POLSCI 40 - Section Readings + Authors

Includes all of the authors that were discussed before the midterm. Summarizes their main ideas and key arguments in the context of the class.

Dahl

“How Democratic is the US Constitution?”

Key Terms: tyranny of the majority, Duverger’s Law

• Unequal Representation (Senate) → designed to be a barrier to majority rule BUT fails to protect the least privileged minorities.

• Proportional Representation (HoR) → guarentees representation for the minority

Zaller

“Coming to Grips with V.O. Key's Latent Opinion”

Key terms: Latent opinion

• Latent opinion → the possibility of a change of opinion in response to a new event (or new policy)

  • Cannot be measured by polls

  • Something to think about in regards to reelection

Hill + Tausanovitch

“Southern realignment, party sorting, and the polarization of American primary electorates”

Key terms: primary sorting, southern realignment

• Attributes polarization to the southern realignment

  • Southern conservatives become alienated by civil rights — become republican

• More primary sorting = more extreme candidates on each end.

Hirano et. al

“Primary Elections and Partisan Polarization in the U.S. Congress”

Key terms: Closed primaries, Open primaries

• Attributes polarization to the type of primary

  • Closed primaries tend to favor more extreme candidates

  • Open primaries tend to favor moderates

Mahew

Congressmen must always think of re-election

1. Advertising

2. Credit Claiming

   1. Position Taking

Binder (Article)

[Past example] Congress now will not be more productive than past congresses (divided gov)

Helse (article)

Despite bipartisan support, some bills still don’t pass

Orr and Huber

partisanship is important for shaping evaluations but those effects are smaller than the effects for policy in the issues the researchers chose to study.

Keele, Cubbison, White

Looks at “understanding clause” in Louisiana

• Type of literacy test/ barrier to voting

  • Worked to disenfranchise

Ansolabehere, Figueiredo, and Snyder (2003)

Not as much money in politics as one may thikn

• Think of putting money into a campaign as an investment

Bonica and Sen

Political actors seek like minded judges higher in the judiciary.

Higher courts showed higher levels of ideologically based selection.

Conservatives from top law schools are much more likely to become judges in the federal courts.

Guess

With new technology like online news, people are engaged in motivated reasoning.