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The Congress (PSC 22100)1

The City College of New York – CUNY


Department of Political Science
Fall 2019

Time: Monday & Wednesday, 2:00-3:15 PM


Location: Shepard 19

Instructor: JongWan Baik


Email: jbaik@ccny.cuny.edu
Office Hour: Monday & Wednesday 4:00 – 5:00 PM or by appointment
Office: NAC 4/147

Course Description
This course examines the institutional structure and policy making process of the U.S. Congress,
as well as the behavior of individual congressmen. In particular, we will examine the
constitutional underpinnings and the historical progress that led to the modern Congress, the
rules and procedures that influence the legislative process, the interbranch relations between
Congress and the executive and judicial branches, and the ways in which voters hold
Congressional lawmakers electorally accountable. This course focuses on three primary themes:
the political behavior and preferences of members of Congress, political institutions and the
“rules of the game,” and the political outcomes that ensue as a product of congressional
behavior.

Assignments and Grading


Below is how your final grade will be calculated. Please note that during in-class exams, there
will be no bathroom breaks and your will need to keep your cell phones off and put away.

Attendance/Class Participation (10%)


Midterm (25%)
Final Exam (35%)
Quizzes (30%)

Readings
You are required to buy one book, which is available at the CCNY bookstore or other online
bookstores.

Davidson, Roger H., Walter J. Oleszek, Frances E. Lee, and Eric Schickler. 2019. Congress and
Its Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

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This syllabus is subject to change based on the instructor’s discretion or on the needs of the class. Changes, if any,
will be announced in class. Students will be held responsible for all changes.

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All other readings will be made available on a course website on the Blackboard for download.
There are roughly 40-100 pages of readings per week, sometimes more, sometimes less. This
course is using textbooks and journal/magazine articles in order to help students build critical and
analytical reading and thinking skills. Textbook is definitely a good and easy source of learning,
but understanding theory and practice through textbooks may not help students develop their
own critical and analytical interpretative skills. Also, since critical and analytical reading is a
prerequisite for critical and analytical thinking, students with textbooks may not be able to
further develop their own critical and analytical thinking skills. Although some of the readings
look difficult, you would acquire skills over the course to explore those readings.

Assignments: There are THREE assignments for the course

Midterm Exam
In-class midterm exam will be administered on October 16. It will cover the background material
from week two to week seven of the course. Midterm exam will consist primarily of multiple
choice, identification, and short answers. The test will be worth 25% of your course grade. A
make-up exam will only be scheduled if you provide a valid excuse, which must be proved
by a document.

Final Exam
In-class final exam will be administered on December 18. It will cover the background material
from week eight to week fifteen of the course. Final exam will consist primarily of multiple
choice, identification, and short answers. The test will be worth 35% of your course grade. A
make-up exam will only be scheduled if you provide a valid excuse, which must be proved
by a document.

Quizzes
There will be a quiz on the assigned class reading (n = 6). Each quiz will be worth 5% of your
final grade (Total 30%). A quiz will be administered at the beginning of a class, so if arrive
classroom after 2:10PM, you will not be able to take a quiz. Please note that no make-up quiz will
be available.

Course Requirements
Syllabus: The syllabus tells you what to read for which days and what to do for each assignment
and when the assignments are due. The syllabus also includes detailed instructions and guidelines
of each assignment. In addition, the syllabus tells you the list of suggested readings, academic
journals, and audio/visual materials. Therefore, you should regularly consult the syllabus to stay
abreast of what we are doing each week. The syllabus is subject to change based on instructor’s
decision.

Attendance and class participation: These are worth 10% of your grade.
Students are expected to attend every lecture and arrive on time with your reading and
assignment. Late attendance will be noted. Lateness is disruptive and disrespectful. More than
four late will be considered as one absence.

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Class participation will be evaluated based on your active quantitative and qualitative
engagement in class.

This class offers no recitations/discussion sections. If you do not attend lectures, you will miss
important material that is not in the readings, and it is unlikely that you will succeed in this
course. (Lecture slides will NOT be posted on Blackboard, and will only be available when I
present them in class.) If you disrupt the flow of ideas, your colleagues may never know either!

