{"id":24,"date":"2012-08-24T20:31:29","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T20:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.la.utexas.edu\/lawofpolitics\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2024-09-10T02:37:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T02:37:25","slug":"syllabus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sites.la.utexas.edu\/lawofpolitics\/syllabus\/","title":{"rendered":"Syllabus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Law of Politics\u2028<\/span><\/h1>\n

Government 357 J<\/span><\/h1>\n

Fall 2024<\/span><\/h1>\n

Required books and other materials:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Main Text<\/strong><\/p>\n

Election Law: Cases and Materials<\/strong> 7th Edition 2021 Daniel Hays Lowenstein and Richard L. Hasen, Daniel P. Tokaji (Carolina Academic Press)\u00a0 Earlier editions can be used . Using them will require students to read unedited cases that have been decided after that edition. Cases can be found on Soctus Blog and Oyez website<\/p>\n

Supplementary Texts<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2028<\/strong>Mollie Hemingway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rigged\u00a0 How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Election
\n<\/span>The book has 19 5 star reviews on Barnes and Noble and 11 1 star reviews. On Amazon with 2834 global reviews it has 87% 5 star reviews
\nand 3% 2 stars or less.\u00a0 You will have an opportunity to judge for yourself.\u00a0 As best you can be sure to check her data and its sources.
\nBy the way, is there a difference between a “Rigged” election and a “fraudulent ” election?<\/p>\n

She had a previous\u00a0 best seller, Justice on Trial<\/span>, which was about the Kavanaugh hearings.<\/p>\n

(Available in paperback and on Kindle)<\/p>\n

Movies to view during the\u00a0 course. This is also the order in which we will view and discuss them. Two will be covered on each of the the 3 exams.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.Mr.\u00a0 Smith Goes To Washington(1939)\u00a0 <\/strong>with James Stewart and Greer Garson. Appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate, a starry eyed, naive idealistic\u00a0 young man attempts to do something for the children of America in Washington.\u00a0 He soon learns the rules\u00a0 and that people inside the beltway\u00a0 are not what he had thought of or imagined.\u00a0 Though dated, one might ask what has changed since the movie was made?<\/p>\n

2 All The Kings Men<\/strong>\u00a0 the main character who is a metaphor\u00a0 of a member of the the Long family that controlled Louisiana politics for years\u00a0 becomes\u00a0 Governor of Louisiana prior to WWII.\u00a0 He rose from virtually nothing to become\u00a0 a powerful\u00a0 force\u00a0 and demagogue in Louisiana politics in the 30\u2019s and early 40\u2019s. The “Longs” controlled Louisiana politics for a couple of decades.<\/p>\n

3.<\/b> All The President\u2019s Men(1976) <\/b>with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford.\u00a0 It\u00a0 is an adaptation of a book about the\u00a0 work of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who, \u00a0as young reporters for the Washington Post, tracked down and developed the stories about the break-in at Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel that eventually led to the resignation of President Nixon.\u00a0\u00a0 Not sure journalists today would have what it takes to do what they did. The movie lost the Oscar for best Picture in 1976 to Rocky<\/strong><\/p>\n

4. Primary Colors (1998)<\/b>with John Travolta as a Bill Clinton character and Emma Thompson as Hillary. Another supposedly fictional story that really is about Clinton\u2019s first presidential campaign. While the names are changed to protect the writers from unpredictable Clinton wrath, you\u00a0 can figure out the characters and points of view if you know some early 90’s history.\u00a0 Billy Bob Thorton is the the Jame Carville character, noted Clinton consultant from Louisiana married to the former Republican consultant Mary Matalin.\u00a0 In May\u00a0 2016 she switched to the libertarian party.\u00a0 She was a consultant to the H.W. Bush campaign.<\/p>\n

5. Our Brand is Crisis(2015)\u00a0 <\/strong>Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thorton as American political consultants fighting each in a Bolivian election.\u00a0 Billy Bob also plays a James Carville type character in this movie.\u00a0 Can’t help but make comparisons with our elections and candidates.\u00a0 Very good until you get past the election outcome\u00a0 at which which time, like the end of The Campaign,<\/strong> you get 10 minutes of moralizing why the liberal side was better.\u00a0 I missed this movie the first time.\u00a0 A couple I have known for 19 years\u00a0 told me about it.\u00a0 I remember when they got started\u00a0 in political consulting in 2002\u00a0 and they expanded from local to national consultants.\u00a0 They are now living in Budapest and mainly work elections in foreign countries\/.They vouched for\u00a0 the accuracy of some of the themes.<\/p>\n

6. The Campaign(2012)<\/b> with Will Ferrell and Zack\u00a0 Galifianakis.\u00a0 This is a story about the evil Moch Brothers (meant to be parodies of the Koch Brothers when they were strong Republicans) trying to control a North Carolina congressional election between cool Will, the Democrat,\u00a0 and nerdy Zack, the Republican.\u00a0 R rated for sexual content, language and brief nudity.\u00a0 It is Hollywood\u2019s appeal for overruling the infamous Citizens United v. FEC <\/span>case,\u00a0 a case we will study in detail late\u00a0 in the semester. It \u00a0 has some very funny scenes and it \u00a0contains some universal truths about politics, politicians and elections.\u00a0 I do not particularly\u00a0 like its attack on or parodies of\u00a0 Christians and Christianity in a couple of scenes.\u00a0 Since it is so directly about campaign speech and finance, I think it is worth watching.\u00a0 I also think it is a double edged sword for the values Hollywood thinks it is promoting.<\/p>\n

All videos are available for free or a small cost on web.\u00a0\u00a0 I suggest you watch with a group and share the cost. The most I have seen a video cost is $16 which can be shared down to 2-3$ per watcher.
\nthen the group can discuss the pluses and minuses of the movie over beer or whatever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other Videos<\/strong>
\nOn the\u00a0 class website videopage there are links to a number of videos relevant to the course.\u00a0 I have collected them over the years.\u00a0 Some are no longer available and I am in the process of deleting those as I review\u00a0 these videos. Some will be assigned before various classes and others are there for your edification.<\/p>\n

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How To Brief A Case
\n<\/a>(Click on the above for a description of the case briefing process)<\/span><\/p>\n