FINAL CLASS SESSION, REVIEW FOR TEST AND BOOK REPORT

Do Not Open the Other File being sent to you, at this time.

Some observations on the book reports, which are due April 16 (e-mail them to me as a Word attachment, but cc yourself so you have proof that you did send it, plus you can see if you remembered to attach it).

Remember, this is about 10 typed pages, double spaced. It can be a little more or less. Just make sure you cover all of the chapters. Also, make sure it is in your own words; don’t copy anything word for word.

With book reports, I suggest you have an introductory paragraph, where you talk about the book as a whole. Author name, book title, it is edited by a different expert in each state, it is about what subject, what edition, what year published, etc.

Then, have one or two paragraphs on each chapter where you talk about its main arguments and findings and what you learned from that chapter; also, critically analyze the chapter- why specifically is it good, and how was it confusing and how can it be improved.

Then, have a concluding paragraph where you sum up the book as a whole. In conclusion, I would (would not) recommend this book, to what type of audience. How was it helpful to you in your major? Would you recommend anything else?

If you don’t have the book, Barnes and Noble is now providing a feature where you can have access to a free e-textbook (given the crisis). Or, you can report on my unpublished book, where links to each chapter can be found at:

http://sds17.pspa.msstate.edu/classes/southern/syllabus11.html

Click on each chapter under Readings.

I’ve just finished re-reading most of the book, and here’s some of things I noticed that you might find interesting:

Introduction- it’s short, but helpful. On page xi it mentions Trump’s three themes.

Chapter 1 has some informative charts. Page 6- see how today Republicans have an advantage over Democrats in party identification, except in four states where it is a tossup. Table 1.3 on page 14 have a table often found in other chapters as well. It is very informative. It tells what percentage of people find an issue as The Most important issue, for example. Then, in parens it indicates what candidate was benefitted by that issue. Very helpful to be able to interpret such tables, helpful analytically in both law and graduate school. For example, looking at the parens and the national column, Trump was benefitted on Immigration, Terrorism, and among those thinking their Financial Situation was Worse Today than last year. While only 25% of Americans nationally wanted to deport illegal immigrants, Trump had a 69% vote advantage among that group. So, take a look at each table as you read the chapters, and try to understand what it is telling you. Table 1.4, page 17, same format. 39%, single largest group, said Most Important Quality was candidate who Can Bring Change- Trump had a 68% advantage in that group.

Chapter 2. Notice importance of South, how Clinton and Trump did well there. Page 31, look at composition of the two parties in the primary votes. Very informative, interesting. Race, ideology, Latino.

Chapter 3- Alabama. Now, it is kind of fun to learn about each state in the South, and see how every chapter has a different author who writes in a different way and has different themes and events. Look at the Upheaval (Corruption) problems here.

Chapter 4- author is a “giant” in southern politics field, yet despite his age he can still write an interesting chapter about a modern and more competitive state.

Chapter 5- page 74, Louisiana is one of the few southern states that actually has a Democratic governor, and he just got re-elected. Very unique state, many Catholics, New Orleans is a real party city (they have a lot of corono virus cases). It’s interesting history will be talked more about in my Southern Politics class this fall (including the campaign between the bigot and the crook, Edwin Edwards).

Chapter 6- Mississippi. Probably the most comprehensive chapter. Election history of state, even discussed non-gubernatorial statewide officers and state legislative process. Lacking recent polls of other states, uses innovative aggregate county level and past pooled polls for its analysis.

Chapter 7- South Carolina. I myself enjoyed learning about this first southern state presidential primary state. Table 7.3 on page 117 where it gets into different regions of the state kind of lost me. How did you find it?

Chapter 8- Arkansas is interesting, as chapter talks about how it used to be very Democratic, and rapidly became very Republican. Why did that happen? Page 132 mentions how name changed for Jefferson-Jackson day dinner. Up to page 134, interesting stories of campaign.

Chapter 9- Florida. Federalism. GOP winner take all, Democrats closed primary. Effects of this. Pages 151-153. Page 161, note differences between Cubans and other Latinos. Table 9.5, page 167, see Table on issues, economy, candidate quality, similar results to nation.

Chapter 10- North Carolina. Chuck Prysby is another giant in the field. See how interesting, unique, informative his chapter is. His table 10.2, page 180, uses same technique as my unpublished book. Page 182, table 10.3, fascinating, Trump strong among high income, same party pattern as New Deal; but he is also strong among No College, really a new development for Republicans. Table 10.5, page 186, is revealing. Note how strong Trump was among voters who didn’t like either candidate, in multiple ways. Clearly, dissatisfied, disillusioned, anti-establishment voters went with him.

Well, we have to turn to a review for the final exam now.

You will have 4 questions, answer 2 of them. It is closed book, so study hard before you access the attached file. You have three hours, but you can do it in 90 minutes. It is closed book, don’t access your notes after you start the test. I am writing much of the stuff below on the board, especially the bold print.

