PSC 336: Money and Politics

CLASS INFORMATION
Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30 - 10:50, School of Management 001

INSTRUCTOR
Prof. Simon Weschle
Email: swweschl at syr.edu
Student Hours: Tuesday, 1:00 - 3:00, 332 Eggers or Zoom (see Syllabus for details)

TEACHING ASSISTANT
Ayşenur Değer, adegerya at syr.edu
Student Hours: Thursday 11:30 - 1:00, Eggers 100H

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Money and politics are inextricably linked. Interest groups or wealthy individuals try to use bribes or campaign contributions to influence political decisions. Politicians, in turn, need money to finance election campaigns, or they use their position to enrich themselves. And voters are thought to be more likely to vote for candidates who run expensive campaigns or hand out gifts. In this course, we will look at political science research on money and politics in different countries around the world. We will try to answer the following questions: How much money is there in politics, and how can we measure it? What is the money used for? How much does it influence policy? What are the consequences? And finally, should we try to reduce the influence of money on politics, and if so what ways to do so can be successful?

TEXTBOOK
Fisman, Ray, and Miriam A. Golden (2017): Corruption. What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press.
I will refer to the book as FG. The book is available electronically from the Library. All other readings will be posted to Blackboard.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

  • Class Journal and Participation (25%): Attendance, class participation, class journal.
  • Exams (40%): Take place on March 7 and April 25 (tentatively).
  • Country Research Report (35%): First part (5%) due March 21 (tenatively), short country presentations video (5%) during the final week of class, final report (25%) due May 3.

SYLLABUS
For more detailed information on assignments, class policies, and all of the fine print, please see the Syllabus.

CLASS SCHEDULE
Below is a continuously updated class schedule. It contains information on what topics we are covering as well as on the readings and assignments. Please check this site EVERY WEEK.

Part 1: What Are We Talking About?

Part 2: Who is Involved in Money and Politics, Why, and How?

  • 1/30: Bureaucrats and Citizens
  • 2/1: Bureaucrats and Citizens, Continued
    • Slides
    • Reading: Crawford, Robert J. and N. Craig Smith. 2019. Ziqitza Health Care Limited: Responding to Corruption. (Blackboard) Class Journal Questions
  • 2/6: Special Interests
    • Slides
    • Reading: Olson, Mancur. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action. Excerpts: Ch. 1 (Sections A, B, nontechnical summary of D), Ch. 6 (Sections D and H). (Blackboard) Class Journal Questions
  • 2/8: Special Interests, Continued
    • Slides
    • Reading: Ansolabehere, Stephen, John M. de Figueiredo, and James M. Snyder. 2003. "Why Is There so Little Money in U.S. Politics?" Journal of Economic Perspectives 17(1): 105-130. (Blackboard) Class Journal Questions
  • 2/13: Special Interests, Continued
    • Slides
    • Reading: Fisman, Ray and Edward Miguel. 2008. Economic Gangsters. Corruption, Violence and the Poverty of Nations. Ch. 2 (Blackboard). Class Journal Questions
  • 2/15: Lobbyists
  • 2/20: Lobbyists, Continued: Guest Speaker Cydney Johnson, SU Vice President of Community Engagement and Government Relations
  • 2/22: No Class
  • 2/27: Politicians and Voters
    • Slides
    • Reading: Fisman and Golden, Ch. 5 (Section 5.2 only) and: Szakonyi, David. 2018. "Businesspeople in Elected Office: Identifying Private Benefits from Firm-Level Returns." American Political Science Review 112(2): 322-338. (Blackboard). Class Journal Questions
  • 2/29: Politicians and Voters, Continued
    • Slides
    • Reading: Gerber, Alan S., James G. Gimpel, Donald P. Green, and Daron R. Shaw. 2011. "How Large and Long-lasting Are the Persuasive Effects of Televised Campaign Ads? Results from a Randomized Field Experiment". American Political Science Review 105(1): 135-150. Skip the section "Gauging the Effects of Broadcast Television and Radio". (Blackboard). Class Journal Questions
  • 3/5: Exam 1
  • 3/7: Politicians and Voters, Continued: Guest Speaker William Magnarelli, Member of the New York State Assembly
  • 3/12 and 3/14: Spring Break
  • 3/19: Politicians and Voters, Continued

Part 3: What Determines Money in Politics?

Part 4: What Are the Consequences of Money in Politics?

  • 4/2: What Are the Consequences of Money in Politics?
  • 4/4: What Are the Consequences of Money in Politics? Continued
    • Slides
    • Reading: Gilens, Martin and Benjamin I. Page. 2014. "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens."" Perspectives on Politics 12(3): 564-581. (Blackboard) and: Matthews, Dylan. 2016. "Remember that study saying America is an oligarchy? 3 rebuttals say it's wrong." vox.com. (Blackboard) Class Journal Questions
  • 4/9: What Are the Consequences of Money in Politics? Continued
    • Slides
    • Reading: Avis, Eric, Claudio Ferraz, Frederico Finan, and Carlos Varjão. 2022. "Money and Politics: The Effects of Campaign Spending Limits on Political Entry and Competition." (Blackboard). Read only the Introduction as well as Sections I, III and IV (Parts A-C) Class Journal Questions

Part 5: How Can We Reduce Money in Politics? Should We?

  • 4/11: How Can We Reduce Money in Politics?
    • No new reading. We will still collect the class journal to check old entries
  • 4/16: How Can We Reduce Money in Politics? Continued
  • 4/18: How Can We Reduce Money in Politics? Continued
    • Slides
    • Reading: Rose-Ackerman, Susan and Bonnie J. Palifka. 2016. Corruption and Government. Causes, Consequences and Reform. Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ch. 13. (Blackboard) Class Journal Questions
  • 4/23: How Can We Reduce Money in Politics? Continued
    • Reading: Rose-Ackerman, Susan and Bonnie J. Palifka. 2016. Corruption and Government. Causes, Consequences and Reform. Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ch. 14. (Blackboard) Class Journal Questions
  • 4/25: Exam 2