Paper Proposal
• Description/ Justification for your topic
- Given the possible universe of things to research, why did you choose
this topic?
- How is your topic relevant to this course?
- Research Question:
- Crucial foundation for a good research paper. You need a question
you can answer by making an argument that is persuasive because it is
logical, explains the question, and is supported by evidence.
- You should look for puzzles. Why is something out there, that you
can count or name, different than what you would expect? What about
the situation is surprising or counter-intuitive?
- Think small. You can’t explain why states fight wars or why
capitalism arose. You only have a period of a few weeks to complete
this paper - pick something you can get a grasp on in that period of
time.
- What is the process or event? Are there in a certain situation over
time (a temporal shift) or differences within the same region (a a
spatial difference) that justify asking the question?
• A good question is not:
• A “what” question: What is Ron Swanson’s pyramid of greatness? This
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leads to description, not analysis.
A statement about the subject matter you’ve chosen: “M.A.S.H. was the
funniest show about the Korean war.”
A negative “why” question: “Why didn’t more people like the show
Heroes?” There can be lots of explanations for why something didn’t
happen - it is much easier and clearer offer an explanation for
something that did happen.
Be careful of “how” questions
A good “why”question is a puzzle… something that seems to call for
explanation given what we know about the world.
• Despite being universally reviled, why do production companies
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continue to make reality television programming?
Given that the professor is a mechanical and technical genius, why was
the cast of Gilligan’s Island unable to leave the island?
Why has science - fiction television shifted away from high-concept to
character
• Thesis Statement:
• A good thesis statement responds to the question posed by the
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assignment.
It offers a falsifiable (or at least contestable) claim that is supported by
evidence.
Essentially, the thesis statement is your argument writ small. The
thesis statement should be in the introductory paragraph of your
paper: social science is NOT about suspense.
Thesis statements must make a claim or argument:
They are NOT statements of fact.
• Argument Preview
• Clarify what steps you will take to address your topic: identify sub•
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arguments you need to prove your larger argument true.
Connect your theory to your examples
List and explain your criteria for argumentation
Preliminary Sources
Your proposal must include at least 5 resources. Focus on scholarly
sources.
For each source, explain how it contributes to your paper.
Federalist
The anti-Federalists
• Anti Federalists worked as individuals without a collective approach like the
Federalists (method matching the arguments)
• Started writing days after the final draft of the Constitution
• Suspicious of centralized government
• Most prevalent legacy is the Bill of Rights
• Writers included Patrick Henry, George Clinton, and Robert Yates (author of the
following document)
Constitutional Contestation
• Federalist & Anti federalist demonstrate clear disagreements in founding
documents
• Battle waged in the realms of philosophy econ, human nature, law, politics, and
religion
• Thus the document doesn’t represent the normative ideal, but denominator
• Let’s look at one particular battle, emblematic of others…. State vs. Federal
power
Brutus #1
• Importance to posterity – “…the happiness and misery of generations yet unborn
is in great measure suspended, the benevolent mind cannot help feeling itself
peculiarly interest in the result.”
• Looking back to set up the argument – “ We have felt the feebleness of the ties by
which these United States are held together…”
The Stakes
• The Set-Up – “…society, in this favored land, will fast advance to the highest
point if perfection, the human mind will expand in knowledge and virtue, and the
golden age be…realized.”
Human Nature
• Relinquishing power – “… when the people once part with power, they can
seldom or never resume it again but by force…few {instances exist} in which
rulers have willingly abridged their authority.”
• What history teaches – “… every body of men, invested with power, are ever
disposed to increase it, and to acquire a superiority over everything that stands in
their way.”
• Fallibility of man – “… perfection is not to be expected in anything that is the
production of man.”
Federal Powers
• “… all that is reserved for the individual states must very soon be annihilated,
except so far as they are barely necessary to the organization of the general
government.”
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Pay debts
Common defense
General welfare
Taxation
o “…the authority to lay and collect taxes is the most important of any
power that can be granted; it connects with it almost all other powers… it
is the great mean of protection, security and defence, in a good
government, and the great engine of oppression and tyranny in a bad one.”
o Essentially, the current draft of the Constitution guts state powers in that
they have neither the sword nor the purse.
