History 142B, Fall 2004
The 2004 Election in Historical Perspective
History 142B, Fall 2004
Schedule of Lectures :: Reading Assignments :: Writing Assignments :: Links
This course will consider the issues, candidates, and trends in the 2004 presidential election in the context of American history: topics include changes in voting rights, the formation of the New Deal coalition and the Reagan “revolution,” past political strategies, and the role of money, the media, and the courts in elections since WWII.
Course website: http://eee.uci.edu/04f/28250/
Lectures Tues Thurs 200-320pm HIB 110
Discussion sections Tues 330-420pm -or- Thurs 330-420pm HICF 100K
Instructor : Jon Wiener : Wiener@uci.edu 229 Krieger Hall 824-6339
office hours Tues 1-2, Thurs 1-2, and by appointment.
faculty web page: http://www.humanities.uci.edu/history/faculty/wiener/
Teaching Assistant: Ryan Beck rcbeck@uci.edu office hours
Required Books: (available at UCI bookstore, and on library reserve)
Alexander Keyssar, The Right to Vote (Basic Books pb)
William Chafe, The Unfinished Journey: America Since WWII , 5th Ed. (Oxford pb)
Jack Rakove, The Unfinished Election of 2000 (Basic Books pb)
Supplementary:
Polsby and Wildavsky, Presidential Elections, 11th ed. (Rowman & Littlefield pb)
Requirements: attendance at all lectures and discussion section meetings; participation in discussions; four short papers; midterm and final exams.
Grading: Midterm exam 20%; Final exam 30%; Writing Assignments 30%; Class Participation 20%.
Cheating nd Plagiarism: Any cheating or plagiarism may result in failure of the course. See the university policy on academic honesty. It is your responsibility to know what plagiarism is.
Writing Assignments : Write four 2-3 page papers comparing and contrasting two commentators or columnists listed on the syllabus, one conservative and one liberal. For each, write one paragraph stating their argument and one or two assessing it – what do you find convincing or unconvincing?
Due dates: papers are due in sections for week 2 (Oct. 5/7), week 4 (Oct. 19/21), week 6 (Nov 2/4) and week 8 (Nov. 16/18).
Tues Sept 28: Introduction: The battleground states and the Electoral College
Thurs Sept 30: The right to vote and disfranchisement, 1868-1898
Tues Oct 5: The clear choices of 1912
Thurs Oct 7: 1920: Votes for women
Tues Oct 12: 1936: The New Deal coalition
Thurs Oct 14: 1940: Politics in wartime
Tues Oct 19: 1948: The Cold War at home
Thurs Oct 21: 1960: Kennedy's crises
Tues Oct 26: MIDTERM EXAM
Thurs Oct 28: 1964: Civil Rights and the 1965 Voting Rights Act
Tues Nov 2: (ELECTION DAY) Vietnam and public opinion
Thurs Nov 4: The 2004 Election: instant analysis
Tues Nov 9: 1968
Thurs Nov 11: HOLIDAY
Tues Nov 16 1972: Nixon and Watergate
Thurs Nov 18: 1980: The Reagan “Revolution”
Tues Nov 23 1992: Clinton's “Third Way”
Thurs Nov 25 HOLIDAY
Tues Nov 30: The 2000 Election and Bush v. Gore
Thurs Dec 2 : (NO CLASS)
Thurs Dec 11: 130-330pm: FINAL EXAM
Sept. 28/30
Keyssar, Right to Vote , Intro., chs. 1-3
Oct. 5/7
Keyssar, Right to Vote , chs. 4-6
Oct. 12/14
Keyssar, Right to Vote , ch. 7
Oct. 19/21
Chafe, Unfinished Revolution , chs. 7
Oct 26/28
Keyssar, Right to Vote , ch. 8
Nov. 2/4
Chafe, Unfinished Revolution , chs. 9-10
Nov. 9/11
Chafe, Unfinished Revolution , chs. 11-12
Nov. 16/18
Chafe, Unfinished Revolution , chs. 13-15
Nov. 23/25
Chafe, Unfinished Revolution , ch. 16
Nov. 30/Dec. 2
Jack Rakove, The Unfinished Election of 2000
Choose from the list below to write four 2-3 page papers comparing and contrasting two commentators or columnists, one conservative and one liberal. For each columnist, write one paragraph stating their argument and one or two assessing it – what do you find convincing or unconvincing?
Due dates: papers are due in sections for week 2 (Oct. 5/7), week 4 (Oct. 19/21), week 6 (Nov 2/4) and week 8 (Nov. 16/18).
New York Times
William Safire (conservative) vs. Maureen Dowd (liberal):
http://www.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/williamsafire/ http://www.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/maureendowd/
Paul Krugman (liberal) vs. David Brooks (conservative)
http://www.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/paulkrugman/
http://www.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/davidbrooks/
Washington Post
George Will (conservative) vs. Harold Meyerson (liberal)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/opinion/columns/willgeorge/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/opinion/columns/meyersonharold/
Los Angeles Times
Robert Scheer (liberal) vs. Max Boot (conservative)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-columnist-rscheer,1,3392144.columnist?coll=la-util-op-ed
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-columnist-mboot,1,3971554.columnist?coll=la-util-op-ed
Official campaign sites :
http://www.georgewbush.com
http://www.johnkerry.com
General coverage:
Washington Post: 2004 election
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2004/
PollingReport.com: www.pollingreport.com
Electoral Vote Predictor: http://www.electoral-vote.com/index.html
Historical material:
Past elections maps: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/sfl-edge-n-electoral,1,7466826.flash?coll=la-utilities-politics
humor sites:
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart : http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/thedailyshowwithjonstewart/
The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/election2004/
Bush-Cheney '04: http://www.bush2004.com/
GOP fun: http://www.gopfun.com/
Doonesbury: http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html
Bush's cv: http://communication.ucsd.edu/911/resume.html
JibJab "This Land": http://www.jibjab.com/default.asp
Bush "Endless Love": http://politicalhumor.about.com/cs/bushmultimedia/v/blendlesslove.htm