POWER AND PARTICIPATION: SPRING 1994

Political Studies 112					Office Hours
Monday 7-10 PM						Mon   10:00-11:00
Professor Dana Ward					Tues   11:00-12:00
Office: A207						Wed   10:00-11:00
Phone: 3177						Thur   11:00-12:00
	The goals of this course are to examine 1) the concept of political power,
2) the structure of power in the United States, 3) the pathways by which 
ordinary citizens participate in the political  process other than in 
elections, 4) the obstacles that must be overcome in order for that 
participation to be effective, and 5) the analysis of particular political 
movements.  The course does not focus on electoral participation.  The 
organization of the course will be along the lines of a research seminar, and 
for the course to be successful we will have to cooperate in rounding out the 
syllabus.

	The class will be broken down into a number of "task forces" (TF's).  Each 
TF will be responsible for directing the class's course of study during the 
second half of the course.  The TF's responsibilities will include the 
assignment of additional readings (as necessary), leading a class discussion, 
and the preparation of a Final Position Paper.  The topics around which the 
task forces will be organized are the following:

POLITICAL DOMINATION:  Who owns the United States, who runs the U.S.,
	interlocking directorships, elite circulation and formation, the special
	interest process, the policy formation process, and the reproduction of 
	class relations, the media monopoly.

POLITICAL SURVEILLANCE: Politics outside the mainstream and encounters with 
	the intelligence community including CIA, NSA, and FBI domestic 
	dissemination of misinformation.
	
POLITICS AT THE GRASSROOTS: Poor people's movements, civil rights movements,
	dispossessed farmers, the homeless, neighborhood organizations,farm worker
	and union movements.
	
POLITICAL ALTERNATIVES: Populism, decentralization, economic and workplace
	democracy.
	
	In the first half of the course we will read some theoretical works on the 
concept of power and review the classic controversy between the pluralist 
and elite views of power in the United States.  This period will initiate 
the debate which will run throughout the course: How concentrated or 
diffuse is the distribution of power, how is that power exercised, and what, 
if anything, should be done to reform the power structure.
	
				COURSE REQUIREMENTS
				
	The primary requirement of the course is active participation in the task 
force activities.  The TFs will consist of approximately five to seven people.
Assignment to a task force will take place during the second week of class.  
During the third week some reorganization may take place, but from that point 
change.

	The primary responsibility of the task force is the production of a position 
paper.  This paper will be between five and seven pagers per TF member.  The 
position papers will vary in format from TF to TF depending upon the subject, 
but essentially the position papers will analyze the topic in terms of its 
history, present status, the range of possible policies toward the issue at 
hand, the preferred solution and  probable outcomes.  The final position 
paper should read as if it were a briefing for a political leader in which 
the leader is brought up to date on the issue at hand and the policy 
alternatives available are laid out and analyzed.  Each TF member will be 
responsible for a separate section of the paper, but the paper must be 
submitted as a unified whole.  In short, this will require that you work 
together on the project and that you must hold up your end.  The paper is 
due the day your task force leads the class discussion and will be graded 
as follows: One third of the grade will be based on Professor Ward's 
evaluation of the paper, one third will be based on the entire class's 
evaluation of the group's presentation, and one third of the grade will 
be based on the evaluation of your performance in the task force by your 
fellow task force members.  The position paper will constitute thirty 
percent of your final grade.
	
		DISCUSSION SESSIONS

	As noted above, each TF will be responsible for making an oral 
presentation dealing with their assigned topic.  The presentation should go
well beyond the text assigned for that topic.  The discussion should be 
informative and should stimulate further questions for class debate.  Two 
hours of class time will be allotted for the presentation.  The organization 
of the presentation is the TF's responsibility and can be carried out in any 
way agreed upon by the group.  The four presentations will take place on the 
following dates:

	March  7:	Political Domination :
	March 28:	Political Surveillance
	April  18:	Politics at the Grass Roots
	May 2:	Political Alternatives
	
	Two week prior to the presentation the task force must submit a list of 
suggested supplementary readings on the TF's topic to Professor Ward.  
Professor Ward will then select readings from that list which will be 
assigned to the entire class as required reading to be completed before the 
TF's presentation.

