SHANG E. HA

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POL 3162Introduction to American Politics

• INTRODUCTION
• SHANG E. HA
• SOGANG UNIVERSITY

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Instructor

• Shang E. Ha (???)
• Associate Professor, Department of Political
  Science, Sogang University
• Areas of Interest political psychology, public
  opinion, political participation, voting
  behavior, and quantitative methods
• See my CV at http//shangeha.weebly.com
• Email seha_at_sogang.ac.kr
• Teaching Assistant Bomi Lee , bomipeace_at_sogang.ac
  .kr

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Course Description

• Aim to develop a systematic understanding of
  American (i.e., US) politics that goes beyond
  mere knowledge of current events
• Understand the similarities and differences in
  terms of political processes and institutions
  between the US and other countries (particularly
  Korea)

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Among the following countries, to which do you
feel closest?
Frequencies
The United States 1,115 73.94
Japan 111 7.36
North Korea 206 13.66
China 66 4.38
Russia 10 0.66
Total 1,508 100.00
Source the 2010 Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) Source the 2010 Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) Source the 2010 Korean General Social Survey (KGSS)
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Textbook

• Bianco, William T., and David T. Canon. 2014.
  American Politics Today. 4th edition. New York
  W. W. Norton (hereafter APT)
• Available for purchase at Bandi Lunis
  bookstore (as of September 1, 2015, it has not
  arrived yet UPDATE fail to import hard copies)
• May consider purchasing the E-book (downloadable
  or online visit http//books.wwnorton.edu),
  which is cheaper (40 or so)
• I will upload ppts and other relevant materials
  on my website
• We use the ESSENTIALS version (neither FULL
  nor CORE version) but content does not vary
  across versions/editions
• On reserve at the main (Loyola) library
• May use the 3rd edition

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Requirement Attendance

• Need to get informed of the FA (failure because
  of absences) system
• Like other courses offered at Sogang University,
  lack of physical participation in class,
  tardiness in arrival, and unexcused absences will
  severely affect the grade
• 10 of the final grade

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Requirement Exams

• Three non-cumulative exams (two mid-terms and one
  final)
• A combination of (1) multiple choice questions,
  (2) true-false statement questions, and (3) short
  answer questions (details will be informed later)
• Closed-book, in-class exams
• 90 of the final grade (30 per exam)

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Office Hours

• 1000 1200/noon Mon, Wed, Fri or by
  appointment
• Dasan Hall, Rm 640
• Highly encourage you to drop by my office at
  least ONCE

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Course Schedule

• Foundations
• Constitution (Chapter 2) Federalism (Chapter 3)
  Civil Liberties (Chapter 4) Civil Rights
  (Chapter 5)
• Politics
• Public Opinion and the Media (Chapter 6)
  Political Parties (Chapter 7) Elections (Chapter
  8) Interest Groups (Chapter 9) Congress
  (Chapter 10) The Presidency (Chapter 11) The
  Bureaucracy (Chapter 12) The Courts (Chapter 13)
• Policy
• Domestic Policy (Chapter 14) Foreign Policy
  (Chapter 15)

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Overview

• APT, Chapter 1
• What is politics?
• Why do we have a government?
• What are the sources of conflict in American
  politics?

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One thing you have to memorize(Source Google
Image)
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Legalization of Marijuana
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Conflict (and Compromise?)

• There has been conflict between some of the
  states and the federal government over the
  legalization of marijuana.
• In Colorado, voters approved a ballot initiative
  to amend the state constitution to legalize and
  regulate the recreational use, cultivation, and
  sale of marijuana to adults (21 and over) as of
  January 1, 2014, despite the continuing federal
  ban on legal marijuana use.

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Why do we have a government?To provide order

• Thomas Hobbes Leviathan (1651)
• Life in the state of nature (i.e., without
  government) would be solitary, poor, nasty,
  brutish, and short
• According to the US Constitution, two of the
  central goals of governments are
• To provide for the common defense (military
  protection against foreign invasion)
• To insure domestic tranquility (law enforcement
  within the nation)

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Why do we have a government? To promote the
general welfare

• There are some problems that people cannot solve
  on their own (e.g., protecting the environment
  against pollution)
• Government provides public goods (services or
  actions that, once provided to one person, become
  available to everyone e.g., roads, public
  education)
• The market under-produces public goods because of
  collective action problems

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Collective action problem

• A situation in which the members of a group would
  benefit by working together to produce some
  outcome, but each individual is better off
  refusing to cooperate and reaping benefits from
  those who do the work
• Free riding the incentive to benefit from
  others work without making a contribution, which
  leads individuals in a collective action
  situation to refuse to work together

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What is politics?

• The process that determines what government does
• Three features of politics
• Politics is conflictual making government policy
  involves issues on which people disagree,
  sometimes strongly, which makes compromise
  difficult
• Political process matters governmental actions
  do not happen by accident they result from
  conscious choices made by elected officials and
  bureaucrats
• Politics is everywhere

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Sources of Conflict in American Politics

• Economic Interests
• The rich vs. the poor
• Democrats tend to favor more redistributive tax
  policies and social spending on programs for the
  poor
• Republicans favor lower taxes and less spending
  on social policies, being more supportive of the
  free market

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Income Inequality
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Sources of Conflict in American Politics

• Cultural Values
• Religious vs. secular
• Americans disagree on cultural and moral issues
  such as gay marriage, abortion, stem cell
  research, school prayer, gun control, the
  teaching of evolution in public schools, etc
• Closely related to partisan division (Republican
  vs. Democrat) in the contemporary US politics

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The Culture War
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Sources of Conflict in American Politics

• Ideology
• A comprehensive set of ideas and beliefs that
  allows us to organize and evaluate the political
  world
• Liberal one side of the ideological spectrum
  defined by support for stronger government
  programs and more market regulation
• Conservative one side of the ideological
  spectrum defined by support for lower taxes, a
  free market, and a more limited government
• Libertarians those who prefer very limited
  government and therefore tend to be conservative
  on issues such as welfare policy, environmental
  policy, and public support for education, but
  liberal on issues of personal liberty such as
  free speech, abortion, and the legalization of
  drugs

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Red States, Blue States(The 2000 Presidential
Election, by States)Source Wikipedia
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Red States, Blue States A Closer LookSummary
Results of 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008
Presidential Elections (Source Wikipedia)
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Purple America(The 2012 Presidential Election
Popular Vote by County)
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Sources of Conflict in American Politics Race
and Ethnicity
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