PS
250/Autumn 2019
Professor
Salazar
|
Teaching
Assistants: |
Section |
Office/ Office
Hours |
Email |
|
Michaela
Budde |
Thursday
9-10 AH414/42452 |
Arntzen 450/ Tuesday 10-11 |
|
|
Kerstin
Miller |
Thursday
1-2 AH414/42453 |
Arntzen 448/ Tuesday
1-2 |
|
|
Mei
Lee |
Wednesday
9-10 AH412/42454 |
Arntzen 450/ Thursday
9-10 |
|
|
Michael
Patterson |
Wednesday
1-2 AH412/42455 |
Arntzen 450/ Monday 9-10 |
Discussion
Sections:
The purposes of the discussion sections are to give you an opportunity to ask
questions about the reading material and lectures, develop your ability to
prepare an argumentative essay, give you the opportunity to summarize and
analyze data, explore important issues in American government and politics, and
organize your Supreme Court groups. Each week
will be devoted to a particular topic and the readings associated with that
topic. Please complete the reading before you come to class. If you have not
done so, you will waste your and your classmates’ time in class. Twenty percent
of your course grade is derived from your performance in discussion sections.
Response Papers: Each student will sign up for one argumentative essay and
one analytical paper. These papers will respond to the discussion question for
the week (see table below). Papers should be no longer than four, double-spaced
pages. Excellent papers will be written in clear prose, respond to the
question, and draw on the assigned reading to present a coherent and sound
argument. These are not reflection
papers or journal entries; they should make clear reference to assigned texts and
use the concepts and examples presented in the texts. Papers should cite
sources for all ideas that are not your own and for factual claims that extend
beyond common knowledge. Please include a list of references at the end of your
paper. There is no need for a title page but each paper should have a
substantive title.
Schedule of Meetings
First date refers to Wednesday
sections; second date refers to sections that meet on Tuesdays.
|
Week
of: |
Topic/Reading/Debate
Question |
|
9/23 |
Introduction (writing, debates,
Supreme Court assignment) |
|
|
Argumentative Essays Papers
are due at the beginning of class. Please bring reading notes to class so
that you can participate in the discussion of the question for the week. |
|
9/30 |
The Federal System
and the Commerce Clause Ginsberg,
Ch 3; White House to Revoke Waiver, https://www.npr.org/2019/09/18/761815991/white-house-to-revoke-waiver-allowing-california-to-set-its-own-emissions-standa; California
Greenhouse Gas Waiver, https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/california-greenhouse-gas-waiver-request; Not a Federalism
Issue, https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/regulation/limiting-californias-waiver-authority-not-federalism-issue/; Trump Will Revoke
California Waiver, https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/in-a-turn-away-from-federalism-trump-will-revoke-californias-clean-air-act-waiver/ Recommended:
https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/revoking-californias-clean-air-act-waiver-is-bad-policy-and-legally-indefensible/; https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-cant-go-its-own-way-11568847781; https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/california-promises-to-fight-epa-plan-on-car-standards/; https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/us/california-trump-emissions-standards.html Question:
Is the Trump Administration’s proposal to revoke the California Clean Air Act
Exemption an issue of federalism? Explain. |
|
10/7 |
The
Presidency/Research Group Meetings Ginsberg,
Ch 10; Fisher, Exercising Congress’s
Constitutional Power; Yoo, The Purse and the
Sword;
Byrd, Rush to War
(Begin
at 3hours, 15 minutes); Ackerman, Obama’s Betrayal;
In
Conflicts Like Iran, https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/450227-in-conflicts-like-iran-congress-has-ceded-war-powers-to-the-presidency;
Presidential
War Powers, https://theweek.com/articles/854927/presidential-war-powers Question:
Are there sufficient constraints on Presidential war power? |
|
10/14 |
Corporations and the
Constitution
Justice
Black’s Dissent, Connecticut General Life
Insurance;
Meyers, Santa Clara Blues); Taft, Yes, Corporations
Are…;
YoungHip, Why I Support; Move to Amend, We the People Question:
Should the Constitution be amended to state that corporations are not
persons? |
|
10/21 |
Group Meetings (Begin preparation
for Supreme Court arguments) |
|
|
Graphs and Analytical
Papers Work
in groups to construct a graph that provides evidence to address discussion
question. Each student then prepares a paper that describes evidence
presented in the graph and addresses the question. Students submit
individually-authored papers to TA in lecture on the following Monday. |
|
10/28 |
Voting Rights
Ginsberg,
Ch 7; NCSL, Voter Identification
Requirements;
NCSL, Same Day Voter
Registration;
The Sentencing Project, Felony
Disenfranchisement Laws in The United States; Spakovsky
Voter ID and the Real
Threat to Democracy;
Newkirk, How Voter ID Laws
Discriminate; Question:
Are some states more likely than other states to construct restrictive voting
regimes? Explain. (Construct a graph from the voting regime data provided to
you in class. Write a paper that uses your graph and the assigned reading to
answer the question) |
|
11/4 |
The 2016 Presidential
Election Ta-Nehisi
Coates, The First White
President;
Casselman, Stop Saying Trump’s
Win Had Nothing to Do with Economics; Robert Griffin and Ruy
Texeira, The Story of Trump’s
Appeal;
John Huang et al., Election 2016: Exit
Polls,
Matthew Fowler, Vladimir E. Medenica, and Cathy J.
Cohen, Why 41 percent of white millennials voted for Trump Question:
What roles did racial resentment and economic vulnerability among the white electorate
play in the 2016 presidential election? (Copy a graph or two from the paper.
Use the graph(s) and the assigned reading to answer the question.) |
|
11/11 |
Group Meetings (Final preparation of
Supreme Court arguments) |
|
11/18 |
Supreme Court
Arguments:
Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia |
|
12/2 |
Supreme Court
Arguments:
Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana
and Kentucky Inc |