Professor Keiser

POSC 207 Urban Politics

Spring 2001

Political Science 207, Urban Politics, is intended as an intensive introduction to urban politics in America. This term we will focus almost completely on the politics of the most studied city in the U.S., Chicago. Known as the "second city," the "windy city," and the "city of broad shoulders," Chicago has been the paradigmatic city for ethnic politics, machine politics, racial politics, growth politics, and bare-knuckled power politics in the 20th century.

Students will have two options in this course for fulfillment of requirements. All students are expected to regularly attend class, participate in class discussions, and do all of the reading prior to class (10%). The first option is to complete any three (and only three) of the four major writing assignments (30% each). This option will bring you to a broad mastery of the subject material. The second option is to complete any one of the four major assignments and do a research paper (20 page minimum, 45%) and a formal oral presentation (15%). Students seeking to use this course as a springboard for a comps paper project are advised to consider this option. A list of research topics can be found at the end of the syllabus.

My office is 417 Willis. Office phone is X-4122. Students are encouraged to use office hours for further discussion of course topics and research interests. Books for the course are on sale at the bookstore and on reserve at the library. Readings may be found in course binders on reserve at the library. Because there are only five copies of each article on reserve and there are 25 students in this class, it is recommended that you plan ahead for use of readings. Also, please note the extensive collection of recommended reading materials on both open and closed reserve.

Wed1: D. Judd and T. Swanstrom, "Party Machines and Political Entrepreneurs," ch. 3 only.

R. Wolfinger, "Why Political Machines Have Not Withered Away and Other Revisionist Thoughts."

Pay specific attention and note specific page numbers with respect to the following:

• How are cultural, religious, and class factors that are crucial for understanding Daley, his allies, and their enemies?
• How does the description of the machine/house for all peoples compare with the definitions from the textbook reading?
• What is the nature of the relationship between the city and the state and federal governments?
• What is the relationship between the Democratic organization and the downtown development elites of the banking, business and real estate communities?
• Who are the white reformers and white liberals and what are the behavioral and ascriptive definitions of members of these groups?
• Explain the sources of heterogeneity in the African-American community, such that some of the organization's most loyal supporters and devoted opponents are from this group.
• When scandals occur, what is the impact of aroused public antagonism and media scrutiny on the regime?

This list of topics is not meant to crowd out your own analysis. You are most encouraged to raise issues, with page citations so that your peers can most easily grasp your concerns, that ought to be of concern to apprentice social scientists. For further study on the Chicago machine and cultural/religious influences on institutional development, check the numerous books on open reserve.

Fri1: A. Cohen and E. Taylor, American Pharaoh, chs. 1-3

Mon2: Cohen and Taylor, chs. 4-7.

Wed2: Cohen and Taylor, chs. 8-11.

Fri2: Cohen and Taylor, chs. 12-15.

Assignment 1 due Friday3: Choose two articles from the following four. Write two separate three page essays (double space, 12 point font) that explain how the selected article enriches our understanding of Chicago politics in the Daley era. These articles may allow for enrichment by highlighting similarities (i.e., what appears unique in one case might be a typical outcome, or dependent variable, if evident across cases), or differences (i.e., sharply divergent outcomes from antecedents that appear similar suggests the presence of a powerful independent variable). Or these articles might present a theoretical model that helps explain, or give order and predictability to, a previously unordered history or mass of data.

T. Swanstrom, "Liberal Growth Politics: Starts and Stalls."

R. Keiser, "The Rise of a Biracial Coalition in Philadelphia."

R. Steinberg, "The Influence of a Political Corruption Scandal …."

A. Stepan, "Liberal-Pluralist, Classic Marxist and Organic-Statist" Approaches to the State"

Mon3: Rakove, Don't Make No Waves, Don't Back No Losers, chs. 1-4.

Wed3: Further Discussion

Fri3: Assignment 1 due at start of class.

In reading this entire section, I want you to be vigilant to contrasts with the Daley regime. Remember the emphasis on page citation.

• What is the "New Perspective" that Grimshaw presents and how do you evaluate the significance of this perspective?
• How does each author's argument relate to broader theoretical questions of political science, that students of the Congress would ask, or that students of comparative politics in Latin America or the former Soviet Union might want to know?
• Was Mayor Daley a racist, or a pragmatic leader intent on distributing benefits to his political coalition?
• What is the role of the media in urban politics? Are they investigative reporters, trained objective professionals, amplifiers of bias, all of these (when for each) or none (then offer a characterization?)?
• Was Harold Washington really the leader of a progressive and/or reformist coalition? Or was he simply trying to build a black political machine and coopting the support of naive white liberals? Define your terms to answer these questions. Make a supportive case for one claim and a case that rejects the other.
• People in Chicago frequently explain the city's politics by saying that it is the most racist and most segregated city in the country; for them, that is the causal variable that is most valuable. Of course, people in Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Detroit make the same claims about their cities. How valuable is "white racism" as an independent explanatory variable and what other variables (i.e., explanatory hypotheses) seem a bit less useful or a bit more useful?