Students who do not fulfil the required number of assignments or have more than THREE
absences including excused and unexcused absences will receive the WU for final grade.

Classroom Guidelines and Advice for Succeeding in This Course


This is an interesting and valuable course, which will enrich your mind, build your knowledge
base, and sharpen your critical thinking abilities. In order to succeed, and I want you to succeed
in this course, some guidelines are below.

Electronic Devices: Following the new scholarship on electronic device and student learning, all
electronic devices will NOT BE PERMITED in this class. Existing research as well as my own
experience has confirmed that electronic devices heavily distract students’ focus and
engagement. Use of cell phone is also not permitted, except in case of emergencies.

Taking Notes: Please come to lecture and take good notes. Please note that mindfulness and
the ability to focus without distraction are fundamental skills in this age of information.

Readings: Please do the required readings and try to do this before the lecture day when the
readings have been officially assigned. Reading can be difficult and even painful; we are all busy
and have far too much to read. Learning how to read actively and efficiently is another important
skill for you to learn and cultivate, and it will get easier. When reading, take notes, highlight,
write comments in the margins, summarize key points in your own words, and ask yourself,
“What do I think about these issues? Do I agree with this author? Why or why not?” Expect to
spend at least two hours of study time (i.e. reading and reviewing your notes) for every lecture.
There are 50-100 pages of reading every week, so plan ahead.

Engage with the course: Please stay up to date on Blackboard; keep in mind the exam dates and
plan accordingly; talk to your friends and family about American politics and what you are
learning; and be in touch with me. If you have questions, please drop by my office during my
office hours or email me any time. Please also be aware of many resources on campus for you to
use, such as the library and the Writing Center.

Be polite and honorable: Do not use cell phones during lectures, don’t walk in and out
frequently, don’t eat breakfast or lunch, and don’t whisper to your neighbor.

Blackboard: All students must familiarize themselves with Blackboard. This is essential, as all
of the readings not contained in the texts for purchase will be posted there. You must access
Blackboard regularly to download the readings and check your CCNY email account, which is

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how I will be communicating with you. If your Blackboard or email account is not working,
please visit the Help Desk, NAC 1st floor, immediately.

Plagiarism: Maintain honesty and integrity. This means, among other things, that you must not
cheat or plagiarize. Compromising your academic integrity may lead to serious consequences,
including (but not limited to) one or more of the following: failure of the assignment, failure of
the course, academic warning, disciplinary probation, suspension from the university, or
dismissal from the university.

Academic honesty and integrity include accurate use of quotations, as well as appropriate and
explicit citation of sources in instances of paraphrasing and describing ideas, or reporting on
research findings or any aspect of the work of others (including that of faculty members and
other students). Academic dishonesty results from infractions of this “accurate use”. The
standards of academic honesty and integrity, and citation of sources, apply to all forms of
academic work, including submissions of drafts of final papers or projects. All members of the
University community are expected to conduct themselves in accord with the standards of
academic honesty and integrity.

Students are responsible for understanding the University’s policy on academic honesty and
integrity and must make use of proper citations of sources for writing papers, creating,
presenting, and performing their work, taking examinations, and doing research. It is the
responsibility of students to learn the procedures specific to their discipline for correctly and
appropriately differentiating their own work from that of others. Individual divisions/programs
may require their students to sign an Academic Integrity Statement declaring that they
understand and agree to comply with this policy.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:

• cheating on examinations, either by copying another student’s work or by utilizing


unauthorized materials
• using work of others as one’s own original work and submitting such work to the
university or to scholarly journals, magazines, or similar publications
• submission of another students’ work obtained by theft or purchase as one’s own original
work
• submission of work downloaded from paid or unpaid sources on the internet as one’s own
original work, or including the information in a submitted work without proper citation
• submitting the same work for more than one course without the knowledge and explicit
approval of all of the faculty members involved
• destruction or defacement of the work of others
• aiding or abetting any act of academic dishonesty
• any attempt to gain academic advantage by presenting misleading information, making
deceptive statements or falsifying documents, including documents related to internships
• engaging in other forms of academic misconduct that violate principles of integrity

If you have any doubts about what plagiarism is, please visit the following webpage to
familiarize yourself with the rules of academic honesty:
https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/about/upload/academic_integrity.pdf. Please note

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that academic dishonesty is punishable by failing grades, suspension and expulsion. I take this
extremely seriously because it cuts directly to the heart of what education is all about.

