City University of Hong Kong. Information on a Course offered by Department of Asian and International Studies with effect from Semester B in

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1 City University of Hong Kong Information on a Course offered by Department of Asian and International Studies with effect from Semester B in Part I Course Title: Course Code: Course Duration: U.S. Politics and Society One semester Credit Units: 3 Level: Medium of Instruction: B4 English Prerequisites: (Course Code and Title) Precursors: (Course Code and Title) Equivalent Courses: (Course Code and Title) Exclusive Courses: (Course Code and Title) Part II 1. Abstract This course introduces students to major political issues and institutions of U.S. politics within a broader societal context. It analyses the global impact of the U.S. s foreign policy, its economic and environmental policies as well as it cultural influence. It will examine how U.S. politics has become strikingly disharmonious and its politics increasingly polarized. Students in the course will explore how American society became increasingly divided after the civil rights, anti-vietnam war, and countercultural movements of the 1960s (with the Democratic Party moving left) as well as the resurgence of the religious right and economic libertarians in the 1970s and 1980s (leading the Republicans to become more conservative). Such political and party divisions, in turn, reflect deep social cleavages along class, racial, gender, generational, regional, and religious lines. The course will also explore how the U.S. as a lonely superpower confronts increasingly assertive regional powers. Particular focus will be put on U.S.-Chinese relations. Theories of social cleavages, of key American political institutions (the presidency, Congress, the judiciary, political parties, etc), and well as of international relations will be applied by students to engage in problem solving exercises of problems facing the U.S. that are relevant to many other economically advanced societies, including Hong Kong. _2b_U S PoliticsSociety_MT_ _clean 1

2 2. Course Aims This course addresses major political issues and institutions of the United States of America. It aims to explain how U.S. national politics has become increasingly contrarian since the 1960s. In the immediate post-wwii period mainstream American society was consensus-oriented in an era when U.S. power was largely unchallenged, economic prosperity unparalleled, and culture wars unknown. The civil rights movements of the 1960s and the rise of the religious right in the context of economic decline and military challenges (particularly in Vietnam) changed this situation radically. The Clinton and Bush, Jr. presidencies, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression have added fuel to this political firestorm. Following the controversies of the Bush administration, the course will explore how the Obama presidency triggered militant grass roots opposition from the Republican Party and in particular its Tea Party faction. The course aims to teach students how to analyse major political problems confronting the political system and the significant social cleavages dividing the electorate. It also explores U.S. s relationships with regional powers, including China. Students will acquire theoretical knowledge to investigate political behaviour and institutional processes, and how these are related to social development and policy outcomes. Students will be encouraged to discover and apply their knowledge of key aspects of U.S. politics to real life examples of political problem solving. Students will engage in a range of interactive learning experiences, with project-based learning used to analyse major problems facing the U.S. It will be shown how such analysis that explores the impact both of social structures and political divisions provides tools relevant to the better understanding of other polities, including Hong Kong s. 3. Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs) Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able: No. CILOs Weighting (if applicable) 1. Identify and critically evaluate key issues in U.S. politics and society 2. Explain political behaviour, institutional processes, social developments, and policy outcomes using relevant theories and models. 3. Appraise and critique arguments about political processes and social change in the U.S. 4. Discover and innovate by demonstrating an ability to apply factual and theoretical knowledge to a problem-based activity. 5. Analyse and synthesise information and communicate it effectively. _2b_U S PoliticsSociety_MT_ _clean 2

