Pols 1336 (POLS1336)

Interest groups and their characteristics (leadership, membership, finances, influence) and tactics (lobbying the legislature, influencing the executive branch, targeting the courts, shaping the political environment). Texas and the balance of political power.

Characteristics of American political parties (two-party system, decentralization). The Development of the Texas party system (one party tradition, conservatives and liberals, the rise of the Republican party, and geographical demographics).

Voting: The Constitution, participation, the history of voting, women's suffrage, African American suffrage, the Civil Rights movement, the Latino vote, the vote for 18-year-olds). The Constitutional Amendments pertaining to voting (15, 17, 19, 23, 24, and 16). The demographics of who votes, why, and turnout. Voting laws and regulations (the National Voter Registration Act, Motor Voter law).

The Constitution requirements for elections (electoral college, senate elections, house elections, primary elections, and presidential elections). The presidential campaign and their issues (fundraising, super PACs, swing states, microtargeting, valence issues, position issues, wedge issues). Congressional campaigns and their issues (fundraising, roles, etc.).

Interest groups and the different types (economic, ideological/issue-oriented groups, and foreign policy and international groups). What interest groups do and how they do it (lobbying, informing, etc.)

Political news in mass media throughout the history of America (seditious libel, Common Sense, the Federalist Papers, yellow journalism, muckraking, and the televising of presidential campaigns). Mass media in the Twenty-First century (infotainment, blogs, social networks). The minimal effects model (selective exposure), the not-so-minimal effects model (priming and framing), and the propaganda model.

The different types of public opinion polls and what drives public opinion (social and political environment, generational effects, and self-interest). The difference in ideology and groups (age, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, race/ethnicity, and education). Congressional scandal and effects on the electorate.

Civil liberties during the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WW1 and WW2, The Cold War and Vietnam, and the war on terror. The First Amendment (freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of religion), the Second Amendment, criminal procedures (fourth and fifth amendments), and right to privacy.

The Constitutional Convention: large states versus small states (Virginia plan and New Jersey plan and Connecticut compromise), north versus south, and what the federalists and antifederalists stood for regarding the ratification of the Constitution.