Phone: 331-2991
Website: http://www4.gvsu.edu/dendulkk
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines the relationship of politics and religion in the
PLS 330 fulfills
a course requirement in American politics for political science majors. For more information about GVSU’s Department of Political Science, visit our blog at http://gvps.typepad.com. PLS 330 also fulfills
a course requirement in the Religion Theme of the GVSU General Education
curriculum. For more information about
the Religion Theme, please visit the course website.
The required texts listed
below are available for purchase at UBS and Brian’s Books. There will also be
many required readings available through course reserve.
·
Fowler et al, Religion
and Politics in America, 3rd ed. (Westview,
2004)
·
Wilson/Drakeman, Church and State in American History, 3rd
ed. (Westview, 2003)
I’m happy to speak with
you during office hours and by appointment or email. Consult the course website (http://www4.gvsu.edu/dendulkk/pls330/pls330.htm) for
links to online readings, exam review questions, and other helpful
resources. If you would like extra help
with writing, I encourage you to make use of GVSU’s
Academic dishonesty is a
serious ethical problem, and plagiarism – the failure to give credit to others
for their words or ideas – is particularly tempting in this course. Any
instance of academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade for the
assignment and, at my discretion, failure for the course and notification of
the Dean. If you have questions about
what counts as academic misconduct, talk to me or consult GVSU’s
Student Code (http://www.gvsu.edu/studentcode),
especially Article II, Sect. 223.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Your grade is determined
by your performance in the three areas: exams, written assignments, and
participation. Failure to complete any single requirement will result in a failing
grade for the course. Deadlines
are etched in stone, except in documented cases of serious illness, family
emergencies, or other dire and unavoidable occurrences. Assignments lose a FULL letter grade for each
day they are late.
(1) EXAMS: There will be a midterm (20% of final
grade) and final exam (25%).
(2) WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: Each student is required to
complete a paper proposal and research design (10%) and a research
paper (25%). Details are appended.
(3) PARTICIPATION: This course demands your active
and serious participation (2o%). This means two things:
a.
Attend. Students who miss more than one session
during the spring semester will generally lose their participation points. Barring unavoidable and dire circumstances,
students must also be in class on time and stay for the duration of our
sessions, and they should not listen to music, read unrelated material, or surf
the net while class is in session. And
please turn off cell phones before class begins!
b.
Ask
questions and make arguments. You’ll find plenty of opportunities to
participate during presentations, simulations, and ordinary class
sessions. I realize that speaking in
public is intimidating for some of you, but now is your chance to take the
plunge while the water is warm.
I.
Introduction: Religion and Democracy (May 8)
·
o
Fowler et al:
o
Tocqueville, from Democracy in
II. A Whirlwind Tour of
Religious Traditions
A.
STUDYING
RELIGION AND POLITICS (May 10)
·
B.
Spiritual, But Not Religious?
(May 10)
·
C.
Major Branches of Christianity
(May 15)
·
D. Smaller
Religious Traditions and Movements (May 15, 17)
·
E. Cross-Cutting
Factors: A Case Study of Race (May 17)
·
III. How Does
Religion Shape Politics?
A. Voting Behavior and Partisanship (May
22)
·
o Fowler et al:
o Olson and Green,
“The Religion Gap” (CR)
o Bolce and De Maio, “The Politics
of Partisan Neutrality” (CR)
o Pew Forum, “Do the Democrats
Have a God Problem?” (CR)
B. Associations
AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS (May 24)
·
o
Fowler et al:
o
Putnam,
from Bowling Alone (CR)
C. Political
Elites and Culture (May 24)
·
o Fowler et al:
o Wilson and Drakeman: John
F. Kennedy, Remarks on Church and State, pp. 189-91; Bellah,
Civil Religion in
o Obama, Keynote Address to Sojourners (CR)
MIDTERM
EXAMINATION: May 29, in class
IV. How
Does Religion Shape Policy?
A.
Foreign Policy in the Middle
East (May 31)
·
o Guth et al, “Faith and Foreign Policy” (CR)
o Hertzke, “The Shame of
B.
Public Morality and Private Choices (June 5)
·
o
Pew Forum,
“Pragmatic Americans…” (CR)
C. POVERTY AND “CHARITABLE CHOICE” (June 5)
·
o Brooks, Who Really Cares? (CR)
o McKibben, “The Christian Paradox” (CR)
V. What Does the Constitution (and Others) Have
to Say About Religion and Politics?
A.
Free Exercise (June 7)
·
o Fowler et al:
o Wilson and Drakeman:
Jefferson, Letter to Danbury Baptists, p. 74; Madison, Memorial and
Remonstrance, pp. 63-8; Reynolds v. US, pp. 157-160; West Virginia
Board of Education v. Barnette, pp. 197-201; Sherbert v. Verner, pp.