First question is on presidential nominations, the 9 Democratic party rules changes, why they were enacted and what effect they had; also, discuss 6 Democratic nomination examples that show why they were needed, or what effect they had.

Now let’s see, from my memory, can I pass this test. Well, the 1968 Democratic nomination battle saw the party professional Vice President Humphrey win the nomination by winning the caucus-convention states, but the liberal anti-war candidates like McCarthy and Kennedy swept the primaries. So liberals were very upset, and liberal McGovern chaired a reform process that enacted 4 important rules changes that he benefitted from the next contest. (example 1). Rules 1-4. 1) An open process required, where state party must publicize to public when and where the delegate selection process takes place, so that all Democrats can participate. 2) Proportional Representation must be used; winner take all in allocating delegates is outlawed. This is more democratic, small d, since losing candidates get some delegates as long as they meet the 15% vote threshold. 3) Affirmative action to include groups historically underrepresented in party process. Quotas in 1972 for women, blacks, young people, based on state population presence. Affirmative action after that, based on Democrats in state, but many groups now included. 4) Many states by 1976 now switched from the caucus-convention to the primary, since it met the spirit of opening up the process to average Democrats, so today vast majority of state use the primary. Effects of these changes. (Example 2) George McGovern, liberal, anti-war wins 1972 nomination; weak front runner stumbles in early contests, McGovern comes in strong 2^nd in early state, New Hampshire, then wins early state of Wisconsin (at that time). Credentials of many delegates are challenged for not following quotas or openness rules changes, McGovern wins challenges; the black, women, young delegates are more liberal than other delegates. (example 3) 1976 Democrats. This new open process lets unknown Jimmy Carter have supporters flood the Iowa caucuses, his new face wins the early primary, New Hampshire. This causes a great bandwagon of media publicity, he gets the nomination. Next two rules changes. 5) Fearing that the nomination process was getting too long (Carter spent 2 years campaigning), Democrats now set a 3 month window for selecting delegates; gave traditionally early states permission to go early, such as Iowa and New Hampshire; today, Nevada and South Carolina also have permission. 6) Democrats in 1970s got more into party purity, only real Democrats should be permitted to particulate. So they started a Closed party process. Only Democrats could participate in delegate selection process. Today, that is defined as letting the state party define who Democrats are; often, like in Mississippi, it is just you choosing which primary that day you will vote in. 7) After Carter lost re-election in 1980, Democrats were disappointed over nominating people who were too liberal to be elected, like McGovern, or nominating an outside like Carter who lost re-election. They missed the party professionals and party regulars, who used to pick winning candidates. So they expanded the state delegations by about 15% to allow elected Democratic public and party officials such as governors and senators to have automatic uncommitted seats at the convention. These were called Superdelegates. (example 4). 1984 Democrats. Senator Gary Hart from Colorado, a new face, wins early. Former Vice President Walter Mondale loses to Hart in the early states. He then comes back by winning two early southern states by getting the party and public official professionals in those states to support him; also, he has a nifty comeback to Hart’s claims of having new ideas (many taken from congressional Democratic proposals), using a Wendy’s commercial with a little old lady attacking competitions by showing their hamburgers and saying “Where’s the beef?” So, not only early states, but maybe southern states could be important, foreshadowing the next rules change. 8) Next rules addition, by action of southern state legislatures, many moved their primaries up early and on the same day to create a southern primary. They wanted to force candidates to come down South early on, learn about their states, appeal to their needs, and help get more moderate and southern oriented Democrats nominated for president. (example 5). In 1992 Democratic battle, Clinton lost the first two early states to home state favorites, plus he had the sex scandals problem. He came back to win the Super Tuesday Southern primaries, as he was a more centrist Democrat and had been governor of Arkansas. He even chose another southerner, Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, as his running mate. 9) Other states saw how powerful the early states had become, so they also moved their primaries up in the calendar. This is called front loading the process. This really helps front-runners, who have money and endorsements get nominated. (example 6) Al Gore in 2000. He was Clinton’s Vice President, had been a congressman and senator from Tennessee, had loyally backed Clinton during impeachment battle, he won every primary against liberal Senator Bill Bradley. Other front runners- There are other examples, but I’ve been writing for 45 minutes, so on to the next question.

