1. Institutional Analysis Lecture 1: Introduction Prof. Sharyn O’Halloran

2. Preliminaries Professor Sharyn O’Halloran Office Hours: by appointment Contact information: Office: 727 IAB E-MAIL: SO33@columbia.eduSO33@columbia.edu PHONE: X4-3242

3. Grading Class participation (10%) Leading Class Discussion (30%) Final Paper & Presentation (60%) Assignments described in syllabus 5 assignments build up to final paper Turn in before class on the day due

4. Overview Framework: Institutional Analysis Focus on the way that political institutions shape the preferences of political actors to form public policy. Schematic Preferences Institutions Outcomes

5. Overview (continued) Three basic questions: Who are the key decision makers? What motivates actors? How do individuals organize for collective action?

6. Overview (continued) When applied to political institutions: What motivates political actors? Legislators Bureaucrats President What is the decision making process? Majoritarian or supermajority Where are the key veto gates? Committees, agencies, president, chamber floor What is the impact on policy outcomes? Will policy be representative or skewed toward the preferences of the majority party or the president?

7. Preferences What shapes the interests of elected representatives 435 Representatives 100 Senators President Possible Motivation Make good policy Help the less fortunate Become famous World peace GET REELECTED!!!!

8. Institutions How do these elected officials, who are each seeking reelection, get things done. 3 problems to solve Chaos No clear majority will Distributive How to divided up the pie Information How to make policy in an uncertain environment

9. Policy Outcomes Preferences and institutions all combine to impact public policy In the last section we will look at Passage of major legislation The appropriations process Regulatory process

10. Papers Need to apply these tools and logic to a substantive area of interest. Piece of legislation Legislative history with data analysis Electoral outcomes and policy impact Majority-minority voting districts and substantive representation. Policy making in the Russian Duma or the European Community

11. Art of logical reasoning Argument Supports or defends a statement or position. Contains three elements Conclusion or Hypothesis Statement that the argument supports or defends Premise or Assumption Statement affirmed without any defense. Intermediate Steps Assertions that connect premises to the conclusions

12. Art of logical Reasoning (2) How to evaluate competing arguments? Economy How many assumptions or intermediate steps needed to arrive at conclusion? Generality Given the assumptions and logic, can we explain other phenomena as well? Theory of Gravity explains not only falling leaves but also why rocks follow similar patterns.

13. Example: Legalize Drugs Define the central hypothesis Identify premises or assumptions Specify the intermediary steps or logic used to arrive at the conclusions. Evaluate the arguments

14. Next week’s assignment Read Constitution and Federalists Be sure to: Identify the key issue Explain what was the section of the Constitution was intended to do Present some arguments in favor and against the inclusion of the provision