Political parties and interest groups are among the more important
organizations in modern democracies.  It is no secret that the
founders of American democracy debated at great length the role and
purpose of political parties, with some, such as Thomas Jefferson,
greatly fearing the potential dividing influence of party
organization.  The purpose of this class is to examine political
parties and interest groups as they impact political organization,
decision-making and policy outcomes for citizens of democratic
nations.  Why do parties and interest groups exist in the first
place?  What do they do?  Are parties in decline, as some people have
suggested?  Why, in countries like the United States, do third
parties rarely do well in elections?  Do interest groups help or
hinder democracy?   These are the sorts of questions that will be
examined.

The course will adopt a comparative perspective.  Other countries
have party systems and interest groups as well, and there is much to
be learned through comparison.  Why, for example, do some countries
have multiple political parties while the U.S. has only two main
parties?  We will examine how features like formal rules and
political culture can combine to affect things like party alignments,
the number of parties and the ways that governments form in the
United States and abroad.

Hopefully, this course will give us the opportunity to think about
timely and important issues that face voters in modern democracies.
The role of interest groups in democracy, the potential negative
impacts of political action committees, and the possibility that
reform can reinvigorate the democratic process are critical issues
that all informed voters should consider.