some topics as listed in the course schedule. McClain, Paula and Joseph Stewart Can We All Get Along? Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics, third edition, Westview Press. Valelly, Richard The Two Reconstructions: The Struggle for Black Enfranchisement, University of Chicago Press. Chong, Dennis Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement, University of Chicago Press. Grofman, Bernard, et al Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality, Cambridge University Press. Grofman, Bernard, editor. Publishing Race and Redistricting in the 1990 s, Algora Garcia, John A., Latino Politics in America: Community, Culture, and Interests, Rowan and Littlefield. Wilkins, David E American Indian Politics and the American Political System, Rowan and Littlefield. Nakanishi, Don T. and James S. Lai. 2003, Asian American Politics: Law, Participation, and Policy, Rowan and Littlefield.

2 Page 2 Daniels, Roger Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II, Hill and Wang. Grades You will have four short (5 typed pages) research assignments due during the semester, which will be described in detail later. The assignments will relate to the topics discussed and will involve research beyond materials presented in class. You will also be expected to participate in class discussion, sometimes presenting your own research from the assignments to the class as a whole. There will also be an in class midterm and noncumulative final exam. Grades on late assignments will be reduced 5% per day. Makeup exams will not be available for students who fail to notify me in advance of missing an examination, nor for students without an acceptable explanation and, if necessary, documentation. Grades will be computed on the following basis: Research Assignments 32% Class Participation 8% Midterm Exam 30% Final Exam 30% Topic 1: Defining Terms Tentative Course Schedule We will address the following questions: What is a minority and are minority groups politically relevant in American Politics? What is meant by minority representation? Readings: McClain, Chapters 1, 2, 3 Additional reading: Hanna Pitkin The Concept of Representation, University of California Press (selected pages). Topic 2: The US political institutional structure and minority representation We will discuss the basic institutional structure of the American political system i.e. the use of winner-take-all elections in a federal system with a separation of powers between executive and legislature and the implications of the institutional system on the ability of minority groups to achieve representation. McClain, Chapter 4 Additional readings:

3 Page 3 Guinier, Lani The Tyranny of the Majority, The Free Press, chapters 1 and 2. Morton, Rebecca Analyzing Elections, W.W. Norton, selected chapters. Topic 3: African-American Disfranchisement in Historical Perspective Part 1 We will analyze the success and failure of the First Reconstruction (i.e. the period after the Civil War when African-Americans voted in large numbers and elected representatives) and the success of the effort to disfranchise African-Americans by the turn of the century. We will compare this period to the Second Reconstruction (i.e. the period after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965). Grofman, 1992, chapter 1 Valelly, entire book Foner, Eric Reconstruction: America s Unfinished Revolution, , Perennial. Kousser, J. Morgan The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suffrage Restrictions and the Establishment of the One-Party South, New Haven: Yale University Press. Topic 4: African-American Disfranchisement in Historical Perspective Part II We will discuss the civil and voting rights movements of the 20 th century with a particular discussion of the theory of collective action and social movements as it relates to minority groups. Grofman, 1992, chapter 1 McClain, Chapter 2. Chong, entire book. Carmines, Edward G. and James Stimson, Issue Evolution: Race and The Transformation of American Politics, Princeton: Princeton University Press, selected chapters. Carmines, Edward G. and James Stimson, 1992, Party Politics in the Wake of the Voting Rights Act, in Bernard Grofman and Chandler Davidson, editors, Controversies

4 Page 4 in Minority Voting: The Voting Rights Act in Perspective, Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution. Morton, Rebecca Analyzing Elections, W.W. Norton, selected chapters. Topic 5: Vote-Dilution and Under-representation (the Voting Rights Act Expanded) We will examine the legal history, which led to the expansion of the voting rights act to cases of vote dilution. Grofman, 1992, chapters 2-4 Thernstrom, Stephen and Abigal Thernstrom America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible, Simon and Schuster. Kousser, J. Morgan Colorblind Injustice: Minority Voting Rights and the Undoing of the Second Reconstruction, University of North Carolina Press. Topic 6: The Principal Solution: Majority Minority Districts We will discuss the origin of the use of majority minority districts and the effects of such districts. Guinier, Chapters 3-5. Grofman, 1992, Chapter 5. Grofman, 2003, entire book. Lublin, David Ian The Paradox of Representation. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Lublin, David Ian and D. Stephen Voss Boll-Weevil Blues: Polarized Congressional Delegations into the 21 st Century, American Review of Politics 21(Winter): Lublin, David Ian and D. Stephen Voss The Missing Middle: Why Median- Voter Theory Can t Save Democrats from Singing the Boll-Weevil Blues, Journal of Politics 65(1): Shotts, Kenneth W The Effect of Majority-Minority Mandates on Partisan Gerrymandering, American Journal of Political Science 45(1):

5 Page 5 Shotts, Kenneth W Gerrymandering, Legislative Composition, and National Policy Outcomes, American Journal of Political Science 46(2): Shotts, Kenneth W. 2003a. Does Racial Redistricting Cause Conservative Policy Outcomes? Policy Preferences of Southern Representatives in the 1980s and 1990s. Journal of Politics 65(1): Shotts, Kenneth W. 2003b. Racial Redistricting s Alleged Perverse Effects: Theory, Data, and Reality Journal of Politics 65(1): Topic 7: Minority Representation and Other Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups We will consider the history of disfranchisement and issues of representation of other racial and ethnic minorities in American politics with particular emphasis on Latinos, Asian-Americans, and American Indians. Garcia, entire book. Wilkins, entire book. Nakanishi, entire book. Maisel, Louis and Ira N. Forman, editors Jews in American Politics, Rowman and Littlefield. Suleiman, Michael W Arabs in America: Building a New Future, Temple University Press. Topic 8: Inter-group Coalitions and Conflicts We will analyze the sources of conflict and cooperation between racial and ethnic minorities and the growing diversity in the meaning of identity in terms of minorities in American politics McClain, Chapters 5 and 6 Additional Reading: Jennings, James, editor, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians in Urban America, Praeger. Topic 9: Minority Representation and September 11 th

6 Page 6 We will conclude with a discussion of the issues of minority representation in American politics during periods of war and conflict with countries of origin and the current status of Arab-Americans and the effects of the war on terrorism. Daniels, entire book. Suleiman, Michael W Arabs in America: Building a New Future, Temple University Press. Emerson, Steven American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us, Free Press.