When we think about politics, quite often our focus turns to what is
happening in Washington, D.C.  However, state and local governments
occupy a central role within the structure of the American political
system.  Not only do the states serve as great “laboratories of
democracy” with their great variation in state political
institutions and public policies, but state governments are
continually making decisions important to the daily lives of
citizens.  In this course, we will be examining politics and
policymaking across the states, with some limited attention on local
politics.  A few of the topics we will consider include the
importance of the states’ political culture on political behavior
and public policy, consequences of devolution, and the role of the
states in national presidential elections.

Classes will be a mixture of lecture and discussion.  There will be
three examinations (a mixture of essay and short answer), a research
paper, and on-going group projects.  At the end of the course
students should have achieved several things: (1) an understanding
of the great variety of forms which the political communities of the
states take; (2) a knowledge of the research materials available for
investigations of state politics; (3) a sense of the possibilities
for reform in the state-national policy connection; and (4) the
ability to articulate the pros and cons of alternative institutional
and policy making arrangements in our federal system.