Unit information: Democracy and US Government in 2011/12

Unit name	Democracy and US Government
Unit code	POLI21226
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Ross
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit examines in some detail the institutions, politics and policy controversies that mark the American polity. The course revolves around the twin concepts of liberty and equality, probing the uneasy and often paradoxical application of these democratic principles. We pay particular attention to the linkages between the American people and elites and how these relationships coincide with the democratic claims of the system. Over the next weeks, we shall be evaluating the liberal/illiberal and egalitarian/inegalitarian strains that run throughout the US polity and challenging prevalent stereotypes that obscure our understanding of this highly complex political system. While each lecture and seminar will be devoted to a specific topic and illustrative policy area, such as the Constitution and the death penalty, interest groups and gun control, and the courts and abortion, students are expected to apply their accumulative knowledge to discuss considerably broader questions relating to the nature of US democracy.

Aims:

• To present an analysis of US government and politics and probe common assumptions and stereotypes about the American system.
• To introduce the core issues confronting the US political system at the beginning of the 21st century.
• To critically evaluate the performance of American government against its claims to be one of the world's principal democracies.

Intended Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes of this unit are to develop:

1. an understanding of the political and institutional workings of the US political system and an appreciation of the complexity of these structures and processes.
2. an appreciation of theories of democracy and the ability to relate these theories and debates to the structural, political and institutional context of American politics
3. an understanding of the capacity for political and policy leadership in relations to structural and contextual constraints.

Teaching Information

2 hours of lectures and 1 hour seminar

Assessment Information

• Essay 40%
• Essay 60%

Summative essays A and B (2,000 words each) both address learning outcomes 1, 2 and 3.

Reading and References

• McKeever, Robert J. and Philip Davies, Politics USA, second edition (Pearson Longman, 2006). Comprehensive course pack

• W. Hudson, American Democracy in Peril. 4th edition 2004.