Government 320: Public Opinion and Public Choice
Spring 1999
Monday, Wednesday 2:55-4:10 (RF 306)
Professor: Walter R. Mebane, Jr.
Office: 121 McGraw Hall (255-3868); email wrm1@macht.arts.cornell.edu
Office hours: Tue 2-5

due date description weight

March 17 midterm exam 25%

April 5 final paper proposal 5%

May 10 final paper 30%

May 18, 3-5:30pm final exam 40%

Reading Availability

The following books have been ordered through the usual bookstores. 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.

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

Cox, Gary W., and Mathew D. McCubbins. 1993. Legislative Leviathan: Party Government in the House. U of California Press.

Davidson, Chandler, and Bernard Grofman,, eds. 1994. Quiet Revolution in the South: The Impact of the Voting Rights Act, 1965-1990. Princeton UP.

Hinich, Melvin J., and Michael C. Munger. 1997. Analytical Politics. Cambridge UP.

Krehbiel, Keith. 1991. Information and Legislative Organization. Ann Arbor: University of Michgan Press.

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

Lupia, Arthur, and Mathew D. McCubbins. 1998. The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know? Cambridge UP.

Miller, Gary. 1992. Managerial Dilemmas: The Political Economy of Hierarchy. Cambridge UP.

Riker, William H. 1986. The Art of Political Manipulation. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Mark S. Bonchek. 1997. Analyzing Politics: Rationality, Behavior, and Institutions. Norton.

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

Class reading and exam schedule

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

1. Basics of Spatial Theory and Game Theory (Jan 25-Feb 1)
   • Hinich and Munger. Analytical Politics. Chapters 1-4.

   James M. Enelow and Melvin J. Hinich. 1984. Spatial Theory of Voting: An Introduction. Cambridge UP.

   Kreps, David M. 1990. Game Theory and Economic Modelling. Oxford UP.

   Morrow, James D. 1994. Game Theory for Political Scientists. Princeton: Princeton UP.

2. Paradoxes of Majority Rule (Feb 3)
   • Shepsle and Bonchek. Analyzing Politics. Chapters 1-5.

   Mueller, Dennis C. 1989. Public Choice II. New York: Cambridge UP.

3. Voting Rules, Social Choice and Arrow's Theorem (Feb 8-15)
   • Shepsle and Bonchek. Analyzing Politics. Chapters 1-3, 7.

   Mueller, Dennis C. 1989. Public Choice II. New York: Cambridge UP.

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

   Sen, Amartya. 1997. Choice, Welfare and Measurement. Cambridge: Harvard UP.

4. Political Manipulation--Heresthetic versus Rhetoric (Feb 17-22)
   • Riker. The Art of Political Manipulation.

   Riker, William H. 1982. Liberalism Against Populism: A Confrontation Between the Theory of Democracy and the Theory of Social Choice. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.

   Ordeshook, Peter C., and Thomas Schwartz. 1987. ``Agendas and the Control of Political Outcomes.'' American Political Science Review 81:179-199.

5. Comparing Utility Information--Rhetoric Regained (Feb 24)
   • Roemer, John. 1996. Theories of Distributive Justice. Harvard UP. Chapter 1.

   Sen, Amartya. 1997. Choice, Welfare and Measurement. Cambridge: Harvard UP.

6. Strategic Voting and the Party System (Mar 1-3)
   • Cox. Making Votes Count. Chapters 1-7.

   Lijphart, Arend. 1990. ``The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws, 1945-85.'' American Political Science Review 84:481-496.

   Shepsle, Kenneth A. 1991. Models of Multiparty Electoral Competition. Harwood Academic.

   Taagepera, Rein, and Matthew Soberg Shugart. 1989. Seats and Votes: The Effects and Determinants of Electoral Systems. Yale UP.

7. Consequences of the Voting Rights Act (Mar 8-15)
   • Davidson and Grofman. Quiet Revolution. Introduction, Chapters 1, 10-13 and at least one of chapters 2-9.
   • Charles Cameron, David Epstein and Sharyn O'Halloran. 1996. ``Do Majority-Minority Districts Maximize Substantive Black Representation in Congress?'' American Political Science Review 90:794-812.
   • Cox. Making Votes Count. Chapters 8-9.

   Grofman, Bernard, and Chandler Davidson, eds. 1992. Controversies in Minority Voting: The Voting Rights Act in Perspective. Brookings.

8. MIDTERM EXAM (Mar 17)
9. Collective Goods, Principals and Agents (Mar 29-Apr 5)
   • Miller. Hierarchy. Chapters 1, 5-7.
   • Shepsle and Bonchek. Analyzing Politics. Chapters 8-11 and 13.

   Mancur Olson. 1971. The Logic of Collective Action. Harvard UP.

   Terry M. Moe. 1988. The Organization of Interests: Incentives and the Internal Dynamics of Political Interest Groups. U of Chicago.

10. Public Opinion and Elites--Domination or Delegation? (Apr 7-19)
    • Zaller. Mass Opinion. Chapters 1-9, 11-12. Entire.
    • Lupia and McCubbins. The Democratic Dilemma.

11. Organization of Congress (Apr 22-May 5)
    • Shepsle and Bonchek. Analyzing Politics. Chapter 12.
    • Cox and McCubbins. Legislative Leviathan. Chapters 1-7.
    • Krehbiel. Information. Entire.
    • Krehbiel. Pivotal Politics. Chapters 1-6, 8-10.

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