Political Science & American Studies
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The Constitutions of the United States
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Fall/Winter 2006/7
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Professor: Roger
D. Congleton
Office : Institut for Statskundskab
Phone: 6550 2203 office
E-Mail: Congleto@gmu.edu
WebPage: rdc1.net
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Wednesday 2:00 - 3:30, and most other afternoons by
appointment |
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Recommended Texts: |
Keyssar, A. (2000) The
Right to Vote, the Contested History of Democracy in the United States.
New York: Basic Books.
Taylor, A. (2001) American
Colonies, the Settling of North America. New York:
Penguin Books.
Rehnquist, W. H. (2001) The
Supreme Court. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
plus class notes and selected draft chapters of Perfecting Parliament, etc.
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Some Useful Links:
Historical
US Documents
Avalon
Project (Yale)
Lutz: Colonial
Origins
US
Constitution / Constitutions
FEC
Elections
Market Gallup
NEOCON notes
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Syllabus
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| Dates |
Lectures |
Text Readings (See Syllabus for
complete
reading list) |
Sept. 6, 2006
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I. An Overview of Constitutional Theory
and Western
Constitutional
History
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PP: Chapters 1
and 2
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Sept. 13, 2006
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II. Early
Colonial Constitutions: Tiebout and the Origins of U. S. Democracy
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Virginia's
1621 Constitution
Connecticut's
1639 Constitution
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Sept. 20, 2006
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III. Constitutional Trends and
Constitutional Convergence in the Colonies
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New
Jersey 1681
Pennsylvania
1702
North
Carolina 1715
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Sept. 27, 2006
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IV. Constitutional Theory and Public
Policy: A Primer
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Median
voter theory
Veto
players and public policy
Constitutional
exchange
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Oct. 4, 2006
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V. Government by Treaty Organization
and the Revolutionary War
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Common
Sense
Declaration
of Independence
Articles
of Confederation
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Oct 11, 2006
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VI. The Federalist Papers and the
Constitution of 1789
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Federalist
Papers
Constitution of 1789
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Oct. 18, 2006
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no class, potato week
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Oct. 25, 2006
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VII. The Bill of Rights and the Supreme
Court
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Bill
of Rights
Washington's
Farewell Address
Marbury
vs Madison
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Nov. 1, 2006
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VIII. Suffrage Norms and Suffrage
Expansion in the 18th Century
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US
Census Data
de
Tocqueville Ch. 14
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Nov. 8, 2006
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Prof Congleton is out of town (China) /
class to be made up
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Nov. 15, 2006
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No Class: High School Student Day /
classes cancelled
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Nov. 22, 2006
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IX. Territorial Expansion and the
Evolution of Ideas and Laws
Regarding Citizenship
and Slavery |
Keyssar 2-3, Rehnquist 3
Dred
Scott Case of 1857
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Nov. 29, 2006
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X. The Civil War: Secession,
Emancipation, and
the Civil War Amendments
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Rehnquist, 3-4,, Keyssar 4
13th-15th
Amendments
Confederacy's
Constitution
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Dec. 6, 2006
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XI. Industrialization,
Ideology, and the Progressive Constitutional Reforms, 1880-1925
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Rehnquist, 4-5, Keyssar 6
16th-19th
Amendments
Representative
Democracy and State Building in the Progressive Era, (APSR,1992) |
Dec. 13, 2006
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XII. Constitutional Reform via Supreme
Court Decisions (1886-2006)
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Historic
Decisions
Brown
vs Board of Education (1954)
Roe
v. Wade (1973)
Lopez
v US (1995)
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Dec. 20, 2006
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XIII. Conclusion and Overview of Course:
The Future of
America's Constitutions
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Freedom
House 2006 Index
Economic
Freedom 2006 Index
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Take Home Exam
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(good luck)
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