Teaching

Spring Quarter, 2008

Comm 160/260, PoliSci 323R

The Press and the Political Process

This course examines the role of the mass media in the democratic process. We begin by considering the "public service" responsibilities of the press — to inform and engage citizens — and the various policy regimes for implementing these responsibilities. Second, we examine the determinants of news coverage, including market forces and the internal workings of press organizations. Third, we discuss the ways in which news programming affects the audience — both the mass public and political elites. Fourth, we explain the design and evolution of media-based campaigns, with particular emphasis given to the strategic interplay between reporters, candidates, and voters. We also document the gradual extension of "going public" and related techniques to the policy-making arena. Finally, we assess the potential of new technologies to alter the landscape of media politics.

Winter Quarter, 2008

Comm 162/262, PoliSci 323S

Analysis of Presidential Campaigns

This course addresses the theory and practice of American political campaigns. First, we will attempt to understand the behavior of the major participants -- candidates, journalists, and individual voters -- in terms of the evolving institutional arrangements and political incentives that confront them. Second, we will use the 2004 and ongoing 2008 campaigns as "laboratories" for testing generalizations about the conduct of presidential campaigns. Third, we examine selections from the academic literature dealing with the immediate effects on voter behavior and more long-term consequences for governance and the political process.