United States Politics: Money, Culture, Power - POL392

Welcome to United States Politics: Money, Culture, Power. US politics is today, as in much of its past, dominated by money and the power that money can buy. US cultural life is also preoccupied with money, in ways that profoundly affect the distribution of political power. Proceeding from these premises, this unit explores the relationship between money, culture and power in contemporary US politics, paying particular attention this year's Presidential election. Additional topics covered include campaign financing, interest groups and the media; the impact of social inequalities of class, race, gender and sexual preference on US politics; the role of religion and political parties in the formulation of dominant political ideas; and the politics surrounding the global financial crisis and its aftermath. These topics will be covered in a weekly two hour lecture, and on the ilearn discussion board.

You will enhance your prospects of doing well in this unit by:

• listening to all lectures attentively while note taking
• regularly contributing to the discussion board and engaging with other students' contributions
• doing all the required reading and at least some of the supplementary reading (while also taking notes from these readings)
• regularly reading US news and media sources
• Conscientiously preparing for each assessment task

The required reading for this unit is David McKay (2013) American Politics and Society 8th edn. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

All students must get a copy of this text, which is available from the Macquarie University bookshop. In addition, supplementary readings and links to readings will be provided each week on the ilearn site. Naturally, students are also encouraged to do their own self-directed reading. The more you read, the more you will get out of this unit.

Lecture Outlines and Required Reading

Week One: Introduction: Money, Culture, Power and US Exceptionalism

McKay, Chapters 1 & 2

An enduring feature of American political life is the belief in US exceptionalism – the idea that the United Stated is a unique polity that embodies liberty and democracy in a way that is or should be a beacon for the rest of the world. In this week, we explore the origins of American exceptionalism, and discuss the ways in which it relates to the organizing themes of this unit - money, culture, power.

Week Two: The American Constitution, Federalism and Privilege

McKay, Chapters 3 & 4

The American Constitution is frequently held up as a hallowed document and one of the keys to American success over the past two centuries. Yet on closer examination it is clear that the Constitution still reflects its 18^th century origins in advancing the interests of a very narrow strata of colonial society. In this lecture we examine both the history of the American Constitution and discuss some of its key clauses, with a particular focus on federalism. Students should have closely read the Constitution (a copy of which can be found in the back of their textbook) before this class.

Week Three: Two Parties, One Culture?

McKay, Chapter 5

The American two Party system emerged in the nineteenth century, and endures to this day, though in a very different form. We here discuss the emergence of both the Democratic and the Republican Parties, and look both at the ways that they have changed and the ways that their key constituencies have changed. We end by examining the nature of the two main parties today, and consider the challenges that they face at the upcoming 2016 Presidential and congressinal elections. We will be particularly interested in the regularly expressed notion that, despite their differences, both parties ultimately represent the interests of corporate America.

Week Four: Money, Elections and Political Participation

McKay, Chapter 6

For outsiders, the nature of the US federal electoral system can be very confusing. This lecture seeks to systematically demystify the US electoral system. As well as outlining the mechanics of electoral processes for Congress and for the Presidency, we will discuss the key issues confronting the American electoral system today. In particular, we will focus on the vexed question of money in US politics and electoral funding. Can elections and political office be bought?

Week Five. Easter holiday

Because of Easter Monday their will be no lecture on this day.

Week Six: Congress and Lobbying

McKay, Chapters 8 & 9

The US congress is composed of the House of Representatives and the US Senate. Their respective roles, rights and obligations are outlined in the US Constitution, though in practices these have shifted over time. We discuss these changes, and also examine the extremely important role of lobbying in shaping final legislative outcome. Finally, we begin exploring the vexed issue of the relationship between Congress and the President, using contemporary examples to illustrate some of the key issues, as an entree into the next lecture.

Week Seven: ANZAC day

Because of ANZAC Day, their will be no lecture on this day.

Week Eight: The Supreme Court and Judicial Politics

McKay, Chapter 15

This week we examine the third pillar of the US system of government – the Supreme Court. In addition to identifying the formal reach of its jurisdiction, we focus on the ways in which the Court has become, or in fact has always been, politicized. We will do this through a closer consideration of some key cases over which the Court has presided, which illustrate the interlocking and mutually constitutive nature of legal authority and political power. We finish by considering the impact that the death of Conservative Supreme Court Judge Antonin scalia will have on the Court

Week Nine: Interest Groups

McKay, Chapter 14

Politically organized interest groups have a profound influence on the political process in the United States. They are often political agenda-setters, and are often able to bring considerable political pressure to bear on individual politicians (particularly in Congress), in order to realize political outcomes that are advantageous to their constituencies. We explore the nature of political influence in US politics, and illustrate this by considering the role of some key interest groups, including the National Rifle Association (NRA)

Week Ten: The Religious Right and the Politics of Faith

McKay, Chapter 16

Despite the formal, consitutional separation between church and state in the US, religion plays a more important role in US politics than in any other comparable western state. We explore why this is and analyse how it is manifested. We pay particular attention to the influence that the Religious Right has exercised over the contemporary Republican Party.

Week Eleven: Race, Culture, Power

Reading TBA (will be placed on ILearn)

Race and ethnicity have been and remain tremendously important in US political life, as the 2014 killing of and reaction to the police killing of a black teenager in Missourri poignantly demonstrate. The legacies of racially based slavery continue to be felt in the US to this day, while successive waves of immigration have made the US one of the most ethnically diverse societies on earth. Taken together, this has shaped US politics in very important ways. We discuss this, paying particular attention to the growing importance of Latino voters in US political life.

Week Twelve: Social Policy and Welfare

McKay, Chapter 17

The United States has never had a developed welfare state in the way that Western Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand have. The ideology of small government and individual self-reliance retain their overwhelming popular support, which therefore constitutes significant obstacles to the development of welfare initiatives by both federal and state governments. We here examine the politics of welfare in the United States.

Week Thirteen: US Politics in the Wake of the GFC

McKay, Chapter 18

The global financial crisis of 2008/09, whose effects continue to play themselves out today, represented something of a watershed in American economics and politics. It throws light on many problematic features of US capitalism, and the political institutions that help sustain it. We here use the GFC as a way to help understand some of these issues surrounding US political-economy, before tying the thread of the overall course together in our conclusion.

Beyond the required and recommended reading, students will also find the following resources useful.

Useful Journals

• Political Sceince Quarterly
• The Nation
• Presidential Studies Quarterly
• American Historical Review
• American Political Science Review
• American Journal of Political Science
• Diplomatic History
• Foreign Affairs
• Foreign Policy
• International Organization
• International Security
• International Studies Quarterly
• International Studies Review
• Journal of Cold War History
• Journal of Conflict Resolution
• Journal of Politics
• Millennium
• Security Studies
• Survival
• The National Interest
• World Politics

Useful Websites

• http://www.census.gov/
• http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx
• http://www.electionstudies.org/
• http://international.nytimes.com/
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/
• Http://meria.biu.ac.il/research-g/us-policy.html [Internet Resources on American Foreign Policy]
• www.gwu.edu/ [see link on ‘national security archive’]
• www.opendemocracy.net
• www.zmag.org
• www.politics1.com
• www.americanpolitics.com
• www.americanempireproject.com
• www.newamericancentury.org
• www.datagold.com/empire-ip
• www.wilsoncenter.org
• www.bbc.co.uk
• www.brookings.edu
• www.politico.com