GOVT 155 – The Legislative Process
Professor Witko
Tahoe Hall 3115 Phone: 278-3572
Office Hours: MW 3-4:30 and by appointment. e-mail: witkoc@csus.edu
Course Objectives:
Observers have said that there are two things you don’t want to see being made: laws and sausages. We will thumb our noses at this advice and undertake a detailed examination of the legislative process beginning with candidate recruitment and elections, representation and member motivations, institutional processes and procedures, and the legislature’s interactions with other political institutions. Upon completion of this course you should be reasonably knowledgeable about the workings of both the U.S. Congress and the California Legislature, though we will focus primarily on the U.S. Congress. Additionally, you should be able to critically analyze the institutions and activities of the legislative process, with an eye for its relative virtues and shortcomings. A final project will require you to closely analyze the activities of one member of Congress.
Required Texts:
Bessette, Joseph M. The Mild Voice of Reason.
Clucas, Richard A. The Speaker’s Electoral Connection:
Willie Brown and the California Assembly
Davidson, Roger H. and Walter Oleszek. Congress and Its Members. 9th ed.
Mayhew, David R. Congress: The Electoral Connection.
You are also required to read the Washington Post Monday-Friday (on line edition).
Methods of Evaluation
Homeworks – There will be two homework assignments.
Exams – Midterm and a final exam.
Term Paper- This project will require you to conduct a detailed case study of the activities of a single member of Congress throughout the course of the semester and present your analysis in a 10 page paper and in an in class oral presentation. The Homework assignments will expose you to some of the research materials used in your final paper. A more detailed assignment will be handed out in class.
Attendance and Participation- Attendance and participation are required. While some classes may be primarily lecture, most of the semester will involve discussing the readings and current legislative issues. Furthermore, we will begin most classes with a discussion of recent congressional activity covered in the Washington Post. Therefore, student participation is crucial. Each recorded absence beyond three will result in a letter grade reduction in your participation and attendance grade. Perfect attendance does not ensure a good grade, active and intelligent participation with good attendance does.
Grading
Homework Assignments (2) 15%
Midterm 20%
Term Paper and Presentation 30%
Final 25%
Participation 10%
From time to time I may make class materials available on my website.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of distinctive ideas or
works belonging to another person without providing adequate acknowledgement of
that person's contribution. Regardless of the means of appropriation,
incorporating another's work into one's own requires adequate identification
and acknowledgement. Plagiarism is doubly unethical because it deprives the
author of rightful credit and gives credit to someone who has not earned it. Acknowledgement
is not necessary when the material used is common knowledge. When the course is
not noted, the following would constitute plagiarism:
1. Word-for-word copying.
2. The mosaic (to intersperse a few words of one's own here and there while, in
essence, copying another's work).
3. The paraphrase (the rewriting of another's work, yet still using the
fundamental idea or theory).
4. Fabrication (inventing or counterfeiting sources).
5. Ghost-written material (submitting another's effort as one's own).
It is also plagiarism to neglect quotation marks on material that is otherwise
acknowledged. Plagiarism and acts associated with it are cause for disciplinary
and/or legal action.
DISCIPLINE
California Code of Regulations, Sections 41301 through 41304 of Title 5,
Article 1.1 states, "Following procedures consonant with due process
established pursuant to Section 41304, any student of a campus may be expelled,
suspended, placed on probation or given a lesser sanction for one or more of
the following causes which must be campus related:
(a) Cheating or plagiarism in connection with an academic program at a
campus."
Students with
Disabilities
If you have a disability and
require accommodations, you need to provide disability documentation to SSWD,
Lassen Hall 1008, (916) 278-6955. Please
discuss your accommodation needs with me after class or during my office hours
early in the semester.
Week 1 (1/26-1/30)
Introduction: Congress and Legislatures in the U.S. System of Government
Read: D+O Chapters 1 and 2
Week 2 (2/2-2/6)
Recruitment and Elections
Read: D+O Chapters 3 and 4
Week 3 (2/9-2/13)
Representation
Read: C+O Chapter 5
Week 4 (2/16-2/20)
What motivates members of Congress?
Read: Mayhew p. 1-77, Bessette preface and p. 1-149.
Week 5 (2/23-2/27)
Political Parties
Read: D+O Chapter 6
Week 6 (3/1-3/5)
Legislative Leaders
Read: Clucas (All)
Week 7 (3/8-3/12)
Legislative Committee Structures and Processes
Read: D+O Chapters 7
and 8
Week 8 (3/15-3/19)
Legislative Decision-making
Read: D+O Chapters 9, Mayhew p. 81-158, Bessette p. 150-181
Week 9 (3/22-3/26)
Legislatures and Executives
Read: D+O Chapter 10, Mayhew 158-180, Bessette 182-246
Midterm Exam on 3/22
Week 10 (3/29-4/2)
Legislatures, Bureaucracies and the Courts
Read: D+O Chapters 11 and 12
No Class on 3/31 – Happy Birthday Cesar Chavez
Week 11 (4/5-4/11)
Spring Break, No Class
Week 12 (4/12-4/16)
Legislatures and Organized Interests
Read: D + O Chapter 13
Homework 2 Due on
4/16
Week 13 (4/19-4/23)
Budgets and Domestic Policy
Read: D+O Chapter 14
Week 14 (4/26-4/30)
National Security Policy and Legislative Reform
Read: D+O Chapter 15, 16
Week 15 (5/3-5/7)
Begin student presentations
Final Paper Due on
5/3
Week 16 (5/10-5/14)
Class presentations continued
Final Exam: 5/19, 10:15-12:15.