The practicalities of Scale
• “The question … whether a government thus constituted, and founded on such
principles, is practicable, and can be exercised over the whole United States,
reduced to the state?”
• “… a free republic cannot succeed over a country of such immense extent,
containing such a number of inhabitants, and these increasing in such rapid
progression as that of the whole USA.”
• Now that the main critiques have been cast, time to back them with some political
theory…
Montesquieu
• Notably thinker in the development of the separation of powers
• One of the first political anthropologists
• Advocate for policy reform and ultimately abolition of slavery
• Widely read by the “Founding Fathers”
• Total hater when it comes to large territories under a centralized government
Jean Jacques Rousseau
• Purveyor of the Social Contract through absolute consent
• The public vs. the private self
• Critical of other foundational theorists including Hobbes & Locke
In other words…
• Man is power hungry
• Federal power is in the hands of too few individuals
• Federal power is too vague and thus vast
• Representatives tend to not actual represent their constituents
• The USA s too damn big
• Political philosophy
The Retort
• But the states have all the power – “Allowing the utmost latitude to the love of
power, which any reasonable man can require, I confess I am at a loss to discover
what temptation the persons entrusted with the administration of the ….”
State Influence
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“The superiority of influence in favor of the particular governments, would result
party from the diffusive construction of the national government, but chiefly from
the nature of the objects to which the attention of the state administrations would
be directed.”
“Affections are commonly weak in proportion to the distance…”
“This STRONG PROPENSITY OF THE HUMAN HEART, WOULD FIND
POWERFUL AUXIIARIES IN THE OBEJCTS OF STATE REGULATION.”
“I mean the ordinary administration of criminal and civil justice.”
“… Regulating all those personal interests…impress upon the minds of the people
affection, esteem, towards the government.
Hooray for Feudalism
• How dies Hamilton utilize the history of feudalism to justify centralized federal
power?
• Why is this a good argument?
• Why is this a horrible argument?
Jefferson’s Letters
• Talked snack on the other founders
• Suggested revisiting the Constitution with each generation
• Government as a method to find the exception from among all levels of society
(besides women and people of color)
• Bottom-up approach to governing
• Total pedant and clearly an asshole
The Natural Aristoi
• The artificial aristocracy are those born into wealth and privilege
• “The natural aristocracy I consider as the most precious gift of nature, for the
instruction, the trusts, and government of society.”
• “… that form of government is the best which provides the most effectually for a
pure selection of these natural aristoi into the offices of government.”
Modern Corollaries
• The wealthy will find their own way in to politics (187)
• Traditional political reverence for certain families i.e. the familial dynasty (188)
• Alliance of church and state more prevalent than the opposite in politics (188)
The Ward System
• Free school provided by the community
• Finding the highest performers to move up in education (funded by the
community)
• “Worth and genius would thus have been sought out from every condition of
life…” (189)
• Care of poor, roads, police, elections, jurors, justice, militia… (little republics)
• Ward meeting acting as a Rousseau-like general will
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What does this create within the communities organized as wards? –its’
attachment with people, connections between people. Care about outcomes,
political situations. It’s all about forging connections.
The Constitution Revisited
• “A constitution has been acquired, which, though neither of us thinks perfect
(remember these are two founders and former presidents), yet both consider as
competent to render our fellow citizens the happiest and the securest on whom the
sum has ever shone.” (191)
State vs. Federal Control
04/18/2017
Race and Gender
• What is representation?
• How should our representatives chosen?
• Who should they be?
• What do we expect them to do?
• what kind of constituent service can we expect?
• what are the moral or practical limits to their behavior?
• How can we hold them accountable? Should we be able to do so?
Remember the Anti-Federalists
• Small-scale, localized, participatory democracy; Jefferson’s wards
• Brutus #1: Representatives “ are supposed to know the minds of their
constituents, and to be possessed of integrity to declare this mind…
for if they do not know, or are not disposed to speak the sentiments of
the people, the people do not govern, but the sovereignty is in a few.”
• Substitute for democracy
Formalistic representation
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Did we elect this person?
Do they hold their position legitimately in a basic, legal sense?
Was the election held without fraud?
Will they eventually be accountable to us again in another free and
fair election, where we can evaluate what they’ve done?
