May be taken twice for credit. The framework of states and their local governments in the United States. Indiana government is compared with that of other states. The course stresses the most important contributions of local governments to the federal system. The structure and function of American political parties and their relationship to democratic government.
Emphasis is placed upon party organization and strategy in the political process.
Historical as well as current sources are utilized. Political thought from Puritan America to the present. Particular emphasis upon the great figures in the evolution of American political ideas. Supplementary reading includes judicial biography and commentaries on the court. An intensive analysis of the major American interest groups and their impact upon the formation and implementation of public policy at the local, state, and national levels of government.