American National Institutions

Charles University

March 16-19, 2020

R. Shep Melnick

Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Professor

of American Politics

Boston College

This course examines peculiar features of American national institutions—Congress, the presidency, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, and federalism—by placing them within the context of American political culture and the American party system. The first session will examine what is often called “American exceptionalism,” the view that American political culture and our constitutional system differ in significant ways from other advanced industrial democracies. To what extent is this view still accurate? To what extent does the U.S. now look more like other advanced industrialized democracies? The second session focuses on relations between the president and Congress, emphasizing the way the relative power of the two branches has shifted over time as a result of changes in our party system. The third session examines the growth of federal programs, emphasizing the peculiar rule played by the federal judiciary over the past half century.

Requirements

1. Do the reading. Students should complete all the required readings before coming to the class meeting for which they are assigned. They should be prepared to talk about these readings in class. (Those marked with an asterisk are recommended, but not required. You should try to read before starting work on the final paper.) All readings will be available in electronic form.

2. A final paper of about 10 pages (double-spaced) is due on Monday, April 6. Please e-mail it to the instructor at melnicrs@bc.edu. Use Word if possible.

The final grade will be based on class participation (25%) and the final paper (75%)

Learning Outcomes

First, students will learn the basic features of the American constitutional system: separation of powers and federalism. Second, they will learn how these policymaking institutions have changed since World War II, building an extensive set of federal programs in the process. Third, they will learn how the American political system differs from those of other advanced industrialized democracies, as well as how it has in some ways become more like them in recent decades.

Office hours: The instructor will be available to talk with students after each class. Any student who would like to talk before class should let him know a day in advance.

1 American Exceptionalism: Dead or Alive? (Monday, March 16)

Topics:

· What are the conventional arguments about “American exceptionalism,” that is, the ways in which American government and politics differs from that of other advanced industrialized democracies?

· What are the peculiar features of American institutional arrangements? Its political culture?

· To what extent have American politics and governance become less “exceptional” over time?

Readings:

· Sven Steinmo, “American Exceptionalism Reconsidered: Culture or Institutions?”

· Jack Citrin, “Political Culture” in Wilson and Schuck, eds., Understanding America

· James Madison, Federalist Papers, ##10, 39, 51

· Martha Derthick, “Federalism” in Understanding America

· Anthony King, “Running Scared”

· *Peter Baldwin, “Lumping and Splitting”

· *Gary Burtless and Ron Haskins, “Inequality, Economic Mobility, and Social Policy” in Understanding America

· *Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Volume I, Book I, chapters 3-4 and

6; I, II, 4; and II, II, 2, 4, 5,and 8

2 Parties, Presidents, and Congress (Wednesday, March 18)

Topics:

· How did the Constitution divide power between the legislative branch and the president? Why does “separation of powers” usually mean “separate institutions sharing power”?

· How have political parties affected the way separation of powers works in practice? How has this changed over time?

· Why have American parties become more ideologically homogeneous internally and more distant from one another in recent decades?

· What effect has this had on the legislative process and on legislative-executive relations?

Readings:

· Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers #68, 70, and 78

· Andrew Rudalevige, “The Executive Branch and the Legislative Process”

· Jonathan Rauch and La Raja, “Too Much Democracy is Bad for Democracy”

· Barbara Sinclair, “Spoiling the Sausages? How a Polarized Congress Deliberates

and Legislates”

· *David Mayhew, “The Electoral Incentive”

· *Kenneth Lowande and Sidney Milkis, “’We Can’t Wait’: Barack Obama,

Partisan Polarization, and the Administrative Presidency”

3 Building the Peculiar American State (Thursday, March 19)

Topics:

· How have the powers and responsibilities of the federal government grown over time? Why were the 1930s and the 1960s such pivotal decades in this regard?

· How did the federal judiciary help contribute to this expansion of government? What unusual role do courts play in interpreting and enforcing federal law?

· In what ways is the federal government larger than it first appears? Why has it been described as a “kludgeocracy,” “government by proxy,” and a “submerged state”?

· How have efforts to overcome the legacy of slavery and racial segregation contributed to the expansion of the national government’s authority and responsibilities?

Readings:

· James Q. Wilson, “American Politics, Then and Now”

· R. Shep Melnick, “Governing More But Enjoying It Less”

· Robert Kagan, “Adversarial Legalism”

· John DiIulio, “Facing Up to Big Government”

· Steven Teles, “Kludgeocracy in America”

· *Orlando Patterson, “Black Americans” in Understanding America

· *R. Shep Melnick, “The Strange Evolution of Title IX”