Teaching American Politics

This article examines some of the hurdles that confront teachers of American government and politics in the United Kingdom. It argues that whilst the problems associated with teaching American politics are hardly unique within the politics discipline, they do pose substantial challenges. In particular, confronting students' stereotypes and prejudices about the United States is a key task of a successful teaching programme. To do this, and to make the study of US politics an 'active' one, some suggestions are made as to how the standard 'textbook approach' can be supplemented and enhanced.     

Politics and the New American Welfare States

Federal law allows states to create new welfare policies determining who can receive welfare, what types of clients are exempted from new welfare work requirements, and the value of cash benefits. This project tests nine different theoretical explanations of welfare policy to explain why states have reacted differently to this new authority. We test these explanations on Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) policies promulgated between 1997 and 2000. Our findings confirm the strong role of race in TANF politics that Soss et al. (2001) recently reported, but we also find that other constituent characteristics, and institutions, paternalistic goals, and state resources have a consistent influence on welfare policy. These results indicate that different approaches to welfare are attributable to the unique, and very potent, combination of political characteristics in each state.     

Putting Politics First: The Impact of Politics on American Religious and Secular Orientations

Nearly all research on the political impact of Americans’ religious and secular orientations assumes that such orientations are exogenous to politics. Using multiwave panel and experimental data, we find that religious and secular orientations are endogenous to political orientations. In other words, religion and secularism are a consequence as well as a cause of politics. In showing this, we make three major contributions. First, we conceptualize and measure secular orientations in a new way—not just as the absence of religion, but also as an affirmative secular identity and positive commitment to secular principles. Second, our panel and experimental data allow for the most definitive test to date of whether political orientations exert a causal effect on religious and secular orientations. Third, we isolate the conditions under which politics affects religious–secular perspectives, thus identifying the mechanism that underlies political orientations.     

The Gag Reflex: Disgust Rhetoric and Gay Rights in American Politics

Political scientists have increasingly looked to the role that disgust plays in shaping public opinion and attitudes. This emotion plays an important role in building and reinforcing boundaries in the polity. It is particularly important in shaping attitudes toward gay rights. We analyze data from the 1993 American National Election Studies (ANES) data and two original studies. We find that disgust is a powerful but contingent rhetorical tool. It can powerfully shape public attitudes, especially on issues of sexual purity, but that efficacy must come with a strong caveat: our findings show that some members of the public will reject disgust rhetoric as an indignant reaction against the speaker.     

Encountering China: Contexts and Methods for Teaching Chinese Politics in American Classrooms

This article explores the use of student-centered learning activities when teaching Chinese politics in American college classrooms and discusses the importance of context in those activities. In particular, the article explores how classroom context, including student identities, and student exposure to diverse, often conflicting ??political identities?? in course material emerge during different ??encounters????a Cultural Revolution poster exhibition, a simulation about the Three Gorges Dam, a Cultural Revolution role-play, and a problem-solving session involving factory workers. The article argues that encounters, which encompass in-class activities, such as problem solving, simulations, and role-play, enhance student engagement with course material, improve student retention of historical and contemporary political knowledge, and encourage critical thinking and peer collaboration in a student-centered learning environment. The article concludes that learner-centered teaching is significant because as the world becomes more complex, the knowledge and skills acquired through student-centered activities in politics classes are highly relevant for the future of self-organization, social interactions, and institution building.     

A History of American Studies of Chinese Elite Politics

Journal of Chinese Political Science - This review essay examines a historical process of knowledge construction in American studies of China. Before 1989, U.S.-based scholars argued that Deng...