Syllabus

Online Readings

Assignments

2008 Presidential
Primary Polls

	101 Gowen Hall, Box 353530 University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195-3530
	Ph: 206-616-3584

POL S 555: Am Pol Graduate Seminar
Minority Political Behavior

Tuesday 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm, Balmer Hall 305

Professor: Matt A. Barreto
Email: mbarreto@washington.edu
Office: Gowen 139
Office Hours: Thurs 1:00 – 3:00

Course Description:

This is a graduate seminar for students interested in race, ethnicity, and gender, and how minority group identity influences political behavior. We will cover research on African American, Latino, Asian American, and Anglo political participation, however the course will not be limited to only these topics. We will take up the role of gender, sexuality, and religion as each impacts the political development, attitudes, and behavior in American politics.

This class will examine the history and contemporary role of racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. political system. We will focus on political relationships between Whites, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans as they relate to political participation, party affiliation, voting coalitions, and public opinion. For the first 200 years of its history, the United States passed laws to restrict the rights of racial and ethnic minorities to purposely keep them outside the political system. In recent years, there has been a growing trend by political parties and politicians to court minority voters and promote diversity. Why is this the case? Is this real outreach or symbolic politics? During this quarter we will take up this debate and explore the current state of racial and ethnic politics in the U.S.

Books / Articles:

Each week there will be required readings from one or more of these books and scholarly journals. Readings should be done for the day they are assigned. Readings from journal articles will be accessible online via JSTOR or the course website. The complete, week-by-week reading list is posted on the course website.

Verba, Sidney, Kay Schlozman, and Henry Brady. 2002. Voice And Equality: Civic Volunteerism In America. Harvard University Press.

Tate, Katherine. 2003. Black Faces in the Mirror. Princeton University Press.

DeSipio, Louis. 1996. Counting on the Latino Vote. University of Virginia Press.

Wong, Janelle. 2006. Democracy’s Promise. University of Michigan Press.

Ramakrishnan, Karthick. 2005. Democracy in Immigrant America. Stanford Univ. Press.

Grading:

Research outline (1 page)			Cr/NC
Research prospectus (5 pages)		Cr/NC
Research paper presentation		30 points
Final Paper (20 pages +/-)			70 points
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL					100 points

TODAY		March 27		First Day of Class

Week 2		April 3			Historical exclusion of minorities

Week 3		April 10			1 page research outline due / discuss in class
					Early research on minority/ethnic politics

Week 4		April 17 			Black political behavior

Week 5		April 24 			Black voter participation

Week 6		May 1			Latino political behavior

Week 7		May 8			5 page research outline due / discuss in class
					Latino voter participation

Week 8		May 15 			Asian American political behavior & voting

Week 9		May 22			Gender / Sexuality as minority politics

Week 10		May 29			Old and New minority groups in the U.S.
					Native Am / Arab-Muslim 

Finals		June 5			12 minute presentation of research findings
					Final paper due Friday, June 8 by 5:00pm