POL 377 - Elections: American Style

Elections are fundamental to democratic government, but there seem to be as many variations in electoral institutions, party systems, and campaign styles as there are in democratic societies. In this course, we review the expansive literature covering elections, electoral rules, and electoral behavior in the United States. The course focuses on three main areas. First, we review the electoral process, covering presidential, congressional, state, and local elections. This includes electoral law, rules and institutions, and election forecasting. Second, we will explore the complex quilt of election administration and election policy at the state and local levels. Finally, we will examine individual and collective vote choice-why individuals choose to vote, how they integrate information from the political environment, and how they cast their ballots. Students should be comfortable with analytical and quantitative material since it makes up such a large portion of the literature in this area.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group II
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing and one course in statistics (ECON 311 or ECON 312, LING 337, MATH 141, POL 311, PSY 348, SOC 311, or comparable course). One empirical course in Political Science is recommended but not required.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):
Evaluate data and/or sources. Analyze institutions, formations, languages, structures, or processes, whether social, political, religious, economic, cultural, intellectual or other. Think in sophisticated ways about causation, social and/or historical change, human cognition, or the relationship between individuals and society, or engage with social, political, religious or economic theory in other areas.