A Qualitative Assessment of the Learning Outcomes of Teaching Introductory American Politics in Comparative Perspective

This article discusses the findings of an ethnographic content analysis of students\u27 written reflections as a means for assessing the learning outcomes of teaching introductory American politics in comparative perspective. It focuses especially on determining whether and how this approach enhanced students\u27 understanding and retention of knowledge about U.S. government and politics by presenting them with cognitive conflict tasks that entail their appreciation of alternative approaches to situation assessment and problem resolution. In addition, it evaluates the extent to which learning about American politics in comparative perspective prompted political engagement and identifies some additional learning outcomes that have not been anticipated in previous scholarship

Ideology Construction, Grassroots Mobilization, and Party Strategy in South Africa and the United States, 1934–1948

According to recent scholarship, parties in a variety of electoral systems can significantly increase their share of the vote with “flanking moves” designed to siphon off opponents’ supporters with appeals to neglected policy concerns. These models do not specify the conditions that enable parties to carry out such maneuvers, however. We maintain that to take advantage of flanking opportunities, parties must undertake two tasks—ideology construction and grassroots mobilization— prior to the emergence of those opportunities. We illustrate our argument with a comparative-historical analysis of the National Party in South Africa and theRepublican Party in the United States. Facing similar strategic contexts after the Great Depression, the two parties responded very differently to opportunities to attract voters through conservative racial appeals during the 1940s