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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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Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Beginnings

 For Thursday, read the first chapter of Davidson and the first chapter of the Thurber reader.

Objectives of the course:
  • Why the institution operates the way it does  
  • What motivates members
    • Reelection
    • Power:  individual and party
    • Public policy
    • Attention and disruption
  • How the institution has changed in recent years
    • Polarization
    • Nationalization of elections and internal congressional politics.
  • How lawmakers, activists, and ordinary citizens accomplish their aims.
  • Dualities
    • 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.
    • Two layers of lawmaking:  high-profile and partisan, lower-profile and practical
  • Recent developments
    • Trump administration, impeachment, and insurrection
    • Change of House party control and the speakership
The Room Where It Happens
  • Deliberation and compromise
  • Will the situation change?

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