POLI 341 - Seminar in Congressional Politics: U.S. House and Senate Election

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

This seminar is focused on U.S. congressional elections, with some attention also devoted to interrelationships between voting for Congress and voting for the president. The ideas covered in the course are applied to the specific context of the 2010 midterms and the forthcoming 2012 elections. Among the topics studied are the following: 1) the ongoing massive redistricting of congressional districts; 2) the electoral effects of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision of 2010; 3) the emergence of 501(c)(4) “non-profit” groups and Super-PACs as major players in campaign financing; 4) the development of ever more sophisticated campaign technology, like “microtargeting” of voters; 5) the transformation of southern House and Senate seats from Democratic to Republican control; and 6) the increasing partisan polarization of American elections. Mr. Born.

Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

One 2-hour period.