• Two metrics by which we might evaluate what they’ve done
Promissory & Gyroscopic representation
• Promissory: the representative ought to keep promises which were
made to constituents in exchange for votes.
• Promises (time 1)— legislator behavior (time 2) — sanction/reward
(time 3)
• Gyroscopic: the candidate presents themselves as being a certain type
of person. we also expect that they are not mis-representing
themselves.
• Person type (time 1) — legislator behavior (time 2) —
sanction/reward (time 3)
• Constituents can not/do not care about everything.
Descriptive representation
• Do they look like us?
• Common interests? Shared experiences?
• Pitman: “ the making present in some sense of something which is
nevertheless not present literally or in fact.”
• to re-present
• it is not really about what they do, but who they are.
Symbolic or Surrogate Representation
• Indirect descriptive representation
• Surrogates may feel, even in the absence of direct control, a sense of
responsibility
• Symbolic constituents may share information or resources fundraise,
or offer (individually or through organizations) a kind of moral
approval of the legislator.
• Representative might also offer substantive representation
Substantive representation
• Does the representative advance the interests of the represented?
• Depends on how we understand “interests”
- What are my interests? Where do my interests come from? Do I
know my interests? Do you know my interests?
- Are my interests objective or subjective?
- Are there political consequences to thinking about them in one way
or another?
• Elite Wisdom & the Objectivity of politics
• The mandate - independence controversy
- Are interests objective or subjective?
- Are representatives wiser and more capable than us?
- Are political questions about knowledge or values?
Should a representative do what his constituents want and be bound by
instructions from them, or should he be free to follow his own
inclinations and opinions about what is best?
• Independence: political questions have objectively correct answers,
representatives are experts or possess higher levels of reason and
wisdom, interests are objective and can be discerned
• Mandate: political knowledge is subjective, representatives are not
superior in wisdom or reason to the constituents, interest of
individuals are subjective and must be communicated.
Race & representation (formalistic representation)
• Did we vote for this person? Do they hold their office legally?
• Depends on who you are, and what you mean by “legally”
• Voter ID laws
• Gerrymandering, and majority/minority districts
Race & representation (descriptive representation)
• 69% of the population of Washington state is white
• 89% of the Washington state legislature is white
• Hispanics are 12% of the population, but only 2% of the legislature
• African Americans are 4% of the population, but only 1%of the
legislature
• Minority representatives are highly clustered in urban and democratic
areas; minorities are not
Race & Descriptive representation
• Many non-whites are represented by those who look nothing like
them
• 150,500 African American women
• Leadership in the Washington State Legislature: Whites control all
leadership positions and caucus positions in the Senate except 1:
same thing in the House.
• Whites control 100% of chair and vice chair committee positions in
WA state senate (republican controlled)
• Non-whites hold 16% of the
Descriptive representation
• Does this matter? Four arguments why it might (Mansbridge) :
• Creating a social meaning of ability to rule in historical contexts
where that ability has been seriously questioned
• Increasing the polity’s de tacto legitimacy in contexts of past
discrimination
• Adequate communication of interests in contexts of mistrust
• Innovative thinking in contexts of uncrystallized, not fully articulated
interests
Do State Legislators Racially Discriminate Against their Constituents?
• Control variables were added to this analysis in order to account for
other things likely to produce systematic variation in the rate of
responsiveness
• Income in district ($10000 increase in median income
• south (8-18% decrease in
The link between descriptive & substantive representation
• Butter & Broockman show a potential link between descriptive and
substantive representation along the axis of race
• Agenda - setting: African American legislators introduce
substantively different legislation
• oversight: African American and Latino legislators are more likely to
intervene in decisions by federal agencies and to testify in support of
minority interests in hearings
Gender & representation
• formalistic representation is less of a problem, because women are
evenly distributed in the population
• Descriptive representation is a large issue with gender, as with race
• Women in Washington State = 54% of voters, 50% of people, 36% of
state legislators
• WA is a leader: Wyoming has 11% women, low teens throughout the
south
• Descriptive representation still matters for the same reasons:
- Creating a social meaning of ability to rule (WA districts)
- Increasing the polity’s legitimacy
- Adequate communication of interests in contexts of mistrust
- Innovative thinking in contexts of uncrystallized interests
Integration vs. Transformation
Integration:
• Female politicians are just like male politicians
• Women can be both feminine and politically active
• Women can be successfully socialized into the existing institutional
norms of the legislative body
Transformation:
• Legislatures are masculinist in their orientation: women offer
substantive differences:
- Policy Preferences
- Policy leadership
- Legislative & Leadership Styles
how to increase race & gender descriptive representation
• Gains at the state legislative level trickle up (political pipeline)
• States can be laboratories
• Multi-member, at-large districting vs, single-member, post districting
• Quotas in state parties
• Proportional representation (ranked choice voting)
• Neutralizing campaign disadvantages
04/25/2017
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The influence of Party - political parties in state politics
The Dandelion Debate
Microcosm or Rouge State?
