POLI 341 - Seminar in Congressional Politics

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2025/26a: 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 2026 midterm 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 3 seat net gain. (The Senate, however, seems out of reach.) Above all else, will history repeat itself, in the sense that the 2018 midterm featured big Democratic House gains owing to the usual midterm loss phenomenon for the presidential party, in addition to negative reactions to many of Donald Trump’s conservative policies? Among the themes to be studied in the context of 2025-26 and the recent past are the following: 1)whether possible post-2024 redistricting in states like Wisconsin, Ohio, and Louisiana will give either party an advantage in the midterms; 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 elections and 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