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I shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material there. We shall use some of this material in class, and you may review the rest at your convenience. You will all receive invitations to post to the blog. (Please let me know if you do not get such an invitation.) I encourage you to use the blog in these ways:
To post questions or comments about the readings before we discuss them in class;
To follow up on class discussions with additional comments or questions.
To post relevant news items or videos.

There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges.


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Monday, January 25, 2021

In the Beginning

 For Wednesday, read the first chapter of Davidson.

Objectives of course:
  • Why the institution operates the way it does  
  • What motivates members
    • Reelection
    • Power:  individual and party
    • Good public policy
  • How lawmakers, activists, and ordinary citizens accomplish their aims.
  • Comparisons
    • Two Congresses: Representative assembly and lawmaking body.
    • Two chambers:  House and Senate are different.
    • Two parties:  Republicans and Democrats differ ideologically, geographically and demographically, though the lines have shifted over the years.
    • Two kinds of status:  being in the majority is really different from being in the minority.
  • Recent developments
    • Impact of the 2020 elections. 
    • Trump administration and impeachment
The Room Where It Happens
  • Deliberation and compromise
  • Missing today?  Will the situation change?
 

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