WA state as microcosm of US politics:
Decrease in traditional party entrenchment amongst the electorate
Increase in partisanship amongst candidates and legislators
Corporatization and professionalization of parties
New competition/threats from well organized and funded interest
groups (PACs, ideological orgs., etc.)
So where does WA state separate itself? where can we observe the
“western populism” mentioned in the text?
Reifying the two party monopoly
states decide:
1. what counts as a major party
2. internal party rules
3. form political caucuses
4. consolidate power to exclude outside parties
5. the result?
independent state w/o independent representation
- According to the Elections chapters in 2010, more WA voters
identified as “independent” than any other party. yet, “…Washington
state is one of only five states in the country where all statewide
offices are held by either…
Formalization as Solution?
- What does it mean that political parties in the United states have a
lack of formalization between political parties and their members?
- “Since political parties in the us have no formalized system of
memberships and dues, such as exists in most european countries,
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the question of who is and who is not a member is hazy at best and
relies, to a great degree, on self-identification.”
Would a process of formalized attachment to party be helpful in the
US?
2010 Senate Races as Case Study
- Year of ‘Tea Party Insurgency’
- Incumbent Patty Murray facing seriously chance of losing her senate
seat
- Republican party split between Dino Rossi (GOP establishment
supported strategically by Karl Rove) & Clint Didier (Tea party
upstart with support from Ron Paul & Sarah Palin
- Primary results: Murray 46%; Rossi 33%; Didier 13%
- Easy Republican win in the general right?
- Nope… Didier holds GOP hostage over platform and refuses to
endorse Rossi
- Murray wins by 4 points
The Effect of Party
• Weight & Schaffner set up a study to fill a gap in the literature in
order to find the effect of party on legislative decision-making.
• What does any good study need?
• A control and an experimental
Previous Investigations
• Mayhew - members are pushing reelection first and foremost.
Individual entrepreneurs using parties to retain seats. thus their
decision-making can be understood with an eye towards keeping
power.
• Krehbiel - members pursue their personal policy preferences outside
of party.
1. Only looking at it within the legislature, focusing on leadership,
and measured through votes. Excludes effects on constituents.
2. Oversimplification of how conflict works in congress
3. Only consider the House of representatives
Party Effects on Candidates
• What accounts for polarization and how do parties lead to partisan
outcomes?
• Primaries
• Support comes form the ideologically and politically active
• Candidates themselves
• influencing candidates stances
• Difficulty in getting nominated without clearly linked issue
preferences
A new Approach & Assumptions
1. Consider party effects electorally and legislatively
2. Provide a more nuanced view of legislative conflict across multiple
dimensions
3. State-level examination
“…Parties link diverse issues, sometimes logically, but also politically
as a result of their dynamic searches for electoral advantage.”
“we believe that the mere existence of competitive parties…operates to
increase the salience of party so that it becomes an effective ‘default
cleavage’ for the legislature.”
“…casting policy controversies in ‘we-they’ terms, and where the ‘we’
has a prior association with distinct issue stances, there can be a great
deal of cohesion within the parties on substantive issues even without
explicit efforts by the party or its leaders to steer members’ voting
decisions on bills.”
Case selection & expectations
Nebraska:
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Nonpartisan legislature
Unicameral body
49 members
Shares many demographical details with Kansas
Shares ideological leanings
“…expect a less structured issue space since the parties are not actively
bundling the issues… and further, we expect… candidates will be less
polarized…”
Kansas:
• Traditional party-based legislature
• Focus on the Senate only
• 40 members
“…the partisan character of the elections will work to produce an issuespace that is dominated by the familiar liberal-conservative
continuum…”
Results
• Kansas matches previous research assumptions about structure and
polarization.