Disability Statement
In compliance with CCNY policy and equal access laws, appropriate academic accommodations
are offered for students with disabilities. Students must register with The AccessAbility Center
for reasonable academic accommodations. The AccessAbility Center is located at NAC, Room
1/218. Under the Americans with Disability Act, an individual with a disability is a person who
has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. If
you have any such issues, I encourage you to visit the AccessAbility Center to determine which
services may be appropriate for you.

Other Recommendations:
• Ask for help when you need it, not after it’s too late. Don’t be ashamed to ask questions.
• You’re unlikely to be the only one who has a question.
• Come to class prepared to participate
• Submit your work on time. If you anticipate problems for one of the assignments, you
should ask help in advance.
• Proofread your work. Do not hand in work that is substandard. Unedited paper will not be
graded.
• In addition to the above, class participation is important. Don’t be shy.

Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be expected to become proficient in the following areas:
• Explain electoral, institutional, and systemic features of Congress.
• Understand the historical development and organizational design of Congress as well as
interactions between individual Congressmen and how this impacts policymaking.
• Link current political events to the theoretical insights of political scientists and navigate
different conceptions of Congressional action.
• Demonstrate the ability to think critically about the U.S. Congress, demonstrate
conventions of writing in the discipline of political science, and apply critical analytical
thinking to your writing.

General Education Proficiencies


This course will help students obtain the following proficiencies:

Oral and written communication skills (CS) –You will have had multiple experiences in
communicating ideas in writing and speaking. You will complete assignments totaling at least
3500 words of writing.

Critical analysis (CA) –You will have had multiple experiences in critically and constructively
analyzing information in different areas of study.

Information literacy (IL) –You will have had multiple experiences in finding information in the
library, on the Internet, and in other places and in evaluating the reliability of this information.

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Course Schedule

Week Subject Assignment Due


1 Introduction
2 Congress overview & Foundations
3 Congressional Elections: Recruitment & Candidacy
4 Congressional Elections: Campaigns, Voters, Outcomes
5 Congress and its Constituencies
6 Political Parties and Leadership
7 Political Parties and Leadership
8 Midterm In-class Midterm: October 16

9 Polarization In and Around Congress


10 Congressional committees & Textbook Lawmaking
11 Textbook and Unorthodox Lawmaking
12 Unorthodox Lawmaking & Decision Making
13 Decision Making
14 Congress and the President
15 Congress, the Courts, and Organized Interests
16 Conclusion & Final Exam Final Exam: December 18

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Course Schedule & Readings

Week 1: Introduction
August 28: Introduction to the course

Week 2: Congress Overview and Foundations


September 2: No Class (Labor Day – College Closed)

September 4:
• Davidson et al. 2019. “The Two Congresses” in Congress and Its Members, 17th edition.
Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.
• Dodd, Lawrence and Bruce Oppenheimer. 2017. “Congress in the Age of Trump” in
Congress Reconsidered. Thousand Oaks: CQ Press.

September 5: Congress and the Constitution


• Davidson et al. 2019. “Evolution of the Modern Congress” in Congress and Its Members,
17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.
• Toobin. “Our Broken Constitution,” The New Yorker, Dec. 9, 2013

Week 3: Congressional Elections: Recruitment and Candidacy


September 9: Apportionment & Redistricting
• Davidson et al. 2019. “Going for It: Recruitment and Candidacy” (pp. 39-57) in Congress
and Its Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.
• Liptak. “Supreme Court Bars Challenges to Partisan Gerrymandering,” The New York
Times, June 27, 2019.

September 11: Nominations & Candidacy


• Davidson et al. 2019. “Going for It: Recruitment and Candidacy” (pp. 57-66) in Congress
and Its Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.
• David Mayhew. 2004. “The Electoral Incentive” in Congress: The Electoral Connection.
New Haven: Yale University Press.

