Dr. Damore’s Courses

American Politics

PSC 101, Introduction to American Politics:

This course offers students an overview of the American governing and political process. The course is divided into three parts. Part one examines the "rules of the game" by focusing on the founding and the subsequent development of our republican system of government. Particular attention is given to the philosophical underpinnings of our constitutional system, competing explanations of how the system should operate, and assessments of how well it meets its democratic ideals. Part two focuses on the conduits that link the governed to the government (i.e., political parties and interest groups, campaigns and elections, and the media); notable attention is given to analyzing how these linking institutions form and constrain popular input into the governing process. Part three covers the formal institutions of the government (e.g., Bureaucracy, Congress, the Supreme Court, and Presidency). Here, the powers of each institution are addressed with emphasis given to examining their development over time.

PSC 304, Legislative Process:

This course provides an examination of the legislative process, with particular attention given to the United States Congress. The course is divided into four parts. Part one examines congressional elections and how election outcomes affect representation and congressional organization and procedures. Part two assesses the formal power allocated to Congress by the Constitution, the institutionalization and development of Congress over time, and differences between the House and Senate. Part three addresses the nuts and bolt of congressional operations (e.g., the role of parties and leaders, committees, and other formal procedures, as well as individual and collective decision making). Part four examines the relationship between Congress and other actors in the political environment (e.g., the president, the federal courts, the bureaucracy, interest groups, the media, and the public).

PSC 312, Political Parties and Interest Groups:

Whereas some critics lament that “partisan bickering” and “special interests” have a negative influence on American democracy, others argue that political parties and interest groups are invaluable for linking citizens to the electoral and policy processes. The purpose of this course is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of interest groups and political parties in the United States so that they may think critically about the proper role that these institutions should play in the American political system. The course is divided into two parts. Part one focuses on interest groups with particular attention given to the origins and formation of groups and assessing group influence on the electoral and policy making processes. Part two examines political parties by assessing the party system and party organizations in the United States, as well as the role of parties in elections and governmental decision making.

PSC 401F, Public Opinion and Political Behavior:

This course offers an in-depth understanding of the antecedents and consequences of public opinion and political behavior in American politics. Particular emphasis is given to the theoretical and methodological approaches central to scholarship in this area. The course is divided into three sections. Part one serves as an introduction and examines the normative and empirical underpinning of public opinion and the classic model of individual opinion and behavior. Part two focuses on revisionist models and approaches to the study of individual and collective opinion and behavior. Part three examines the processes and institutions (i.e., elections, political parties, and interest groups) by which public opinion is aggregated, infused, and diffused into the governing and policy-making processes.

Research Methods

PSC 302 and PSC 701, Research Methods in Political Science:

This course provides students with the skills necessary to evaluate and conduct systematic research in the social sciences. Specifically, course material examines the research design process and the application of quantitative methods to the study of political phenomena. The course is divided into three parts. Part one serves as introduction by familiarizing students with the sub-fields within the discipline of political science, the questions and concerns central to these areas of study, and the process of theory building. Part two examines the research design process in detail (e.g., hypothesis formulation, measurement, data collection, and inference) and the ethics of social research. An introduction to quantitative methods (e.g., statistics) used in political science research is the focus of the third part of the course.

PSC 702, Advanced Research Design and Methodology:

Building on the material taught in PSC 701, this course seeks to develop the skills necessary to evaluate and conduct systematic research in the social sciences using quantitative methods. The course is divided into three parts. Part one examines the role of quantitative methods in the research process and introduces basic statistical techniques and concepts (e.g., descriptive statistics, statistical significance, and bivariate regression). Part two covers the course’s main emphasis: an in depth treatment of multivariate regression analysis, with particular attention given to the causes, consequences, and remedies for assumption violations. Part three introduces students to more advanced statistical techniques including robust regression, time-series analysis, and maximum likelihood estimation. Upon completion, students should be able to read, understand, and evaluate original scholarly research employing these techniques, as well as develop, estimate, and interpret their own statistical models. The course is taught at a level that assumes minimal prior knowledge of statistics and basic math skills. With this said, success in this course necessitate that students work with the material on a near daily basis. Also, because course material builds incrementally, thorough knowledge of introductory material is essential for comprehension of later material.