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Government 320: Public Opinion and Public Choice

Spring 2005
Tuesday, Thursday 1:25-2:40 (GS KAU)
Professor: Walter R. Mebane, Jr.
Office: 217 White Hall (255-3868); email wrm1@cornell.edu
Office hours: Tuesday 3-5, Wednesday 3-4 or other times by appointment.
Course web page: http://macht.arts.cornell.edu/wrm1/gov320.html
TA: Holger Lutz Kern
TA email: hlk23@cornell.edu
TA Office: B03 White Hall
TA Office Hours: Tue 9:30-11:00, Thu 9:30-11:00 or other times by appointment.

Assignment Due Dates
due date description weight
March 17 midterm exam 25%
April 7 final paper proposal 5%
May 13 final paper 35%
May 18 final exam 35%

Reading Availability

The following books have been ordered through the campus store. Almost all the books are to be read in their entirety, or otherwise heavily used, so you probably want to buy them if you can. But the books should also (soon) be on reserve at Uris library.

Alesina, Alberto, and Howard Rosenthal. 1995. Partisan Politics, Divided Government, and the Economy. Cambridge UP.

Althaus, Scott L. 2003. Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics. Cambridge.

Cox, Gary. 1996. Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral System. Cambridge UP.

Craven, John. 1992. Social Choice: A Framework for Collective Decisions and Individual Judgements. Cambridge UP.

Dixit, Avinash, and Susan Skeath. 2004. Games of Strategy. 2d ed. Norton.

Krehbiel, Keith. 1998. Pivotal Politics: A Theory of U.S. Lawmaking. U of Chicago.

Riker, William H. 1986. The Art of Political Manipulation. Yale UP.

Zaller, John R. 1992. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge UP.

Class schedule


Items with a bullet ($\bullet$) are required. Others are recommended.

  1. The Clueless Public? (Jan 27-Feb 8)

    Zaller. Mass Opinion. Chapters 1-7.

  2. Political Manipulation (Feb 10-24)

  3. Noncooperative Strategic Equilibrium (Mar 1-15)

  4. Parties, Strategic Voting and Party Systems (Mar 29-Apr 14)

  5. Parties versus Pivots (Apr 19-21)

  6. Separation of Powers and Coordination (Apr 26-May 5)




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Walter Mebane 2005-02-05