American Democratic Capitalism
Explore the intersection of theory and practice in our national politics, and particularly in our key economic debates.
This course is an introduction to public policy in the United States. The first part will introduce students to the political institutions and processes through which public policy is made and implemented in the U.S. The second part of the course applies these concepts to specific policy areas such as national drug policy, human stem cell research, and the economy and debt, as illustrated by real-world case studies and led by expert practitioners.
Photos from Unsplash | “US Capitol Columns” by ctj71081 | Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Bill Kristol & Chris DeMuth on ideas & public policy
Faculty
William Kristol
William Kristol is editor at large of the Weekly Standard , which, together with Fred Barnes and John Podhoretz, he founded in 1995. Mr. Kristol has served as chief of staff to the Vice President of the United States and to the Secretary of Education.
William Kristol
William Kristol is editor-at-large of The Bulwark. He was a founder of The Weekly Standard, and is a regular guest on leading political commentary shows.
Before starting The Weekly Standard in 1995, Mr. Kristol led the Project for the Republican Future, where he helped shape the strategy that produced the 1994 Republican congressional victory. Prior to that, Mr. Kristol served as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle during the first Bush Administration, and to Education Secretary William Bennett under President Reagan. Before coming to Washington in 1985, Mr. Kristol was on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (1983–1985) and the Department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania (1979–1983). Mr. Kristol has published widely in areas ranging from foreign policy to constitutional law to political philosophy.
He is co-author, with Lawrence Kaplan, of the best-selling book The War Over Iraq (2003) and the co-editor of The Neoconservative Imagination (with Christopher DeMuth, 1995), Present Dangers (with Robert Kagan, 2000), and The Future is Now: American Confronts the New Genetics (with Eric Cohen, 2002).
He hosts Conversations with Bill Kristol, which features in-depth conversations with leading figures in American public life.
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Introduction
Conservatism & Progressivism: Domestic Policy Under the Obama Administration
Reading:
- Jeff Bergner, “Can Republicans Govern? Not Unless They Change the Narrative,” The Weekly Standard, February 8, 2010
- Harvey Mansfield, “What Obama Isn’t Saying: The Apolitical Politics of Progressivism,” The Weekly Standard, February 8, 2010
- Jeff Bergner, “Europe is No Model: The Genius of American Politics,” The Weekly Standard, May 17, 2010
Case Study 1: Making Drug Control Policy
Case Study 2: Making Federal Policy on Human Stem Cell Research
Reading:
- Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
- National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act
- Dickey-Wicker Amendment
- Memorandum from Harriet S. Rabb to Harold Varmus, M.D., Director, NIH, January 15, 1999
- NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, Federal Register, Vol. 65, No. 166
- Presidential Statement, August 9, 2001
- Presidential Fact Sheet on Embryonic Stem Cell Research
- Statement of Administrative Policy – H.R. 810
- President Bush Stem Cell Bill Veto Message, 2006
- President Bush Stem Cell Bill Veto Message, 2007
- Executive Order 13435
- Jay Lefkowitz, “Stem Cells and the President: An Inside Account,” Commentary, January 2008
- Executive Order 13505
- NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research, Federal Register, Vol. 74, No. 128
