Money, Connections, and Power: Interests and Influence in the US

Course Number: 84-658

This course explores the range of actors who seek to influence policymaking in the US, including individuals, issue groups, unions, businesses, professional associations, and subnational governments. It would begin by considering political outcomes to determine whose interests are represented and whose are not. To explain these differences, the class would scrutinize the major non-electoral avenues of influence in US politics, in particular campaign donations and other forms of electoral spending, lobbying and leveraging political connections, and promoting ideas and supplying expertise to politicians. For each of these topics, students would evaluate who engages in these behaviors, how they do so, and what affects their activity has, using real data to address these questions. The course would culminate in a project requiring students to write an extended memo to the leadership of an advocacy organization of their choice, advising them on the most advantageous political strategy to achieve a desired goal.

Semester(s): Fall
Units: 12
Location(s): Pittsburgh