A New Course: American Society and Politics: From Cold War to Present - Shanghai University Fall 2020

Course Description and Objective:

The focus of this course is the American society and politics in the 20^th century. In order to understand transformations taking place in the American society and politics today, we need to explore and examine the social, political and economic underpinnings of the past. Today’s paradigms were created in relation to specific events in the past, and now fuel current events. At the beginning of the 20^st century, a modern American state and society emerged as a result of industrialization; car manufacturing and assembly line were developed. Car manufacturing and steel industry fueled the domestic migration, and modern American industrial cities were born, such as Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, etc. This transformation was very similar to what happened in Europe in the 1800s. 

Rapid economic development created unintended consequences, such as 1929 Great Depression which led the changes in American Social structure as we see in the John Steinbeck famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Hence, Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced A New Deal economic recovery project. While Europe was burning with Nazism, US developed and recovered its economic depression less than ten years, and defeated Nazi Germany in the WW II. This was the beginning stage of American “Century.” However, another important political actor started to be seen in the world politics and this was Soviet Union. Between 1945 and 1989, the world faced unprecedented challenges; basically, economic, social and political competition between USA and USSR changed and transformed the American Society and politics substantially. Both countries re-arranged and re-structured their economic and social policies based on the Cold War Politics. US entered the Vietnam War, left by French Colonialism; and democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh was overthrown by US led coup in Iran, very similar to US supported military coups in Guatemala and Albania. Military industrial complex was born under these circumstances. In the 1960s, social and political unrest exploded across the US cities against racism and Vietnam War. At the end of 1980s, the world witnessed collapse of USSR. Therefore, between 1992 and 2000, under the Clinton administration, US economy, society and politics had been more relax than before and after. However, emergence of tech industry and internationalization of commodity chains had changed American economy forever. American companies started to invest in a country where there was a cheaper labor and outsourced their local jobs. American small towns immediately were affected by these economic changes. Direct social result was the re-creation of Evangelical Christianity in across America. Politics and society have moved towards more conservative direction. In meantime, ethnic and economic lobbies started to hijacked American domestic and foreign policies. In this class, we will review and try to understand these changes. 

Required Reading:

1.     American Politics and Society. David McKay. Wiley, 2012.

https://www.wiley.com/en-us/American+Politics+and+Society%2C+eTextbook%2C+7th+Edition-p-9781118355381

Recommended Readings:

1.     Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power By G. William Domhoff
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

2.     Bowling Alone:The Collapse and Revival of American Community By ROBERT D. PUTNAM

http://bowlingalone.com/

3.     The Power Elite By C. Wright Mills
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Elite-C-Wright-Mills/dp/0195133544

4.     Social Inequality and Social Stratification in U.S. Society By Christopher B. Doob
https://www.pearsonhighered.com/program/Doob-Social-Inequality-and-Social-Stratification-in-U-S-Society-with-My-Search-Lab-with-e-Text-Access-Card-Package/PGM147466.html

5.     American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass By Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674018211

6.     History of the American Economy By Gary M. Walton and Hugh Rockoff
http://www.cengage.com/economics/discipline_content/preview_guide/preview_guide/PreviewGuide_WaltonRockoff_11e.pdf

7.     Principles and Practice of American Politics Classic and Contemporary Readings by Samuel Kernell and Steven S. Smith https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/principles-and-practice-of-american-politics/book255240

8.     American Politics Today by William T Bianco and David T Canon https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393630930

9.     A Reading Guide for Those in Despair About American Politics https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/a-reading-guide-for-those-in-despair-about-american-politics/504707/

10.  Welcome to Operation Dixie, the most ambitious unionization attempt in the U.S. https://timeline.com/operation-dixie-was-a-quixotic-attempt-to-unionize-the-south-61fdd7dd0810

11.  The History of the Defense Production Act and What it Means for COVID-19 https://warontherocks.com/2020/04/the-history-of-the-defense-production-act-and-what-it-means-for-covid-19/