3 4. Teaching and learning Activities (TLAs) ILO No TLAs Hours/week (if applicable) CILO 1-3, 5 CILO 4 CILO 3-4 CILO 1-5 CILO Assessment Tasks/Activities Lectures and class discussions Memorandum (to a leading politician, policy maker, social activist, etc.) Group presentations Quiz Short written assignment Type of Assessment Tasks/Activities Weighting CILOs to be addressed Attendance and participation in group discussions Short reports and presentations Memorandum 30 4 Quiz Remarks 6. Grading of Student Achievement: Refer to Grading of Courses in the Academic Regulations (Attachment) and to the Explanatory Notes. A-/A/A+ B-/B/B+ C-/C/C+ D F Evidence of excellent conceptual and critical thinking reflected in class discussions, group participation, written work, and the quiz. Ability to comprehend and critique lectures and reading materials. Student is able to make sophisticated arguments and draw insightful conclusions about the key issues of U.S. politics and society as well being able to apply the different theoretical models in a clear and precise manner. Evidence of good ability to think conceptually is reflected in class discussions group participation, written work, and in the quiz. Major themes of the lectures and readings are understood. Student is able to form plausible arguments and reasonably convincing conclusions about key issues of American politics and society and have a broad understanding of the theories that underpin them. Evidence of incomplete/marginal ability to analyze material presented in lectures and discussion groups. While the student has regularly attended class, performance has demonstrated only a general understanding of lectures and reading materials as shown in class discussions, group participation, written work, and the quiz. Student cannot make sustained arguments or reach convincing conclusions. Evidence of limited comprehension of the lectures and reading materials. The student was marginal in class discussions and group work. The papers were of a low standard and the quiz result was weak. Student has a very limited grasp of key issues of U.S. politics and the theories used to explain them. Little or no effort put into the course. The student has failed to demonstrate even a minimal capacity to analyze issues of U.S. politics and theories behind them. The students has missed a number of classes and participated little, if at all, in class discussions and group activities. Written work, if submitted, has been of a poor standard or plagiarized. The quiz result was poor. _2b_U S PoliticsSociety_MT_ _clean 3

4 Part III Keyword Syllabus: U.S. politics, international studies, comparative politics, social cleavages, race, class, gender, religion, region, political parties, the presidency, Congress, the Supreme Court, the judiciary, interest groups, social policy, environmental policy, gay rights, abortion, multiculturalism, foreign policy. Recommended readings: Aldrich, J. H., Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Alesina, A. & Rosenthal, H., Partisan Politics, Divided Government, and the Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bailey, M. A. & Maltmann, F., The Constrained Court: Law, Politics, and the Decisions Justices Make. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Bartels, L. M., Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Black, E. & Black, M., Divided Government: The Ferocious Struggle for Power in American Politics. New York: Simon and Schuster. Edwards, G.C Overreach: Leadership in the Obama Presidency. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Evans, M., Power and Paradox: Asian Geopolitics and Sino-American Relations in the 21st Century. Orbis, 55(1), pp Frank, T., What s the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. New York: Henry Holt. Gelman, A., et al., Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way they Do. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Holbrook, T. M., Do Campaigns Matter? Thousand Oaks: Sage. Huntington, S. P., American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University. Huntington, S. P., The Lonely Superpower. Foreign Affairs, 78(2), pp Kluger, R., Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality. New York: Vintage. _2b_U S PoliticsSociety_MT_ _clean 4

5 Lim, E., The Lovers' Quarrel: The Two Foundings and American Political Development Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lipset, S. M. & Marks, G., Why it Didn t Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States. New York: W.W. Norton. Mayhew, D., America s Congress: Actions in the Public Sphere, James Madison through Newt Gingrich. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. Menza, J. & Brooks, C., Social Cleavages and Political Change: Voter Alignment and U.S. Party Coalitions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reilly, B Presidentialism reconsidered: The relevance of an old debate. Ethnopolitics 12 (1): pp Skowronek, S., The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to Bill Clinton. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University. Skowronek, S., Presidential leadership in political time: Reprise and reappraisal. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. Sinclair, B., Party Wars: Polarization and the Politics of National Policy Making. Norman, Oklahoma: The University of Oklahoma Press. Singh, R., Governing America: The Politics of a Divided Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Smith, R. A., The American Anomaly: U.S. Politics and Government in Comparative Perspective. London: Routledge. Wilson, G. K., Only in America? The Politics of the United States in Comparative Perspective. Chatham, N.J.: Chatham House. Wooldridge, A. & Micklethwait, J., The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America. New York: Penguin. _2b_U S PoliticsSociety_MT_ _clean 5