Articles on American Politics

Teaching America chapter in the book American Studies in Korea, published in the Korean language

This paper was delivered at the American Studies Association of Korea Forum on Curriculum in Fall 2003.  It suggests core elements of an American Studies curriculum for Korean students, based on my decade of experience teaching Korean students about the United States.

The Significance of the 2004 Election webpage with links 

The 2002 American Midterm: The Bush Victory in Historical Perspective

This article appears in the Journal of Asia Pacific Affairs , Spring 2003

The Bush administration won an historically unusual victory in the 2002 midterm elections, picking up 8 seats in the House of Representatives and gaining 2 seats in the Senate.  The two major issues in the 2002 campaign were coping with terrorism in the aftermath of September 11 and the dismal state of the U.S. economy.  Bush's hard line on terrorism proved to be decisive.  This triumph put the Republicans in control of the presidency and both houses of Congress for the first time in almost half a century.  Pundits agree that this bolsters the power of the Bush administration, although it is difficult to judge to what degree.  This articles discusses the changing patterns of midterm elecitons in order to put the 2002 midterm in historical perspective.  It then assess in what ways it might strengthen the Bush administration in domestic and international policy making.

Leadership and Hegemony in the 2000 American Presidential Election: Issues Affecting East Asia

This paper was published in the Journal of American Studies in Winter 2000.  It was presented at the American Studies Association of Korea meeting in October 2000 in Wonju, Korea.

The Clinton Administration in Historical Perspective

Reflections on the key trends in the Clinton years

The Historic Shift in the Regional Bases of American Political Parties

This article first appeared in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, Winter 1999.  It documents the massive change in the regional support for the Democratic and Republican parties that began in the 1960s and continues up to the present day.

Ideological Majorities, Presidential Initiatives, and Policy Change

The American political system is biased against major policy change. It has inherent tendencies toward incremental policymaking and even gridlock. Major presidential initiatives can overcome these tendencies toward incrementalism, but only under certain political conditions. The concept of an "ideological majority" is introduced to describe the conditions that have allowed a few presidents and their parties to successfully enact major changes in domestic policy since the establishment of the New Deal party system. The historic policy effects of ideological majorities can be seen in the enduring changes in the composition of the federal budget they produce. Four conditions are necessary to produce an ideological majority: 1) presidential leadership, 2) unusually large or ideologically cohesive delegations of the president's party in Congress, 3) the incubation of innovative ideas, and 4) an electoral mandate.

If I were president : My modest proposal for a new American agenda
 
The Power of Presidential Ideologies

In 1992 I published a study of  how political ideas influenced presidential policies from Franklin Roosevelt through the first George Bush.  I have updated and greatly expanded the original version with new text, graphics, and links that make use of the power of the internet as a research and educational tool.

Click on Table of Contents for links to individual chapters.