Where American Politics Really Happens: Federalism and State/Local Politics 4219-SF045
It is often claimed in American politics that “All politics is local” and this course will show the validity of such a claim. Several States and their governments will be examined in this course, as well as several local governments (i.e., cities, towns, and counties). This course will examine not only State & Local politics in the US, but also the interaction of both State & Local governments to the Federal government (i.e., Federalism). Thus, federalism in the United States is the evolving relationship between U.S. state governments and the Federal government of the United States. Since the founding of the country, and particularly with the end of the American Civil War, power shifted away from the states and towards the national government.
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
The student will gain knowledge of the historical background which framed the ways American State and Local politics emergeed and how it interacts with The Federal Government.
The student will learn how political compromise can be achieved and how such compromise can and cannot be publicly defended in a democratic society with strong factional interests.
Students will come to understand the different tools of statecraft and their role in the political process and the formation of political institution. And see possibilities for contemporary crossovers
Students will learn how to formulate and execute critical arguments in English.
Assessment criteria
Term Paper: The students will be assigned a state to research and examine the topic of Federalism within that given state. The paper will between eight to ten pages, double spaced, standard font style, using pre-approved sources. The paper will count for 50% of the student’s final grade for the semester. The paper SHALL be due date no later than 2 week following the last class of the semester. (After that date any paper will be marked late and the paper’s grade will suitably reduced for lateness.) The instructor will look at drafts of the term paper and make suggestions and suggest corrections that need to be made, but such drafts must be given to the instructor no later than two weeks before the date the final version is due.
Short Assignments: There will be between 5 to 8 short assignments, assigned at the end of a class that are to be turned in by the next class. Each assignment will vary between 1 to three pages in length. (They are expected to be typed.) Collectively all the short assignments together constitute 50% of a student’s final semester grade. The topic of each
Practical placement
Strengthening the students ability to critically access sources (both primary and secondary) and Data in English.
Strengthening the ability of the student to be an effective communicator about political and social matters in written English.
Bibliography
Edward Banfield and James Q Wilson. City Politics (Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press) (Banfield and Wilson)
Thad Beyle and Lynn Muchmore. Being Governor (Durham, NC: Duke Press Policy Studies, 1983) (Beyle & Muchmore)
William Colman. State and Local Government and Public-Private Partnerships (New York: Greenwood Press) (Colman)
Timothy Conlan. New Federalism (Washington DC: Brookings Institution, 1988) (Conlan)
Daniel Elzar American Federalism: A view from the states. Third edition. (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1984). (Elzar)
Morton Grodzin. The American System: A new view of government in the United States (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1984). (Grodzin)
Vincent Ostrom, Robert Bish, and Elinor Ostrom. Local Government in the US (San Francisco: ICS Press, 1988) (Ostrom)
Paul Peterson, Barry Rabe, Kenneth Wong. When Federalism Works (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institute.) (WFW)
Carl Van Horn ed. The State of the States (Washington, DC: C Q Press, 1989) (Van Horn)
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: