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PLS 494 Syllabus (Spring 2007)

Course:   PLS 494 (Senior Seminar: The Politics of Public Finance)

Instructor:   Craig Curtis (Bradley Hall, room 429) ph.  677-2492;  e-mail:  rcc@bradley.edu; home page: http://hilltop.bradley.edu/~rcc/

Texts:     Mikesell, John L.  Fiscal Administration:  Analysis and Applications for the Public Sector (7th Ed. 2007)  Belmont, CA:  Thomson Learning (ISBN:  9780495007401).

Wildavsky, Aaron, and Naomi Caiden.  The New Politics of the Budgetary Process (5th Ed. 2004)  New York:  Pearson Longman  (ISBN:  0321159675). 

Class meeting times: Tuesday and Thursday. 1:30 to 2:45 am, Br 259
Instructor's Office Hours: MW 2:00 to 3:00 pm, T TH 9:00 to 11:00 am, or by appointment.

Description:  Our purpose shall be to learn as much as we can about public finance in America today.  We live in a time of massive deficits and massive resistance to any tax increases.  Fiscal stress is the norm for all state and local governments.  One of the dominant paradigms in macroeconomics in America promises that we can increase public sector revenue by decreasing certain taxes.  On its face, this seems utter nonsense, and yet lots of smart people believe it.  Why this is and its impact on the federal budget will be an important part of the first section of the course.  The second section of the course will focus more on state and local matters, and in the process will allow us to examine the validity of the underlying assumption held by most Americans that market forces are the best way to make decisions in any government.

This course is a senior seminar.  As such, it is designed along the lines of a graduate seminar.  The purpose is to master advanced material on public finance in an interactive learning environment.  Collaboration is strongly encouraged, except, of course, that you should not copy each other's essays.  There will be few formal lectures, no midterm tests and no final exam.  It is assumed that you have read and understood the assigned materials, although you are strongly encouraged to ask questions.  The grade will be based on the three review essays, a research paper and on your in-class work.

Because the learning process is interactive, class participation is essential for the seminar to work.  Each of you will be responsible for themselves, but also responsible to each of your peers.  You must come to class and must be current with the reading assignments.  You must prepare conscientiously when it is your turn to lead the discussion.  The material is advanced and may be unfamiliar to some of you.  As such, the reading will be difficult at times, and will require your careful attention.  Sometimes you will not understand the reading before you get to class, but you likely will understand by the end of class for that day.  Come see me if you are having problems.  If, for some reason, you were not able to read the assignment for a class, please let me know before the class so that I will not call on you that day.  There will be no repercussions for occasionally telling me that you are not prepared; however, repeated instances of unpreparedness will result in poor class participation marks.

We should communicate via e-mail.  Make sure that I have your favored e-mail address.  Mine is rcc@bradley.edu

Grading:  The final grade will be based on the following:

 1) 3 review essays (approximately 3 to 5 printed pages each), each worth 20% of the final grade.
 2) 1 research paper, on a topic of my choosing, worth 20% of the grade.
 3) A day in which you will lead the discussion, having primary responsibility for presentation of the reading
      material for that day, worth 10% of the grade.  I will circulate a sign-up sheet.
 4) The final 10% will come from your daily contributions to the class discussion.  As such, I will take note of attendance.

 

The final letter grade will be assigned according to the following scale:
 

 A  90-100%

D  60-69%

B  80-89%

F  below 60%

C  70-79%

 

Class policies:  All students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the reading material assigned for that day.  The nature of this course makes us all very interdependent.  If you don't do the work, all of your classmates are adversely affected as a consequence.

The due dates for the papers as listed on the syllabus are important to me.  Essays are due in class on the date specified.  Late essays will be penalized at the rate of 10% of the grade per day.  Please follow smart computer procedures -- disk failure will not serve as a valid excuse for late essays and it is the responsibility of the student to keep files containing the essays. Due dates are subject to change if the needs of the class so indicate; any changes will be made by the instructor in consultation with the class.  I assume that you have language skills commensurate with your educational level.  Therefore, I will treat poor usage and grammar as evidence of lack of effort, and will grade the essays accordingly.

Course Outline

Overview:  We will start by building a knowledge base regarding budgeting in general.  Next, we will examine the federal budget process.  After that, we will take a look at the more generic budget problems facing all levels of government in America today, including resistance to taxes in the face of high demands for service, fierce competition for economic development projects, and devolution of responsibility by the federal government.
 
