Directions: You must respond to the general question; you must choose three of the remaining sections and write on one question from each.

You are expected to support your arguments with adequate citations to appropriate literature, but you are reminded to respond to the questions that are asked.
I.  General: Choose one of the following:
1.  Discuss the contributions to our understanding of American politics of two kinds of studies:  (a) those generally within the category of behavioral, quantitative and/or formal, and (b) those generally within the category of ethnographic, qualitative, and/or discursive.  To focus your thoughts, describe two studies within each category that exemplify research in both traditions.  Evaluate each of these studies according to clear criteria.  Can you reach any conclusions about the merits of these different kinds of studies?
2.  Social scientists have often debated the distribution of power in America.  Has the effort generated results to justify further research along this line?  In answering this question, trace the major studies of power in political science and related disciplines since the publication of C. Wright Mill's The Power Elite in 1954.  (Note: while you can incorporate the study of community power in your answer, you should also deal with this question at the national level.)
3. Drawing on the political science literature, assess the health of the American democracy as the nation begins a new century.  What, according to the literature, might be signs of strength?  What are some of the indicators of weakness?  All things considered, are there any structural or constitutional reforms that would help the nation reach its democratic potential?

II.  Congress and the Presidency
1. Researchers argue that the basic forces shaping the presidency include, 1) the type of person occupying the office, 2) the nature of the office, and 3) the external environment of the office.  Analyze each of these forces in terms of their relative importance in shaping the contemporary presidency.  What are the relevant indicators that are useful in identifying and measuring the distinguishing characteristics of each basic force?
2. Discuss the relationship between the president and Congress.  What factors affect this relationship and influence both conflict and cooperation between the two branches?  How important is divided party control of the two branches (be sure to discuss research from the last three years)?
3. After 40 years of Democratic majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives, the GOP has controlled the chamber since the 1994 elections.  What have we learned about partisan control of the House in this period of Republican advantage?  In particular, how well has the "Conditional Party Government" model held up in the 1990s?

III.  Political Behavior
1. The classic texts of democratic theory assume that for a democracy to function properly the average citizen should be interested in, pay attention to, discuss, and actively participate in politics. After some five decades of behavioral research, what can we say about this assumption?  Are citizens knowledgeable, does it matter whether citizens are knowledgeable, and what are the implications for democratic theory.  (Start with Converse and Lane and move forward).
2. Do campaigns matter?  Discuss various theoretical views and available empirical evidence on the matter.
3. Review the findings of research on presidential popularity focusing on 1) how presidential popularity is defined, 2) the determinants of presidential popularity, 3) the consequences of presidential popularity, and 4) fitting the Clinton presidency into this research.  Comment on what is left to study in this field.

IV.  Interest Groups/Political Parties
1. While there is much agreement that we have a much larger and more representative interest group system than we did three decades ago, scholars disagree as to whether or not interest groups are more influential as a consequence.  Using the existing literature on interest group impact to inform your view, what is your view concerning whether or not groups are more influential in the contemporary electoral and policy processes than prior to the 1970s.
2. How useful is the theory of political realignment in helping us understand patterns of change in political party/electoral behavior over the past two hundred years?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of the theory? Are there any alternative analytical tools that are more promising than realignment theory?  Why does the theory of political realignment seem unable to help us explain party/electoral behavior since the New Deal.
3. Mancur Olson, Jr., led a generation of political scientists and economists to study interest groups at the individual-level.  More recently, others working within an ecological paradigm (e.g., Virginia Gray and David Lowery) have argued that individual level theories are unnecessary.  What are the strengths and weakness of the individual-level theories? How might the ecological theories enhance our understanding?

V.  Public Law
1. Prominent public law scholars such as Rogers Smith have joined the broader attack on quantification in our discipline.  According to Smith and others, the emphasis on quantification and the antipathy toward qualitative research has had the effect of limiting the relevancy of public law scholarship and relegating the subfield to normal science marginality.  Evaluate the validity of this position.
2. Over the last decade, a number of important public law scholars have attempted to integrate behavioral and institutional approaches to the study of appellate courts and judicial behavior in these courts.  To what extent has this integration led to new insights into judicial decision making and judicial policy making?

VI.  Sub-national
1.  For at least a decade, a political economy paradigm has held sway in the urban politics field of inquiry.  Discuss the major strengths and contributions of this paradigm and the empirical work that has developed within its framework.  Then, discuss the weaknesses or limitations of the paradigm, especially as revealed by "challenger" works in recent years.  What is your overall assessment of the most fruitful future for the political economy paradigm?
2. Discuss the role of "structural" factors vs. "cultural" factors in the urban policy process.  In what ways do economic and political structures affect policy?  In what ways do cultural or normative factors affect policy?  Can we say whether structure is more important than culture (or vice versa)?  What studies are most helpful in answering this question -- and why?
3.  Research on state politics has been growing in the past decade. Make an argument for why this research is important.  Pay specific attention to research on political parties, interest groups, and legislatures in the states.  How should the approach of state politics researchers differ from researchers examining national politics? Explain.