12.  The Defense Production Act of 1950: History, Authorities, and Considerations for Congress https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R43767.pdf

Fiction/Novels:

1. Americanah By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie
4. Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom By Ryan T. Anderson
5. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism By Edward Baptist
6. Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith By Francis Beckwith
7. The Coming By Daniel Black
8. The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism By Pascal Bruckner
9. Between the World and Me By Ta-Nehisi Coates
10. Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics By Cathy Cohen
11. Evicted By Matthew Desmond
12. Roads to Dominion: Right Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States By Sara Diamond
13. Sleeping Giant: How the New Working Class Will Transform America By Tamara Draut
14. Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America
    By Martin Gilens
15. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
    By Jonathan Haidt
16. The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements By Eric Hoffer
17. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right
    By Arlie Russell Hochschild
18. In Pursuit of Equity: Women, Men, and the Quest for Economic Citizenship in the 20th Century By Alice Kessler-Harris
19. The Fractured Republic: Renewing America's Social Contract in the Age of Individualism By Yuval Levin (2)
20. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness By George Lipsitz
21. Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class By Ian Haney López
22. A Canticle for Leibowitz By Walter Miller
23. Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 By Charles Murray
24. Dreams From My Father By Barack Obama
25. The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America By George Packer
26. Citizen: An American Lyric By Claudia Rankine
27. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty By Dorothy Roberts
28. The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown By Paul Taylor
29. Because of Sex: One Law, 10 Cases and 50 Years That Changed American Women’s Lives at Work By Gillian Thomas
30. Habibi By Craig Thompson
31. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!By Mo Willems
32. American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America By Colin Woodard

Documentaries:

1.     The Century: America's Time - 1914-1919: Shell Shock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GBWDQ5cF_U&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=6

2.     The Century: America's Time - 1920-1929: Boom To Bust https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7ftyZigYs&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=4

3.     The Century: America's Time - 1929-1936: Stormy Weather https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSfzFWU5LbY&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD

4.     The Century: America's Time - 1936-1941: Over The Edge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWg2xghlbnc&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=2

5.     The Century: America's Time - 1941-1945: Civilians At War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMWYblZ8gwQ&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=3

6.     The Century: America's Time - 1946-1952: Best Years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VdXTw4q6y8&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=8

7.     The Century: America's Time - 1953-1960: Happy Daze https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6dsc5p5-3A&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=9

8.     The Century: America's Time - 1960-1964: Poisoned Dreams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93iBar-VrqA&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=10

9.     The Century: America's Time - 1965-1970: Unpinned https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jET2qR8Y-Ng&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=11

10.  The Century: America's Time - 1971-1975: Approaching the Apocalypse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cLvv5FH0FA&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=12

11.  The Century: America's Time - 1976-1980: Starting Over https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vus0FTWWcXE&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=13

12.  The Century: America's Time - 1981-1989: A New World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNwrhgFrqSU&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=14

13.  The Century: America's Time - The 90s And Beyond: Then And Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtSNgdkwXkU&list=PLDawsKfPyVwpQKav3711moEd9FcaOobWD&index=15

Movies:

The Godfather (1972)

Citizen Kane (1941) 

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 

Forrest Gump (1994)

Gone With the Wind (1939)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Apocalypse Now (1979) 

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) 

Fargo (1996)

American Beauty (1999)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Fight Club (1999)

Alien (1979)

The Matrix (1999) 

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Good Will Hunting (1997)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Rear Window (1954) The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Dark Knight (2008)

West Side Story (1961)

North by Northwest (1959)

Mary Poppins (1964)

All the President's Men (1976)

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

12 Angry Men (1957)

On the Waterfront (1954)

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Burn After Reading (2008)

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The Color Purple (1985)

American History X (1998)

The Good Shepherd (2006)

Mississippi Burning (1988)

The Truman Show (1998)

Pleasantville (1996)

TV Series:

