GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

1

George Mason University

Schar School of Policy and Government

GOVT 490-007

Public Opinion and American Politics

Bill Schneider Fall Term 2019

Van Metre Hall 619 Thursdays, 4:30-7:10 pm

bschneid@gmu.edu Krug Hall 19

Overview

The government of the United States was designed not to

work. The Constitution was written 220 years ago by leaders who

shared a deep distrust of government. They wanted it to be as

weak as possible. Hence, they devised a system with divided

powers and checks and balances. But somehow, it does work.

What makes it work is public opinion. When there is an

overwhelming sense of public urgency, all the pieces click into

place. Things get done.

This course will look at government by crisis and the way

public opinion shapes policy. Topics will include health care,

gun policy, income inequality, military intervention, terrorism

and affirmative action. The course will also look at the

dynamics that drive elections, the causes and consequences of

political polarization, the rise of political movements like

Trumpism and their policy consequences.

Course materials

Recommended for purchase:

Bill Schneider, Standoff: How America Became Ungovernable

(Simon & Schuster, 2018).

Bill Bishop, The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-

Minded America is Tearing Us Apart (Mariner Books, 2009)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

2

Course requirements

1. Two papers (each approximately 1,000 words). One paper

will be assigned from the topics on the next page. The second

paper will be chosen by the student from the same list. The

papers should answer the question posed for that topic. Or, if

approved by the instructor, the paper may answer a different

question. Each paper is due on the day that topic is scheduled

for class discussion.

2. A 20-minute class presentation based on the first paper

(written for requirement #1 above), due on the day that topic is

scheduled for class discussion. The second paper (on the topic

of your choosing) does not require a class report.

3. A final examination (approximately 1,500 words)

answering this question: How can American government function in

a deeply polarized political environment? Cite examples of

success and failure.

The final examination is due on December 9.

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

3

Weekly topics:

August 29 How America Became Ungovernable

September 5 America the Unusual

September 12 a. Populism

b. Political polarization

September 19 a. The 2016 election and Trumpism

b. The electoral college

September 26 NO CLASS

October 3 a. Gun policy

b. Immigration

October 10 a. Abortion

b. Affirmative action

October 17 a. Health care

b. Inequality

October 24 a. Same-sex marriage

b. Sexual harassment

October 31 a. Taxes

b. Infrastructure spending

November 7 a. Foreign trade

b. Economy and elections

November 14 a. The press and politics

b. Presidential impeachment

November 21 a. Terrorism

b. Government surveillance

December 5 a. The Israel-Palestine conflict

b. Military intervention

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

4

COURSE SCHEDULE

August 29

How the U.S. Became Ungovernable

September 5

America the Unusual

For discussion:

Students will be assigned questions based on

the John Kingdon book.

John W. Kingdon, America the Unusual (Worth, 1999)

September 12

a. Populism

Is it liberal or conservative -- or both?

Schneider, Standoff, chapter 2.

Dani Rodrick, ``What’s Driving Populism?’’ Project

Syndicate, July 9, 2019.

(https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/economic-and-

cultural-explanations-of-right-wing-populism-by-dani-rodrik-

2019-07)

Michael Kazin, ``Trump and American Populism.'' Foreign

Affairs, October 6, 2016.

(https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2016-10-

06/trump-and-american-populism)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

5

b. Political Polarization

What divides Americans?

Schneider, Standoff, chapter 3

Bill Bishop, The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-

Minded America is Tearing Us Apart (Mariner Books, 2009),

chapter 1, ``The Age of Political Segregation''

September 19

a. The 2016 election and Trumpism

How did Trump win?

Schneider, Standoff, chapter 11.

Martin Longman, ``Addressing the Cultural Anxiety of the

White Working Class,'' Washington Monthly, May 9, 2017.

(https://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/05/09/addressing-the-

cultural-anxiety-of-the-white-working-class/)

b. The electoral college

Can it be reformed?

Andrew Prokop, ``Why the Electoral College is the Absolute

Worst, Explained,'' Vox, November 10, 2016.