Week 4: Congressional Elections: Campaigns, Voters, and Outcomes


September 16: Campaign & Voters
• Davidson et al. 2019. “Making It: The Electoral Game” in Congress and Its Members,
17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

September 18: Incumbency & Electoral Outcomes


• Jacobson. “The Triumph of Polarized Partisanship in 2016: Donald Trump’s Improbable
Victory,” PSQ Spring 2017.
• Jacobson. “Extreme Referendum: Donald Trump and the 2018 Midterm Elections,” PSQ
Spring 2019.

Week 5: Congress and its Constituencies


September 23: “Hillstyles”

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• Davidson et al. 2019. “Being There: Hill Styles and Home Styles” in Congress and Its
Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

September 25: “Homestyles”


• Davidson et al. 2019. “Being There: Hill Styles and Home Styles” and “The Two
Congresses and the American People” in Congress and Its Members, 17th edition.
Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

Week 6: Political Parties and Leadership


September 30: No Class

October 2: Leaders and Coalitions


• Davidson et al. 2019. “Leaders and Parties in Congress” in Congress and Its Members,
17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

Week 7: Political Parties and Leadership


October 7: Party Government
• Aldrich, John and David Rohde. “The Consequences of Party Organization in the House:
The Role of the Majority and Minority Parties in Conditional Party Government.”

October 9: No Class

Week 8: Midterm
October 14: No Class

October 16: In-class Midterm

Week 9: Polarization In and Around Congress


October 21: Causes of Polarization
• Theriault, Sean. 2006. “Party Polarization in the U.S. Congress: Member Replacement
and Member Adaptation.” Party Politics 12(4): 483-503.

October 23: Consequences of Polarization


• Binder, Sarah. 2003. Ch. 6. Stalemate: Causes and Consequences of Legislative
Gridlock. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Week 10: Congressional Committees & “Textbook” Lawmaking in Congress


October 28: Committees as “Little Legislatures”
• Davidson et al. 2019. “Committees: Workshops of Congress” in Congress and Its
Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

October 30: “Textbook” Lawmaking: House Rules and Procedures


• Davidson et al. 2019. “Congressional Rules and Procedures” (pp. 219-245) in Congress
and Its Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

Week 11: “Textbook” and “Unorthodox” Lawmaking in Congress

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November 4: “Textbook” Lawmaking: Senate Rules and Procedures
• Davidson et al. 2019. “Congressional Rules and Procedures” (pp. 245-259) in Congress
and Its Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

November 6: “Unorthodox” Lawmaking: Alternatives to lawmaking


• Sinclair, Barbara. 2016. Ch. 1-2. Unorthodox Lawmaking: New Legislative Processes in
the U.S. Congress. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Week 12: “Unorthodox” Lawmaking & Decision-Making in Congress


November 11: Drawbacks of “Unorthodox” Lawmaking
• Sinclair, Barbara. 2016. Ch. 8. Unorthodox Lawmaking: New Legislative Processes in the
U.S. Congress. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

November 13: Determining the Agenda


• Davidson et al. 2019. “Decision Making in Congress” (pp. 286-289) in Congress and Its
Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.
• Adler, E. Scott and John Wilkerson. 2012. Ch. 5. Congress and the Politics of Problem
Solving. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Week 13: Decision Making in Congress


November 18: How and Why Decisions are Made
• Davidson et al. 2019. “Decision Making in Congress” (pp. 261-285) in Congress and Its
Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

November 20: No Class

Week 14: Congress and the Executive Branch


November 25: Bargaining and Conflict
• Davidson et al. 2019. “Congress and the President” in Congress and Its Members, 17th
edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

November 27: Congress and National Security


• Davidson et al. 2019. “Congress and National Security Policies” in Congress and Its
Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

Week 15: Congress, the Courts, and Organized Interests


December 2: Congress and the Courts
• Davidson et al. 2019. “Congress and the Courts” in Congress and Its Members, 17th
edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

December 4: Congress and Organized Interests


• Davidson et al. 2019. “Congress and Organized Interests” in Congress and Its Members,
17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

Week 16: Conclusion & Final Exam


December 11: Conclusion

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• Davidson et al. 2019. “The Two Congresses and the American People” in Congress and
Its Members, 17th edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage/CQ Press.

December 18: Final Exam

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