• Nebraska has the same structure, but greater polarization.
• What does this mean?
Explanation
“it derives from our view of party as a device for creating order among
the myriad of conflicts and issues that citizens and politicians
face…The key, we believe is understanding the differential salience of
the party/ideology linkage in different contexts.”
National context
“…by reflecting existing political conflicts in the states, the NPATs
probably promote answering items in terms of the underlying and
recurring political choices as framed in current…
The Party Bundle
• “issues do not get tied together around which coalitions from as in
partisan legislatures.”
• “…the parties, in dying for electoral advantage, adopt positions on
new issues to bring in new voters and, thus, package these with their
existing issue stands… parties produce the ideological lowdimensional space as a by-product of their efforts to win office.
Where the parties are not active in the legislature the clear structure
found in partisan legislatures disappears.”
• As a result, “…nonpartisan elections cause lower turnouts, make it
easier for incumbents to win elections, and effectively disenfranchise
the poorest and least educated citizens.”
• In other words, Nebraska representatives are not connecting
ideologies they run ton to votes when parties are not present.
“…nonpartisan elections effectively break the policy linkage
between citizens and their representatives in the statehouse.”
Discussion Questions
• Considering the findings of wright & Schaffner, should we doubledown on political parties as the solution to renew order in legislative
bodies?
• Would the addition of 3rd, 4th, 5th parties change the relationship
found in the study?
• Are there institutional or organizational solutions to the current
binary American voters are forced to operate within?
05/01/2017
The Executive Branch (Responsibilities,
Challenges, Controversies)
- Majority of those employed by WA state work in one of these fields
- The 4 highest paid state employees are all university coaches
- The top 5 agencies in spending tend to fit in this category (UW, Dept
of social and Health Services, Department of Transportation,
Department of Corrections, & WSU)
FederalRelationship & Reliance
- Military industrial complex and public works projects in WA state:
- WWI (establishment of military installations)
- New Deal (dams, power, irrigation, parks, etc.)
- WWII & the Cold War (Boeing, Hanford, armaments production)
“…for most of the last 40 years Washington has depended upon the
federal government for 20 to 25 percent of its total revenues.”
Responsibilities of the Executive Branch
- Consider what we place in the hands of the executive branch at the
state level…
- roads
- ferries (largest system in the country)
- education (1.5 million students)
- prisons
- childcare
- environment
- Utilities
- health & safety
- Licensing (occupational & otherwise)
- Gambling (lottery, horse racing, etc.)
- Liquor & marijuana
Expectations vs. Expenditures
- What would we expect of WA state compared to other states when it
comes to spending per resident?
- why?
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Environment
Health care
Corrections
Higher Ed
However, the state is typically lower than most when it comes to public
welfare programs.
The governor
- Political Leader & Party Leader
- Chief Legislator
- Administrator & chief executive
- Ceremonial Leader
- Economic Dealmaker
- State Symbol
Governor Greenie?
- Heralded as a new type of state leader focused on environmental
policy
- Blames republicans, but could not ove legislation through
Democratic controlled House
- Signed transportation legislation antagonistic to campaign promises
- Falling behind other west coast states
- Strength of lobbying in WA state
- Demonstrates the constraint on unilateral action by state executives
The others
- Lieutenant Governor - Cyrus Habib
- Secretary of State - Kim Wyman
- Attorney General - Bob Ferguson
- State Treasurer - Duane Davidson
- State Auditor - Pat McCarthy
- Superintendent of Public Instruction - Chris Reykdal
- Commissioner of Public Lands - Hilary Franz
- Insurance Commissioner - Mike Kreisler
Scandal
- Robert Bentley of Alabama
- Nathan Deal of Georgia
- Paul LePage of Maine
- Bob McDonnell of Virginia
- Rick Perry of Texas
- Rick Scott of Florida
Crisis
- Scandals are one thing, but public health is also at the heart of
executive and gubernatorial responsibilities
- Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan:
- Blames both city and federal officials
- report filed by an investigative commission (appointed by Snyder)
finds him and the executive branch responsible
- Lack of oversight and action in the wake of emergency manager
switching water supply to save money
- Permanent damage to the already reeling community of Flint,
Michigan disproportionately affecting the poor and children of color
The Initiative process
Roots & Purpose of the initiative process
- Grounded in the Progressive & Populist movements helping to shape
the state constitution
- Outside run at direct democracy with general access to all citizens
- Two types of initiatives: Initiatives to the people & Initiatives to the
legislature
- WA is one of 14 states with a direct to ballot provess
- Signature gathering process: 8% of the previous gubernatorial vote
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What are the potential benefits of this process?
