This course provides an introduction to the politics of public policy-making in the United States. The emphasis is on why American government responds to particular problems in particular ways, and what this reveals about the workings of political institutions and the distribution of political influence. The course focuses on how the federal government has developed an extensive range of domestic policies in areas such as health care, taxation, social security and the environment. Readings and lectures are structured around three overlapping components: (1) an overview of theories of public policymaking; (2) an analysis of the major institions of American national government and their relationships to the policymaking process; and (3) a series of case studies that allow more detailed investigation of political struggles over pressing domestic issues.

How can we identify and explain the key transformations and central dynamics of recent American political development? Few eras have witnessed more rapid or startling transformations than the last half-century, yet much of political science confines itself to atemporal investigations of narrowly framed problems. In contrast, this course highlights the chracteristics and advantages of empirically grounded scholarship focused on organizational and institutional configurations and the unfolding of political processes over time. Through shared readings and structured discussions, course participants will consider several substantive topics insome depth, including: the changing patterns of civic participation and interest intermediation; the impact of racial transformations on American politics; and the distinctive dynamics of U.S. social policy expansion. This course does not offer a full survey of postwar developments, however. The emphasis will be on principles of theory, conceptualization, research design, and data selection that participants can later apply to a variety of research questions of their own choosing.