U.S. Presidential Elections: Workshop 2100-MON-USPE-OG

Once Upon a Time in America: a brief history of the U.S. politics
- ideas that shape American politics: freedom, democracy, individualism
- between federalism and unionism: the evolution of the American statehood
- civil liberties and civil rights: from exceptionalism to equality

State of Play: an introduction to the U.S. political system
- an overview of the Constitution of the United States
- separate branches of government and allocation of power: Congress, President and U.S. Courts
- checks and balances: how legislative, executive and judiciary limit each other
- non-constitutional actors: interest groups and media

We, the People: general rules of the U.S. elections
- voting traditions in the Thirteen Colonies
- amending the Constitution: evolution of the American electoral system
- right to vote and ballot access: history and contemporaneity
- Republicans vs Democrats: evolution of the two-party system
- organisation of the election: voter registration and verification
- polling vs convenience voting: how the votes are cast

POTUS: electing the President of the United States
- the Electoral College: history and evolution
- winning the nomination: from presidential primaries to the national convention
- running for president: strategy and finance of the campaign
- "the winner takes it all": from general elections to the electoral count
- presidential vs other important elections: congressional, state and local

The Land of the Free: introduction to the American political geography and demography
- introduction to the general geography of the United States: the general characteristics of the area
- introduction to the general demographics of the United States: population, race and ethnicity, religion, social classes, minorities
- socio-cultural and economic map of the United States: from Alabama to Wyoming

Stars and Stripes: case study analysis of U.S. presidential results by state
- introduction to analysis of the election results: using interactive maps and Google Spreadsheets
- rules and boundries: census and redistricting
- Red vs Blue: political characteristics of each U.S. state
- safe vs swing/battleground: dynamics of change in U.S. presidential results
- levels of analysis: state, district, county/parish/borough, precinct
- cross-over voting: presidential elections vs congressional elections
- "Stop the count!": controversies over the integrity of electoral process (2000 and 2020)

Type of course

elective monographs
elective courses
general courses

Mode

Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

It is recommended that students enrolled for the course should already have basic knowledge about the U.S. constitutional system. Extended level of interest in the political history and socio-political and economic geography of the United States of America, contemporary U.S. politics, voting behaviour would be an advantage.

Course coordinators

Seweryn Dmowski

Learning outcomes

Knowledge
Student should:
- know and understand the institutional framework of American democracy and the main mechanisms of the U.S. political system, especially the constitutional position and political power of the President of the United States (K_W04)
- know and understand the intellectual and ideological basis of American democracy and its values, as well as the cultural meanings of the U.S. election processes (K_W05)
- know and understand the key features and mechanisms of U.S. politics (K_W06)

Skills
Student should:
- be able to watch and interpret the key aspects of political processes in the United States of America, as well as to analyse it using both theoretical and practical apparatus (K_U02, K_U03)
- be able to identify the main values of the American democracy and judge particular aspects of American political culture (K_U04)
- be able to access and analyse complex data on the outcomes of different U.S. elections using different source of information and innovative technologies (K_U08)
- be able to collect, prioritise and convert data on the U.S. elections, as well as to present own interpretation of that data through individual or collective projects (K_U09, K_U10)
- be able to use English at least on B2 level to analyse and explain the main features of the U.S. politics (K_U11, K_U12)

Social competences
Student should:
- be ready to perform simple research activities related to the results of U.S. presidential elections individually or in collaboration and prioritise research task (K_K02)

Assessment criteria

Grading scale:
The final grade of the course will result from the total number of earned points:
46-50 points: 5
41-45 points: 4+
36-40 points: 4
31-35 points: 3+
26-30 points: 3
25 points and below: 2

Total number of 0-50 points = 0-25 points for the project + 0-25 points for active participation

Project
Each student will be drawn to one of the 50 states and will be expected to prepare its detailed political profile based on the detailed demographic data and 2010-2020 election results. The format template for the project will be provided by the conductor of the course.

Project will be evaluated basing on the criteria of: adequacy of data, scientific rigour, creativity of independent conclusions, timing and academic integrity. The final evaluation of each criterion of the project will expressed as the academic grade with the number of points assessed:
5 (5 points)
4+ (4 points)
4 (3 points)
3+ (2 points)
3 (1 point)
2 (0 points)

Important note: any kind of academic dishonesty (especially intellectual property infringement) will be immediately reported to the disciplinary bodies of the University of Warsaw and will result in a final course grade of 2.

Active participation
For the purpose of the general outcome of the course, student's active participation is required. Participants of the course are expected to attend the classes prepared and ready for active discussions with thoughtful remarks and productive comments.

Active participation of each student will be constantly monitored throughout the semestr, as well as instantly evaluated and publicly announced at the end of each classes. Course conductor's judgement of student's activity is final and will not be disputed. The final evaluation of the level of performance of each student during the classes will be expressed in the following manner:
25 points: active participation in 10 or more classes
20 points: active participation in 8 or more classes
15 points: active participation in 6 or more classes
10 points: active participation in 4 or more classes
5 points: active participation in 2 or more classes

Important note: Attendance throughout the semester is required. Maximum 2 absences are allowed. Every next unjustified absence results in deduction of 5 points out of the total number of earned points.

Make-up exam:
Any student who fail to meet the requirements to pass the course will receive the grade of 2 in first term and will be allowed to take the make-up written exam consisting of set of different types of questions related to the substance of the course.

The second and final grade of the course will result from the total number of earned points on the make-up exam:
46-50 points: 5
41-45 points: 4+
36-40 points: 4
31-35 points: 3+
26-30 points: 3
25 points and below: 2

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 2100-MON-USPE-OG in USOSweb