What are the potential and real pitfalls?
What is necessary to launch a successful initiative?
What can previous initiatives tell us about the interests represented?
Top initiates in WA (By signature)
- 19 of the 25 are “top the people”
- Only three are from before 2004 (and are the top 3)
- 10 are specifically tax related
- 4 are from the brain of Tim Eyman
- Top 4 most expensive of all time?
- In 2015 there were 103 proposed initiatives
The battle over legal weed
- Marijuana is a federal class I drug which includes heroin, LSD &
peyote
- In WA state, young blacks and Latinos use marijuana less than
young whites, yet Latinos are arrested at 1.6x the rate and blacks at
2.9x
- In 2012, I-502 was supported by US Attorney John McKay, Seattle
city attorney Pete Holmes, and Rick Steves
- Those fighting against the initiative focused on DUIs, conflicts with
federal law, and high taxes
- Those supporting it argued for decriminalization, raising revenues,
and ending incentive for organized crime
The fallout
- Higher numbers of suspected DUI drivers with active THC in their
system
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Increased revenues for the state (estimated $q billion over four years)
money saved from criminal proceedings
Teen use has remained steady (Federal Health Agencies)
No significant federal challenges to state legalization
Local news reporting has significantly received
Should we keep it?
Should we alter it?
Research papers
- A paper proposal requires you to narrow your topic and begin
formulating the argument you will make in a final research paper.
These proposals valuable means of testing out directions for your
analysis and getting feedback in a low stakes situation.
- A good paper proposal will include the following:
- Description/ Justification for your topic
- Research Question
- Thesis Statement
- Argument Preview
- Preliminary Sources
Paper Proposal
• Description/ Justification for your topic
- Given the possible universe of things to research, why did you
choose this topic?
- How is your topic relevant to this course?
- Research Question:
- Crucial foundation for a good research paper. You need a
question you can answer by making an argument that is persuasive
because it is logical, explains the question, and is supported by
evidence.
- You should look for puzzles. Why is something out there, that you
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can count or name, different than what you would expect? What
about the situation is surprising or counter-intuitive?
Think small. You can’t explain why states fight wars or why
capitalism arose. You only have a period of a few weeks to complete
this paper - pick something you can get a grasp on in that period of
time.
What is the process or event? Are there in a certain situation over
time (a temporal shift) or differences within the same region (a a
spatial difference) that justify asking the question?
• A good question is not:
• A “what” question: What is Ron Swanson’s pyramid of greatness?
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This leads to description, not analysis.
A statement about the subject matter you’ve chosen: “M.A.S.H. was
the funniest show about the Korean war.”
A negative “why” question: “Why didn’t more people like the show
Heroes?” There can be lots of explanations for why something didn’t
happen - it is much easier and clearer offer an explanation for
something that did happen.
Be careful of “how” questions
A good “why”question is a puzzle… something that seems to call
for explanation given what we know about the world.
Despite being universally reviled, why do production companies
continue to make reality television programming?
Given that the professor is a mechanical and technical genius, why
was the cast of Gilligan’s Island unable to leave the island?
Why has science - fiction television shifted away from high-concept
to character
• Thesis Statement:
• A good thesis statement responds to the question posed by the
assignment.
• It offers a falsifiable (or at least contestable) claim that is supported
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by evidence.
Essentially, the thesis statement is your argument writ small. The
thesis statement should be in the introductory paragraph of your
paper: social science is NOT about suspense.
Thesis statements must make a claim or argument:
They are NOT statements of fact.
• Argument Preview
• Clarify what steps you will take to address your topic: identify sub•
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arguments you need to prove your larger argument true.
Connect your theory to your examples
List and explain your criteria for argumentation
Preliminary Sources
Your proposal must include at least 5 resources. Focus on scholarly
sources.
