POLI 341 - Seminar in Congressional Politics

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2023/24a: U.S. House and Senate Elections. This seminar is focused on U.S. congressional elections, with attention also devoted to interrelationships between voting for Congress and voting for president. The upcoming 2024 elections are given special emphasis, particularly with regard to the question of whether the Democrats will be able to regain control of the House (requiring just a 5 seat net gain), and whether Republicans will be able to win control of the Senate (requiring a minimum one seat net gain). Further relevant is the question of whether Republican nominees endorsed by Trump in 2024 against their more moderate primary opponents will be able to do better in the general election than their counterparts in 2022, when many such extremist Republicans went down to defeat. Among the themes to be studied in the context of 2023-24 and the recent past are the following: 1) why forecasts of substantial GOP congressional gains from 2021-22 gerrymandering failed to materialize in 2022, 2) the increase in the numbers of congressional women and how the quality of their representation compares with that by men; 3) the growing reliance of candidates upon independent sources of campaign spending like Super PACs and dark money groups; 4) the consequences of political polarization for the performance of Congress; and 5) how congressional representation of constituent interests bears upon reelection and vice versa. Richard Born.

Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: CLS