Second question is on the history of the Mississippi Democratic party organization. That history was divided into 11 different eras. Right from the lectures. Know everything about those 11 eras. A brief outline, to see if I remember them myself. 1) Segregated white regulars rule party. 2) Are challenged at 1964 national Democratic convention by Freedom Democrats, led by Fannie Lou Hamer’s testimony which gets national Democrats to outlaw racial discrimination. 3-4) White-black loyalists unseat largely white regulars at 1968 and 1972 Democratic convention. 5) 1976, party unifies under biracial co-chairs, helped by Carter and governor Finch. 6) 1980, liberal governor William Winter unifies party under one chair, but is a white; however, a black is selected as vice chair. 7) 1984, Allain is governor, his white male supporter becomes chair, but he was a loyalist; black Ed Cole continues as vice chair, even becomes chair after chair resigns. 8) Ed Cole becomes state party chair, first African American state party chair in nation. New governor Mabus tries to replace him with white female supporter, Democratic state executive committee refuses governor, keeps Cole, reminds party of Martin Luther King and state’s segregation history. 9) 1994, state lawmaker Johnnie Walls becomes state party chair, the second African American. 10) 1996 divided party. All black state chair, vice chair, 2 DNC committee members, as Congressman is angry at white labor union leader. Also, Republican governor nominates all white male slate of 5 to College Board, Democratic majority on Senate Universities committee votes them all down. 11) 21^st century, after 2000. All white male state party chairs, but they are progressive or liberal, partisan, plus most Democratic voters are African American. This was actually a harder question for me to answer, as I clumped together 1 and 2, and then 3 and 4, and I should have really remembered every aspect of these periods. I should have studied these notes much more thoroughly.

Third and fourth questions are what we have just finished talking about, presidential general elections from 1948 up to and including 2016. One question will have the elections up to and including 1980, and other will ask about 1984-2016. Make sure you remember the names of each Democratic and Republican presidential candidate in each election, who won, and why they won. How were party, issues, and candidates important? Also, for question 3, 1948-1980, also mention how specifically the majority party was able to reunite (1948, 1960, 1976), or how it was too divided to win (1952, 1968, 1980). Special point regarding question 4, also mention the specific candidate and/or issue factors that were important in affecting the outcomes of each election. Well, that’s pretty straight forward for those two questions, there’s a lot of notes on specifics, but I can’t forget the basics- the candidates for each year and party.

Yes, question from audience, you only have to choose 2 of those 4 questions to answer. But I still suggest studying all 4, just in case you don’t like the questions you get.

Well, that’s it for the course. The only thing remaining is for me to receive your book reports by April 16, and your Final Exams by April 29. You can e-mail each as an attachment. Make sure you complete and e-mail me the book reports before the final exam. Also, after you finish your book report and send it to me, then complete your study for the final exam. This take home but closed book Final Exam puts you on your honor. Just sit at the computer, and spend up to 3 hours (some will do it in 90 minutes) answering the questions. Do not refer to your notes or anything else. You are alone in the classroom, you should have studied the material to develop and remember your own ideas. Put it all together, as you did in the midterm. I can tell if you violate this process, since I remember your midterm exam format. In any event, real life will be similar, where you have to think on your feet and have a limited time, much like the midterm.

I’m going ahead and e-mailing you this last lecture, as well as the Final Exam, because I do not fully trust the reliability of our technology or of our political leadership in a rapidly changing and exploited crisis situation. If you follow these procedures and all of my instructions, the quality of this course will actually be higher than the course I normally teach. In short, we not only meet accreditation standards, but you are getting a bargain for your money (a rarity, nowadays). I checked with my academic department head, and he said it is fine to follow the Intensive Semester format for our MPPA program, whereby students can compress the course material into a few days (but they are full days), and send assignments in early. As such, feel free to send me your book report before the April 16 deadline (then you could work on other classes0. Once you send in your book report, you can then study for your final exam, take it, and e-mail it to me. If you wish, you can do that before by April 29 deadline. The only firm dates are April 16 and April 29, when I hope and expect to hear from each of you. Oh, feel free to e-mail me with any questions. I hope that all makes sense?!

Oh, I teach more fun classes coming up- Southern Politics in the Fall, and Political Leadership next Spring. A classic in effective political leadership in a crisis is Haley Barbour’s book, America’s Great Storm. Crisis management is a major concern of governments. One of my alumni has been very successful in that area. Check out her bio at:

https://schar.gmu.edu/about/faculty-directory/tonya-t-neaves She got a BA, MPPA, and a PhD from our department.

Well, when you e-mail me these two documents, make sure you cc (carbon copy) yourself, so you have evidence that you did indeed send them, and you can see that you did indeed include the attachment. I may have to be very inconsistent in checking my e-mail, as I have no technology at home, and they just locked up Bowen Hall (I had to use my key). Only “essential personnel” should show up at the MSU office, which so far I have been able to get permission for from my department head. A little unclear regarding how local, state, or national government may modify any lock-down orders, so in the coming days I may have trouble accessing your e-mails. At least we will have proof that you did complete the assignments.

Having grandparents who lived through the Great Depression (lost their homes, money), a father who fought in World War 2 and was shot three times by the Nazis, living during the Vietnam War and seeing 58,000 young Americans die, I find it hard to get too excited about the current situation. Our scientific ‘leaders’ have known about viruses, how they mutate (change) every year. Our political leaders should have seen this coming years ago. But they also failed miserably to reassure the American people; biggest problem for young and healthy people is that they may transmit the virus to their grandparents who already have a serious health problem. Always maintain a 6 foot personal space rule during any flu season. Well, maybe it has dried out enough so I can do some yard work. See you, and stay safe.