1.     Frontier | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J5wTsYAh94&feature=emb_title

2.     Ozark (2017) Netflix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hAXVqrljbs

3.     DAMNATION Season 1 Official Trailer (HD) USA Network Western Series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7yW7h0YkPI&feature=emb_title

4.     DEADWOOD Official Season 1 Classic Trailer (HD) Ian Mcshane Drama Series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW4Dc-WqvJk&feature=emb_title

5.     Hell on Wheels (2011) - Trailer - Trailers clips - Film1.nl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1VlEYTsU7g&feature=emb_title

6.     Sons of Liberty - Intro Theme [Hans Zimmer] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwZEuBp7jw4&feature=emb_title

7.     Saints & Strangers Trailer | National Geographic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdP8y916SHs&feature=emb_title

8.     Hidden Figures | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wfrDhgUMGI&feature=emb_title

Websites and Projects:

1.     The Census Bureau - https://www.census.gov/

2.     Congress.gov | Library of Congress https://www.congress.gov/

3.     United States Congress https://www.house.gov/

4.     United States Senate https://www.senate.gov/

5.     Pew Research Center https://www.pewresearch.org/

6.     United States Department of Justice https://www.justice.gov/

7.     Metropolitan Policy Program https://www.brookings.edu/program/metropolitan-policy-program/

8.     The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute https://www.reaganfoundation.org/

9.     American Politics Academy https://summer.georgetown.edu/programs/SHS01/american-politics-academy/contact-us

Course Requirements

To prevent confusion later, please read the following information carefully:

Grades: Your grade for this course will be based on your performance in the following categories, shown below with their dates and respective weights.

Item                                                                  Date                                      Weight (%)

Quizzes (5 Quiz)                                                                                                       60.0

Final Paper/Movie Critique:                                                                                   30.0

Attendance/ Class Participation                                                                              10.0    

           

Quizzes: You will have 5 quizzes. The quizzes will have 12 questions from each week’s class readings and discussions. Each Quiz is worth 12 points and each question is worth 1 point. You will find the schedule of quizzes below. Please carefully review the quiz schedule. If you have schedule conflict, drop the class. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.      

Final Paper/Movie Critique: You will select a movie based on American Politics and Society, and will write a movie review, based on our class topics (Chapters in the book). We must approve your final movie proposal first. Each student must select a different movie, so it is important to clear your topic with us as soon as possible. For your final paper, we created a sample format, which you will receive it by email. Follow the sample format, and answer the questions clearly!

The final paper must be at least 2000 words. The last day to submit your final paper is Sunday………………..

CRITERIA:        If you select your movie after the third week you will lose 3 points!

                            If your paper is late, you will lose another 4 points!

                            If your final paper is less then 2000 words, you will lose 5 points!  

Participation/Attendance: Each student must read the course materials before they attend class, and I expect them to participate in class discussion. Regular class attendance is one of the most important parameters to successful completion of the course requirements. If you find interesting articles, books, videos, or other sources that pertain to the class topics and discussion, please share them with me and with your classmates. This can count towards your class participation score.