Assignment 2: Due Wed6. Answer either one of the last two bullets above in seven double spaced pages, 12 point font.

Mon4: Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit, chs. 1-2.

Wed4: Grimshaw, chs. 3-6.

Fri4: Grimshaw, chs. 7-9.

Mon5: Kleppner, Chicago Divided, chs. 7-8 and A. Alkalimat and D. Gills, "Chicago: Black Power vs. Racism," The New Black Vote.

Wed5: G. Rivlin, Fire on the Prairie, chs. 7-9 and 11 and P. Kaniss, "Conclusion," The Media and the Mayor's Race.

Fri5: Keiser, "Explaining African American Political Empowerment: Windy City Politics from 1900 to 1983" Urban Affairs Review (Sept. 1993) and Preston, The New Black Politics, ch. 7.

Midterm Break: You have one week with no reading in this class. The purpose is to give you time to make the crucial initial exploration of a paper topic. If you are not doing the paper, spend some time browsing in the open reserve section for this course.

Wed6: "Vote for Me" Video.

Fri6: Rivlin, chs. 12-15, 19, 21.

Mon7: Holli and Green, Bashing Chicago Traditions, chs. 5-6.

Wed7: Green and Holli, Restoration 1989: Chicago Elects a New Daley, chs. 1-5.

Assignment 3: Due Friday8: Construct an empirical argument that either supports or refutes the theorization of Chicago (as similar to New York) suggested in Keiser's "Analyzing Urban Regime Change." You are welcome and encouraged to use sources beyond the syllabus although this is not imperative. Eight to ten pages, double spaced, 12 point font.

Fri7: J. Sleeper, "The End of the Rainbow" and R. Keiser, "Analyzing Urban Regime Change," Minority Politics at the Millennium.

Mon8: Formal Oral Presentations on Research (presenters should meet with the instructor prior to presentation).

Wed8: Formal Oral Presentations on Research

Fri8: Formal Oral Presentations on Research

Assignment 4, in lieu of a final exam, due at the end of exam period: Drawing on reading from the course and beyond if you choose, discuss some of the problems faced by a new regime of outsiders who have taken power from long-standing insiders in a bitter electoral struggle. Categorize these problems into at least four areas and draw upon a minimum of two authors for each category. Twelve page maximum, double spaced, 12 point font.

Mon9: Clavel and Wiewel, chs. 1-2

Wed9: Clavel and Wiewel, chs. 3-5

Fri9: Clavel and Wiewel, chs. 6-8

Mon10: Clavel and Wiewel, chs. 10-12

Wed10: W. Nelson, "Black Politics in Gary."

1. Latinos in Chicago from Daley to Daley. Where do they stand vis a vis the Machine, the Washington movement, the current administration, rainbow alliances with African-Americans in Chicago, and is there any political significance to the split between Mexican-Americans and Puerto Ricans?
2. Los Angeles Politics: Why was a long-standing Black mayor, Tom Bradley, replaced by a white businessman, Richard Riordan? What does this mean for the multi-racial coalition that long existed in L.A.? How has Riordan governed and how much electoral support has he had from minorities? Where does the outcome of the current L.A. mayoral election leave the city with respect to these questions?
3. Urban Media: What does a comparison of the media treatment of three or more African-American mayoral elections tell us about media treatment of racial politics and the hypotheses put forward by Kaniss about urban reporting? A comparison with a Latino mayor might be fruitful here.
4. Catalysts to Regime Change: A few articles that we will read this term focus on the process of regime change and distinguish this from mere change of governmental administration. What are some of the factors that produce such dramatic changes? What is the process by which such factors transform regimes and dislodge members of old coalitions?
5. The Current Daley Regime: Why does it appear that Richard M. Daley is positioned to be mayor-for-life? Assess the nature of his relationship with the multiple power centers of African-American Chicago. How much electoral support has he had in Black wards and what has he done to earn it? Why has the Washington coalition failed to reemerge?
6. Minneapolis is home to an African-American female mayor. What is the history of Black political incorporation in Minneapolis? Who constitutes the coalition that helps this mayor govern? What have been the benefits to African-Americans and how evenly have these benefits been distributed?
7. Formulate your own interesting, analytic question that is not merely a descriptive book report.