Week I  (1-25)  Introduction and Housekeeping Chores

Week II  (1-30)  Why is budgeting so important -- Mikesell, chapters 1 & 2.
              
Week III (2-06  The history of budgeting at the federal level – Wildavsky and Caiden, foreword and chapters 1 to 3.          

Week IV (2-13)    Modern Conservative Approaches -- Wildavsky and Caiden, chapters 4 to 6.

Week V (2-20)    The problems of entitlements and defense -- Wildavsky and Caiden, chapters 7 & 8.
            
Week VI (2-27)   So why can’t we balance the federal budget?  Finish Wildavsky and Caiden.  First Essay due.

Week VII (3-06)  Justifying Budgets – Mikesell, Chapters 4 and 5.  

Week VIII (3-13)    Revenue Forecasting – Mikesell, Chapter 13.

Spring Break

Week IX (3-27)     Taxes and other sources of revenue – Mikesell, chapters 7, 8 and 9.

Week X (4-3)      More on taxes – Mikesell, chapters 11 and 12.  Second Essay due

Week XI  (4-10)      IGR and dollar transfers – Mikesell, chapters 3 and 14. 

Week XII (4-17)    Economic development – Mikesell, chapters 6 and 15

Week XIII (4-24)   Cash management – Mikesell, chapter 16.

Week XIV (5-1)   Pensions, Social Security, and Medicare. 

Week XV  (5-7)      Wrap up. Third essay due on 5-07-07, in class.

Research papers due Tuesday, May 15, by 4:30 pm -- no late papers will be accepted!

The essays:  I have assigned three topics for us to reflect upon and about which to write.  The essays themselves are to be brief, only 4 to 6 printed pages.  You will have the opportunity to redo the first essay after I have made comments on it.  Second and successive essays will be final as turned in, although consultation with me before you turn in the essays is encouraged.

Some research will be needed for these assignments.  Make sure that you properly document your sources.  Please use a social science citation format.

The focus questions are as follows:

1. If you won the election for President in 2008, having campaigned on a promise to balance the budget, and your party had a huge majority in both houses of Congress, what would you do to balance the budget?  How would you keep from generating a backlash that would cost you control of Congress in the 2010 midterm elections?  Due date:  2-26-07, rewrites due one week after return of the graded essay.

 

2. Imagine that you are an advisor to Rod Blagojevich.  How would you go about fundamentally revising the way that education is funded in Illinois while still managing to pay for universal medical care access?  Is this possible to do without raising taxes?  Due date:  4-02-07.

 

3. One of the biggest problems facing all levels of government is the obligation to retirees.  If you were the city manager or mayor of a city in Illinois, how would you handle this problem?  Due date: 5-07-07.

 

The Research Paper:  You are required to write a 10 to 15 page research paper on one of the following topics, or on a topic of your choosing, subject to my approval:

 

  1. The relationship between local government economic development strategies and the health of school districts.
  2. The prospects for financing universal access to medical care in the United States.
  3. The future viability of the Social Security and Medicare programs.
  4. The problem of a negative balance of payments over the long term.

This paper is due in my office on or before Tuesday, May 15, 2007.  I will gladly read and comment upon rough drafts received at or before our April 24 class meeting.  Please note that a rough draft is not a hurriedly thrown together stream of consciousness.  It is a polished draft submitted for substantive comment.  It must be typed and virtually complete.  All sources referenced must be fully referenced (this means include a bibliography).  Do not ask me to read handwritten papers or fragments of your work.  I will not be tolerant of blatant grammatical or spelling errors.  Rough drafts in which the grammar and usage are not at the college level will be returned without substantive comment.  No rough drafts will be accepted after 4-24, although consultation is encouraged at any time before the paper is submitted.

Leading the class discussion:  Each of you is required to lead the discussion for one class session.  Please sign up early for a date to lead the discussion.  Please remember that these are your friends.  The seminar environment is a forgiving environment and I will not let you founder.  It is expected by all your classmates that you will prepare carefully for your day in the sun.  If you sign up to lead the discussion for a particular date, you must meet that obligation.  If you do not meet an obligation to lead the discussion, it is possible that there will be no opportunity to make up that work by leading the discussion another day.  Of course you may trade days freely, but I must be notified of such changes in advance.