(https://www.vox.com/policy-and-

politics/2016/11/7/12315574/electoral-college-explained-

presidential-elections-2016)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

6

September 26

NO CLASS

October 3

a. Gun policy

Why is it so difficult to pass gun laws?

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 6, pp. 117-127.

Kevin H. Wozniak, ``Public Opinion about Gun Control Post-

Sandy Hook,'' Criminal Justice Policy Review, Volume 28, Issue 3

(April 1, 2017), pp. 255-278.

(http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0887403415577192)

Emily Stewart, ``A Year After Parkland, Support for Stricter

Gun Laws Wanes,’’ Vox, February 14, 2019

(https://www.vox.com/policy-and-

politics/2019/2/14/18224808/parkland-anniversary-gun-control-

laws-poll)

b. Immigration

Why is it so difficult to pass immigration reform?

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 6, pp. 128-134.

Dylan Matthews, ``Polls Show Americans are Closer to

Democrats than Donald Trump on Immigration,'' Vox, February 12,

2018.

(https://www.vox.com/policy-and-

politics/2018/2/3/16959458/immigration-trump-compromise-public-

opinion-poll-dreamers-wall)

Carroll Doherty, ``Americans Broadly Support Legal Status for

Immigrants Brought to the U.S. Illegally as Children,’’ Pew

Research Center, June 18, 2018.

(http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/18/americans-

broadly-support-legal-status-for-immigrants-brought-to-the-u-s-

illegally-as-children/)

October 10

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

7

a. Abortion

Has public opinion changed since Roe?

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 7, pp. 140-147.

Danielle Kurtzleben, ``Despite Constant Debate, Americans'

Abortion Opinions Rarely Change,'' National Public Radio,

September 21, 2015.

(https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/09/21/44151060

0/despite-constant-debate-americans-abortion-opinions-rarely-

change)

Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, ``Here’s Why The Anti-Abortion

Movement is Escalating,’’ FiveThirtyEight, May 21, 2019.

(https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/we-categorized-hundreds-

of-abortion-restrictions-heres-why-the-anti-abortion-movement-

is-escalating/)

b. Affirmative action

Do white Americans support affirmative action?

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 7, pp. 147-151.

Simon Waxman, ``Poll: Yes to Affirmative Action, No to Racial

Preferences,'' Boston Review, August 9, 2013.

(http://bostonreview.net/blog/poll-yes-affirmative-action-no-

racial-preferences)

Hua Hsu, ``The Rise and Fall of Affirmative Action,'' The New

Yorker, October 15, 2018.

(https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/the-rise-and-

fall-of-affirmative-action)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

8

October 17

a. Health care

Why not Medicare for all?

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 5, pp. 97-116.

Ashley Kirzinger, Bryan Wu and Mollyann Brodie, ``The

Public's Priorities and the Next Steps for the Affordable Care

Act,'' Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, January 26, 2018.

(https://www.kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/kaiser-health-

tracking-poll-january-2018-publics-priorities-next-steps-

affordable-care-act/)

Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, ``Democrats Have No Safe Options on

Health Care,’’ FiveThirtyEight, May 13, 2019.

(https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/democrats-have-no-safe-

options-on-health-care/)

b. Climate Change

Why can't we do much about it?

Robinson Meyer, ``The Unprecedented Surge in Fear About

Climate Change,’’ The Atlantic, January 23, 2019.

(https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/do-most-

americans-believe-climate-change-polls-say-yes/580957/)

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and George Mason

University Center for Climate Change Communication, ``Politics

and Global Warming,'' October 2017, pages 1-28.

(http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-

content/uploads/2017/12/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-October-

2017.pdf)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

9

October 24

a. Same-sex marriage

How did public opinion change so quickly?

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 7, pp. 151-154.

Robert P. Jones, Daniel Cox, Robert Griffin, Molly Fisch-

Freidman and Alex Vandermaass-Peeler, ``Emerging Consensus on

LGBT Issues: Findings from the 2017 American Values Atlas,’’

Public Religion Research Institute.

(https://www.prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/AVA-2017-

FINAL.pdf)

David von Drehle, ``How Gay Marriage Won,'' Time, March 28,

2013.

