| Part 1: Introduction and Preliminaries |
| 1 | What is the Role of Government? | |
| Part 2: Institutions and American Politics |
| 2 | Understanding Institutions: The Median Voter Theorem | Assignment #1 due |
| 3 | Agenda Setting: The Committee Model | Assignment #2 due |
| 4 | Making Legislation: Veto Players | Assignment #3 due |
| 5 | Making Legislation: Ideas and Policy Entrepreneurs | Assignment #4 due |
| 6 | The Preferences of Policymakers: Elections and Responsiveness | |
| Part 3: Public Opinion, Elections, and Democracy |
| 7 | Campaigns and Elections | |
| 8 | The Measure and Meaning of Public Opinion | Assignment #5 due |
| 9 | The Structure of Public Opinion | Assignment #6 due |
| 10 | Understanding Public Opinion and American Politics: War and Race | |
| Part 4: Personal Interests and Political Equality |
| 11 | Mobilization of Interests | Assignment #7 due |
| 12 | Participation and the Political System | Assignment #8 due |
| Part 5: American Politics: Bringing it all Together |
| 13 | The Welfare Implications of Government | |
| 14 | Conclusions | |