Current issues and events are emphasized . I find that most students become interested in politics because of the issues they care about. This is not an issues course, but we will talk about current controversies and events in order to shed light on various aspects of American politics. You will be asked to follow American politics by reading a daily newspaper or a newspaper website.
Comparisons are important .
Far from being the model for the world, American government is in many respects quite different from most of the world's democracies. In nearly every section of the course we will consider these differences. It is important to understand them, particularly in evaluating the effectiveness of American political institutions. Democracy is the central theme . Because I love Alexis de Tocqueville, and think he has more to teach you about American politics than any of my contemporaries in political science, we will be reading extensively from his masterpiece, Democracy in America.