(http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/275-42/16693-how-gay-

marriage-won)

b. Sexual harassment

Compare the impact of the Clarence Thomas and Harvey

Weinstein episodes.

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 7, pp.135-140.

Nikki Graf, ``Sexual Harassment at Work in the Era of

#MeToo,’’ Pew Research Center, April 4, 2018.

(http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/04/04/sexual-harassment-at-

work-in-the-era-of-metoo/)

Meredith Conroy, ``Are Americans More Divided on #MeToo

Issues?’’ FiveThirtyEight, April 16, 2019.

(https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/are-americans-more-

divided-on-metoo-issues/)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

10

October 31

a. Taxes

Why does the issue of tax reform keep coming back?

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 5, pp. 91-97.

Eric Levitz, ``Democrats Aren’t Moving Left on Taxes.

Democrats Are Moving Toward Voters,’’ New York Intelligencer,

February 5, 2019.

(http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/wealth-tax-warren-polls-

media-public-opinion-democrats.html)

Ben White, ``Soak the Rich? Americans Say Go For It,’’

Politico, February 4, 2019.

(https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/04/democrats-taxes-

economy-policy-2020-1144874)

b. Infrastructure spending

Why is spending on public works different from spending on

social welfare?

David Wessel, ``Spending on our Crumbling

Infrastructure,'' Brookings Institution, March 10, 2015.

(https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/spending-on-our-crumbling-

infrastructure/)

Justin Fox, ``It's Never Infrastructure Week,'' Bloomberg

Opinion, September 6, 2018.

(https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-09-

06/government-spending-hits-a-striking-new-low)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

11

November 7

a. Foreign trade

Are Americans protectionist?

Bradley Jones, ``Americans are Generally Positive About Free

Trade Agreements, More Critical of Tariff Increases,’’ Pew

Research Center, May 10, 2018.

(http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/10/americans-are-

generally-positive-about-free-trade-agreements-more-critical-of-

tariff-increases/)

Karlyn Bowman, ``China Tariffs, Trade and Public Opinion

Today,’’ Forbes, July 18, 2019.

(https://www.forbes.com/sites/bowmanmarsico/2019/07/18/china-

tariffs-trade-and-public-opinion-today/#249dcda0bbfd)

b. Economy and elections

Does the state of the economy determine election outcomes?

Mike Moffatt, ``How Much Does the Economy Influence

Presidential Election Outcomes?’’ ThoughtCo., March 17, 2017.

(https://www.thoughtco.com/presidential-elections-and-the-

economy-1146241)

Diana Mutz, ``Status Threat, Not Economic Hardship, Explains

the 2016 Presidential Vote,’’ Proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences, April 23, 2018.

(http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/04/18/1718155115)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

12

November 14

a. The press and politics

Why does President Trump call the press ``the enemy of the

American people’’?

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 11.

Amy Mitchell, Jeffrey Gottfried, Mason Walker, Sophia Fedeli

and Galen Stocking, ``Many Americans Say Made-Up News is a

Critical Problem That Needs to be Fixed,’’ Pew Research Center,

Journalism and Media, June 5, 2019.

b. The Invisible Primary 2019

Is the Democratic Party moving to the left?

Peter Beinart, ``Will the Left Go Too Far?’’ Atlantic,

December 2018.

(https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/democratic

-party-moves-left/573946/)

Eric Levitz, ``The Democrats Aren’t a Left-Wing Party – They

Just Play One on TV,’’ New York Intelligencer, July 2, 2019.

(http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/are-democrats-too-

liberal-debates-pelosi-congress.html)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

13

November 21

a. Terrorism

Why do terrorists target the U.S.?

Schneider, Standoff, Chapter 8.

Daniel Benjamin, ``17 Years After 9/11, Americans Don’t Care

About Terrorism Any More,’’ Politico, September 11, 2018.

(https://www.politico.eu/article/911-terrorism-17-years-after-

nobody-cares-anymore/)

Andrew McGill, ``Americans Are More Worried About Terrorism

Than They Were After 9/11,'' The Atlantic, September 8, 2016.

