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Apart from a scattering of politicians, professors, and political science students; few people take politics seriously. Rates of voting have declined for several decades. Instead of a substantive discussion of crucial issues, many citizens see elections as exercises in trifling media hype. In this course, we will study the larger political context of elections and the ways in which voters interpret the information that is part of campaigns.

In addition, many charge that money is a principle evil in American politics. Public commentators paint a picture of a political process that is for sale to the highest bidder. Political scientists are often skeptical of such sweeping explanations. In this course, we will explore the role of money an American politics. We will critically read the most recent research and do some of our own.

Several states have attempted to solve the problem of money and politics by instituting a system of public finance. If public money replaces contributions from private sources, a new political process will result. We will utilize several online data bases and analyze the impact of this new system of campaign finance.