American Government

Field Exam

Day One

May 1999

Part I--Required

A journalist who covers national politics recently wrote: "Washington is more open, less corrupt, and more accountable thanat any time in history. Its principal problem is not that itlistens too little, but that it listens--and is shouted at--too much. American government is in touch with everyone,moving in synch with the opinion of the moment as gracefully as blackbirds rising in unison from a field." Allowing for journalistic hyperbole, is this essentially true? How and why do our current institutions respond to "mass impulses" differently than the founders intended? Your answer should be grounded in the literature of both institutions and political behavior.

Part II
Answer two

1. What is the "post-reform Congress"? How does it differ from its predecessor(s)? What implications does this difference have for the performance and policy choices of American government?

2. Students of governmental processes often speak of the three "i's"--interests, ideas, and institutions. Choose 1) an era in American political experience, or 2) a critical political event, or 3) a major policy arena, and analyze the interaction among and relative importance of the three i's.

3. The process by which the U. S. chooses its presidents has changed drastically over time. Describe the evolution of those changes, and explore whether there is a connection between the way in which presidents are chosen and their fitness for and conduct of the office.

4. What forces drive centralization in the U. S. federal system? What obstacles inhibit it?

5. Discuss precisely what is meant by "inside" and "outside" strategies for interest group action, and discuss the extent to which one strategy or another is used, the circumstances under which groups use one strategy or another, and--in so doing-describe in some detail the empirical research showing the use of these strategies.