(https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/american-

terrorism-fears-september-11/499004/)

b. Government surveillance

Are Americans willing to accept a trade-off of surveillance

for security?

Abigail Geiger, ``How Americans Have Viewed Government

Surveillance and Privacy Since Snowden Leaks,’’ Pew Research

Center, June 4, 2018.

(http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/04/how-americans-

have-viewed-government-surveillance-and-privacy-since-snowden-

leaks/)

Lee Rainie and Shiva Raniam, ``Americans Feel the Tensions

Between Privacy and Security Concerns,'' Pew Research Center,

February 12, 2016.

(http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/19/americans-feel-

the-tensions-between-privacy-and-security-concerns/)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

14

December 5

a. The Israel-Palestine conflict

Are Americans now divided over Israel?

Carroll Doherty, ``A New Perspective on Americans’ Views of

Israelis and Palestinians,’’ Fact-Tank, Pew Research Center,

April 24, 2019.

(https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/24/a-new-

perspective-on-americans-views-of-israelis-and-palestinians/)

Shibley Telhami, ``Americans are Increasingly Critical Of

Israel,’’ Brookings Institution, Order from Chaos, December 12,

2018.

(https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-

chaos/2018/12/12/americans-are-increasingly-critical-of-israel/)

b. Military intervention

Where do Americans draw the line?

John Mueller, ``The Iraq Syndrome,'' Foreign Affairs,

November/December 2005.

(https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/north-korea/2005-10-

01/iraq-syndrome)

John Mueller, ``The Iraq Syndrome Revisited,'' Foreign

Affairs, Postscript March 28, 2011.

(https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/libya/2011-03-28/iraq-

syndrome-revisited)

Eric Alterman, ``The Role of Public Opinion in Iraq and

Vietnam,'' American Progress, May 17, 2007.

(https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/news/2007/05/1

7/3039/think-again-the-role-of-public-opinion-in-iraq-and-

vietnam/)

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

15

Students with disabilities

If you are a student with a disability and you need academic

accommodations, please contact the Disability Resource Center

(DRC) at 703-993-2474. All academic accommodations must be

arranged through the DRC.

Policy on Plagiarism

The profession of scholarship and the intellectual life of

a university as well as the field of public policy inquiry

depend fundamentally on a foundation of trust. Thus any act of

plagiarism strikes at the heart of the meaning of the university

and the purpose of the School of Public Policy. It constitutes

a serious breach of professional ethics and it is unacceptable.

Plagiarism is the use of another's words or ideas presented

as one's own. It includes, among other things, the use of

specific words, ideas, or frameworks that are the product of

another's work. Honesty and thoroughness in citing sources is

essential to professional accountability and personal

responsibility. Appropriate citation is necessary so that

arguments, evidence, and claims can be critically examined.

Plagiarism is wrong because of the injustice it does to the

person whose ideas are stolen. But it is also wrong because it

constitutes lying to one's professional colleagues. From a

prudential perspective, it is shortsighted and self-defeating,

and it can ruin a professional career.

The faculty of the Schar School takes plagiarism seriously

and has adopted a zero tolerance policy. Any plagiarized

assignment will receive an automatic grade of "F." This may

lead to failure for the course, resulting in dismissal from the

University. This dismissal will be noted on the student's

transcript. For foreign students who are on a university-

sponsored visa (eg. F-1, J-1 or J-2), dismissal also results in

the revocation of their visa.

To help enforce the Schar School policy on plagiarism, all

written work submitted in partial fulfillment of course or

degree requirements must be available in electronic form so that

it can be compared with electronic databases, as well as

GOVT 490-007, Fall Term 2019

16

submitted to commercial services to which the School subscribes.

Faculty may at any time submit student's work without prior

permission from the student. Individual instructors may require

that written work be submitted in electronic as well as printed

form. The SPP policy on plagiarism is supplementary to the

George Mason University Honor Code; it is not intended to

replace it or substitute for it.

<http://www.gmu.edu/facstaff/handbook/aD.html>