	PAPERS

	In addition to the TF paper, two additional seven page papers must be 
completed.  One paper must focus on some aspect of the power structure in 
the U.S., and the second paper must focus on some aspect of political 
participation (other than electoral participation) in the U.S.  The 
specific topic for each paper must be cleared with Professor Ward at the 
earliest possible moment.  The first paper on the power structure can be 
turned in any time prior to the semester break.  The second paper on 
political participation can be turned in any time between the end of the 
semester break and the last day of class.  Each paper is worth twenty-five 
percent of your final grade.
	
	QUIZZES
	
	There will be a number of unannounced quizzes dealing with the readings 
assigned for the course.  The quizzes will focus on the broad themes of the 
assigned books and articles and will take roughly twenty minutes of class 
time to complete.  The purpose of the quizzes is to insure that the reading 
is done on time, and to help you hone your expository writing skills.  
Collectively, the quizzes will constitute ten percent of your final grade.

SELF EVALUATIONS

	The final ten percent of your grade will be based on a self evaluation.  
On January 24 you will each submit a statement of your goals for the 
course.  This statement should be as specific and detailed as possible.  
Plan your method for meeting the responsibilities of this course, set weekly 
goals and time schedules, or whatever will help you to think about why you 
are taking this particular course and how it fits your over-all learning 
goals.  Then, on the last day of class, turn in a self evaluation in which 
you analyze how well you met your goals, how your goals changed, and what 
unforeseen goals emerged.  You will then assign yourself an over-all grade 
based on your performance in this course.

GRADING WEIGHTS SUMMARIZED

Task Force paper	=	Thirty Percent
Power Paper		=	Twenty-five Percent
Participation Paper	=	Twenty-five Percent
Quizzes		=	Ten Percent
Self Evaluation	=	Ten Percent

TEXTS

Bagdikian, B., The Media Monopoly
Churchill, W. & Vander Wall, J., Agents of Repression
Domhoff, G.W., The Power Elite and the State
Dye, T., Who's Running America?
Krimerman, L. & Lindenfeld, F., When Workers Decide
Piven, F.F., & Cloward, R., Poor People's Movements

				READING ASSIGNMENTS

	All readings are required and must be completed before the date listed 
below.  The exception is the first week's readings, most of which will be
done in class during our first meeting.  Additional readings, up to a maximum 
of 60 pages, may be assigned by the task forces as deemed necessary.  These 
additional readings will be made available a week before they are due and 
will be on reserve at Mead Library.
				SYLLABUS

Jan 17:  Dahl, "Who Governs", pp. 93-114, on reserve.
	 Bachrach & Baratz. "Two Faces of Power", pp. 239-249, on reserve.
	 Gaventa, "Power & Powerlessness", pp. 3-32, on reserve.

Jan 24:  Dye, T., Who's Running America?, pp.1-164.

Jan 31:  Dye, T., Who's Running America?, pp. 165-283.

Feb  7:  Domhoff, G.W., The Power Elite and the State, pp.xiii-xix, 1-151.

Feb 14: Domhoff, G.W., The Power Elite and the State, pp. 153-285.

Feb 21: Bagdikian, B., The Media Monopoly, pp. vii-xxxi, 3-133.

Feb 28: Bagdikian, B., The Media Monopoly, pp. 134-252

Mar  7:  Churchill, W. & Vander Wall, J., Agents of Repression, pp.1-134.

Mar 21: Churchill, W. & Vander Wall, J., Agents of Repression, 135-285.

Mar 28: Churchill, W. & Vander Wall, J., Agents of Repression, pp. 287-388.

Apr  4:  Piven, F.F., & Cloward, R., Poor People's Movements, pp.ix-xxiv, 1-147.

Apr 11: Piven, F.F., & Cloward, R., Poor People's Movements, pp. 147-301.

Apr 18: Piven, F.F., & Cloward, R., Poor People's Movements, pp. 301-359.

Apr 25:  Krimerman, L. & Lindenfeld, F., When Workers Decide, pp. 1-154.

May  2:  Krimerman, L. & Lindenfeld, F., When Workers Decide, pp. 155-268.