Course Timeline

First Week	·      Introduction to Course and overview syllabus ·      Background of 20th century Politics and Society ·      What is Cold War? ·      Chapter 1 Government and the People in a Polarized Society o   The Chapters to Come  ·      Chapter 2 Beliefs, Values and American Society o   The Nature of American Beliefs and Values o   Values and American Society o   Social Structure
Second Week	·      Chapter 3 Constitutional Government o   Origins o   The American Constitution o   Ratification o   The Adaptive Constitution o   Assessing the Constitution ·      Chapter 4 Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations o   Federalism in Theory and Practice o   The Evolution of American Federalism o   The Changing Federal Role o   A Changing Court Role? o   The Future of American Federalism
Third Week	·  Chapter 5 American Political Parties in Transition o   The Functions of Parties o   Crisis and Change in the American Party System o   The Decline and Rise of Political Parties o   Changing Party Ideology: 1970–2010 102 o   Explaining Party Change o   Political Parties Redux ·  Chapter 6 Elections and Political Participation o   Patterns of American Electoral Behaviour o   The ‘American Voter’ Model and the New Deal Coalition o   The Decline of the New Deal Coalition and the Rise of a Divided Electorate o   Non-Electoral Political Participation Quiz – 1
Fourth Week	·  Chapter 7 The Media and American Politics o   Media Structure and Organization o   Organization and Ownership o   How Biased? The Media and the Political Agenda o   Controlling the Media o   The Media and American Democracy ·  Chapter 8 Congress I: The People’s Branch?  o   Representation and Congress o   Congressional Elections o   Legislators as Rational Actors o   The Work of Member of Congress o   Conclusions
Fifth Week	·  Chapter 9 Congress II: Functions and Powers – The Broken Branch? o   The Functions of Congress o   The Structure of Power in Congress o   Congress Under Fire o   Reform and Change in Congress o   Is Congress the Broken ‘Branch’? ·  Chapter 10 The Presidency I: Powers and Selection o   Formal Sources of Power o   Informal Powers o   Presidential Selection o   Presidential Selection: Faults and Foibles Quiz – 2
Sixth Week	·  Chapter 11 The Presidency II: The President as Chief Executive o   The Presidency in a Changing America o   Presidential Abuse of Power and the Congressional Response o   Presidential Resources o   Assessing the Presidency: Presidential Power at Home and Abroad ·  Chapter 12 Bureaucratic Power: Federal Departments and Agencies o   The Federal Bureaucracy: Organization and Function o   The Bureaucracy: How Uncontrollable? o   The Inherent Power of Bureaucracy o   The Bureaucratic Hydra: A Uniquely American Phenomenon? o   Reform Attempts o   Concluding Remarks
Seventh Week	·  Chapter 13 The Security State  o   The Rise of the Security State  o   9/11, the Patriot Act, and the Department of Homeland Security o   Threats to Civil Liberties o   The Security State and American Values ·  Chapter 14 Organized Interests: The Real Power? o   Interests, Groups and Lobbyists o   Economic Groups o   Professional Groups o   Promotional Groups o   Political Action Committees o   The Washington Lobby o   Interest Groups: For and Against Quiz – 3
Eighth Week	·  Chapter 15 The Supreme Court and Judicial Politics o   The American Legal System o   The Supreme Court: Decision-Making o   The Supreme Court and Political Power o   The Polarized and Activist Rehnquist and Roberts Courts o   Conclusions: The Court and American Democracy ·  Chapter 16 Regulating Morality: Civil Rights, Liberties and the Conscience Issues  o   Introduction o   Regulating Public Morality o   Civil Liberties 352 Equality and Civil Rights o   Conclusions
Ninth Week	·  Chapter 17 Social Policy in America: Self-Reliance and State Dependence o   The Federal Government and Social Welfare in America: The Reluctant Provider o   Federalism o   Social Security, Medicare and the Electoral Connection o   The Continuing Importance of Self-Reliance o   Health-Care Reforms o   The Federal Government and Education o   Conclusions  ·  Chapter 18 Managing Economic Change o   State and Economy in the United States o   Ideology and Economic Policy o   Institutions and Economic Policy o   Conclusions: Economic Policy in an Age of Uncertainty Quiz – 4
Tenth Week	·  Chapter 19 Environmental Politics o   Background o   The Emerging Environmental Agenda o   Policy Actors and Institutions o   Chronology o   Political Parties and the Environment o   Conclusions: The Future of Environmental Politics ·  Chapter 20 The American World Role o   The Institutional Context o   American Foreign Policy in the Post-9/11 World  o   Conclusions: Bound to Lead or Bound to Fail? ·  Chapter 21 The American Political System in an Uncertain World o   Assessing the American Polity o   Reform and Renewal Quiz – 5
	FINAL PAPER Last Day of Finals  Midnight By email: tugrulkeskin@t.shu.edu.cn