Campaigns and Elections
This course has two objectives. The first is to introduce you to the literature and controversies that animate our understanding of American elections and political campaigns. In this sense, the format of the class will be fairly typical; weekly reading assignments will serve as the basis for critical inquiries into a range of issues. The second objective is to teach you what it means to do empirical research in this area. Most of us can readily identify the short-comings of the political science we read, but far fewer can pose interesting alternatives, formulate testable hypotheses and research designs, acquire pertinent data and carry out convincing tests and analyses. This course aims at focusing your abilities and talents on these endeavors as well as bringing you up to speed on the literature.