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Organizing for Popular Rule: States, Localities and the Democratic Experiment GOVT219 FA

No matter where you live, you are subject to some form of public authority. In the United States, this includes a complex system of state and local governments -- states county, municipality, township, school district, and a host of others, including some with exotic and unfamiliar names such as gores and surpluses. Although at times overshadowed by the national government, state and local governments remain crucial actors in the nation's system of governance, raising and spending billions of dollars annually, and being responsible for such key functions as education, law enforcement, public health, and zoning. This course is about these governments -- what they are, how they are organized, what they do and how well they do it, and their place in a federal system that some insist is no longer truly federal. It is also a course about democracy and the ways state and local governments have given concrete expression to the ambitious but often ambiguous promises of this political philosophy. Democratic theory is not a comprehensive, detailed blueprint for action. It requires choices, and in the United States these choices have been influenced by a persistent concern about the political competence of ordinary citizens. This concern has been reflected over the years in the efforts by institutional engineers to distance policy making from politics and to replace parties and elections with professionalism. The result has been a wonderfully complex and often baffling system of state and local government that while at times seemingly nonsensical, in fact makes a great deal of sense.

MAJOR READINGS

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: SBS GOVT

Prerequisites: None

Last Updated on MAR-22-1999