For each source, explain how it contributes to your paper.
05/09/2017
A floor, not a ceiling
The end of the Lochner Era
- FDR’s attempts at progressive legislation (minimum wage, child
labor, ag relief, etc) were continuously shot down by the Supreme
Court
- Utilized attacks on ‘commerce clause’ justifications for federal
legislation
- FDR threatens to pack the court with new justices
- One justice switched from the obstructionist majority in West Coat
Hotel opening up a path for New Deal legislation
Fail Labor Standards Act (1938)
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Significant piece of the New Deal under FDR
Established the 40 hour work week
National minimum wage
Overtime pay
Controls on child labor
Utilized the ‘Commerce clause’ towards worker empowerment in a
dramatic transition from previous mobilization of the law
Protracted fight over the legislation with every element suffering
setbacks and attempted at exemptions (i.e. originally written as a 30
hour work week)
Federal Minimum Wage
- FDR used consumer side justifications arguing, “Without question it
starts us toward a better standard of living and increases purchasing
power to buy the products of farm and factory.”
- He also vilified those “with an income of $1000 a day, who has been
turning his employees over to the Government relief rolls… tell you
that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all
American industry.”
Economic Effects Overtime
“In this brief historical overview I discuss why we need minimum
wages and suggest that the national minimum wage has indeed had
important and far-reaching economic effects.”
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1938 - WWII: Stabilizing the economy
WWII -1970s: Rise in real dollars and minimum standards.
1980s: Falling wage back to 1950 levels
1990-2013: Seven incremental increases barely kept up with
inflation
2014-2016: State and municipal campaigns to creating a “living
wage”
Classic Economic Assumptions
“In the standard model of perfect completion, employers will pay
wages set by labor supply, wages equal the value of marginal products
and any government regulations must reduce employment.”
“Under these conditions, workers and employers each are free to
choose to enter into employment contracts and the wage reflects the
value of a worker’s marginal product and nothing else.”
Contending the Classic model
• Higher wages raise productivity
• Persistent unemployment allows employers to pay below what they
can afford
• Minimum wages reduce job vacancies and hiring costs
• Higher wages lead to lower turnover and reduction of employer
costs overall
Keynesian Economics and the minimum wage
• Private sector does not always act efficiently and thus the public
sector is required to stabilize output
• Mixed economy that is predominantly private but government
intervention is necessary
• Focus on monetary policy and federal controls on various elements
of the economy including minimum wage
• The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money was an
influence on the New Deal policies of the Roosevelt administration
• “…higher worker purchasing power would create more economic
growth.”
Era #4 1990-2013
• Minimum wage to median wage ratio continued to fall through the
19905 until it hit a low of 32 percent in 2006
• States, counties, and municipalities began moderate minimum wage
hikes in an attempt to keep up with inflation and cost of living
• The Great Recession also put pressure on lawmakers to reject the
yearly bills presented to raise the federal minimum wage
Era #5 2013-Today
• Growing fight for 15 campaigns across the country
• Statewide campaigns in New York and Oregon
• Wage raises in many places are barely catching up with the min to
median ratio
• Effects are much larger than previous attempts typically effecting
5% of the workforce
• In SF and Seattle about 20% of the work force will see their wages
rise
• “…middle-class workers are increasingly looking at minimum wage
rates as key reference points for their own level of economic
security.”
The Inequality Gap
“In 1980, the top 1 percent controlled about 8 percent of US national
income. The bottom 50 shared about 18 percent. Today the top 1
percent share about 20 percent; the bottom 50 percent, just 12 percent.
But the problem isn’t that we have inequality… The problem is that
inequality is at historically high levels. Our country is rapidly becoming
less a capitalist society and more a feudal society.”
The pitchforks are coming
“No society can sustain this kind of rising inequelity. In fact, there is
not example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and
the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out. You show me a highly
unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising,
There are no counterexamples. None. It’s not if, it’s when.”
Middle - out Economics
• Addressing the loss of living wage jobs
• Grow social insurance programs
• Focus on the middle - class over trickle down theories
• “Middle-out economics rejects the old misconception than an
economy is a perfectly efficient, mechanistic system and embraces
the much more accurate idea of an economy as a complex ecosystem
made up of real people who are dependent on one another.”
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