385-88; Wisconsin v. Yoder, pp. 305-14; Goldman v. Weinberger, pp. 322-29; Employment Division v.
Smith, pp. 394-97; Church of Lukumi v. Hialeah,
pp. 338-45
o Hialeah Ordinances
(ONLINE)
B.
Establishment (June 12)
·
o Fowler et al:
o Wilson and Drakeman: Everson
v. Board of Education, pp. 201-6; Engel v. Vitale, pp. 221-25; Lemon
v. Kurtzman, pp. 351-57; Lynch v. Donnelly,
pp. 289-293; Allegheny v. ACLU, pp. 293-298; Edwards v. Aguillard, pp. 243-45; Lee v. Weisman, pp.
245-56; Sante Fe Independent School
District v. Doe, 264-67; Widmar v.
Vincent, pp. 234-37; Rosenberger v.
University of
VI.
Theories of religion and political
culture (June 14)
·
o Fowler et al:
o Tocqueville, Democracy in America, revisited
FINAL EXAMINATION: June 19
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
Each student will conduct an intensive
research project. There are two stages to the project, and each
stage will require a written product:
1.
At the
beginning of class on May 22, in NO
MORE than two pages, single-spaced, you will turn in a statement of your research
question, your approach to answering the question (i.e., research design and
methodology), and brief annotations (i.e., summaries) of three sources you have
uncovered in your initial research on the topic. At least two of these sources must be books
and/or academic journal articles. I will
reply with suggestions by May 29. Prior to this date, I would also STRONGLY
suggest that you consult with me about your idea(s).
2.
At the
beginning of class on June 14, you
will report your results in a research paper of 8-13 pages in length. The paper should include a statement of the
research question/puzzle, a brief discussion of various arguments about/approaches
to the question, a discussion of your approach to/methodology for addressing
the question, and a description of your findings or conclusions. Your paper will also include a bibliography
with at least six sources (also cited in the paper, of course).
A few notes about
the project:
Writing
and Documentation: Consult http://www4.gvsu.edu/dendulkk/papers for information on
bibliographic style and other matters related to writing.
Paper
topic: The topic of the paper is up to you. You may wish to explore some empirical or
historical question or puzzle, or focus on matters of public policy or the
constitutional relation between church and state. See the “Research Paper Suggestions” below
for inspiration.
Research
Design and Methodology: Your
approach to your topic depends on the type of question you address. Many topics require empirical or historical investigation,
which means synthesizing the work others have done or gathering your own
primary data through archival work, content analysis of periodicals or group
press releases, statistical analysis of mass surveys, etc. If you choose to do a policy analysis, you’ll
want to look at relevant government or think tank reports, as well as social or
economic data. If you choose legal
analysis, you might examine court cases and (perhaps) legal briefs. A suggestion: It is almost always useful to
design your research so that you are making comparisons. Feel free to speak with me about the approach
you should take.
Research
resources:
·
A good place
to identify academic scholarship on your topic is the “Further Reading” and
footnote sections of the textbook and casebook.
·
GVSU’s library has a
good collection of books, journals, and databases (particularly periodical
databases) with relevance to the study of religion.
·
The websites
at http://www4.gvsu.edu/dendulkk/pls330/links.htm
include denominations, advocacy groups, research centers, and various research
reports. Of special usefulness is the
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which has numerous reports on religions,
politics, and/or policy. The Forum’s
address is www.pewforum.org.
·
For legal
research, check out the Lexis/Nexis database
(available at the GVSU Library website under “Databases”),
which includes legal periodicals, and www.findlaw.com,
which includes full versions of all the Supreme Court’s decisions.
·
For
quantitative datasets, the Association of Religion Data Archives (http://www.thearda.com) includes numerous
public opinion and denominational surveys in easy-to-use formats. Speak to me if you want access to some other
quantitative dataset.
A
Note on Internet sources: There
are many sources of good information on the Internet, but there are also
sources whose authority or expertise is dubious. In general, acceptable academic scholarship
is peer-reviewed (i.e., reviewed before publication by recognized experts in a
particular field).
Obviously, blogs, message boards, and ordinary
websites are rarely peer-reviewed (and that includes Wikipedia!). You may still use sources that lack
peer-review, but you should give those sources a very critical look – and know
that I will too.
Religion
and Politics 330
Research Paper Suggestions
NOTE: The following list
is intended to spark thinking about the final research project for PLS
330. It is not intended as an exhaustive or comprehensive list, and you are not required to choose a topic from the
list.