Political Science 391, Section 01 – Sports, Politics and Law University of Kentucky – Spring 2017 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9‐9:50, Whitehall Classroom Bldg. 201 Professor Justin Wedeking [email protected] Professor’s Website: http://www.uky.edu/~jpwede2/ Office: Patterson Office Tower 1661 Telephone: 859‐257‐7040 I. OFFICE HOURS Tuesday 10‐11, Wednesday 10‐11, and by appointment. These are the official office hours. If these times do not work, I am happy to make appointments at other times. I am also available by email to answer brief questions and inquiries. II. REQUIRED TEXTS AND READINGS There are many readings for this course, all of which will be available free to you through the UK Library. The reading schedule is listed below on the class schedule. You should read the appropriate assigned material before attending the relevant class. III. COURSE INTRODUCTION This course introduces students to the dynamic interaction between sports, politics, and law, primarily (but not exclusively) focusing on the United States. It will do so primarily from a social science perspective. While some people have argued that “sports and politics don’t mix” (e.g., five‐time gold medal speed skater Eric Heiden), many prominent examples exist that demonstrate they are, in fact, inseparably intertwined. In reality, sports are more than just games and this class will highlight how sports occupies an important role in American culture and because of this, serves as a stage where many important political and legal battles are waged. As a part of this, the class also explores how sports themselves are tied to the politics and laws relating to gender, race, and class. This class will explore these dynamics primarily using a topical approach, covering a variety of topics that examine the connections between sports, politics and law. These topics will include: how sports play a role in American life and interact with the government institutions, the political economy of sports, how sports are used in international politics, sports at universities, health and well‐being, as well as examining issues involving the intersection of sports and race, gender, and class. Importantly, you do not have to be a “fan” of any particular sport to see, analyze, and understand the importance of these connections. And, in fact, being a super fan may actually make it harder. In sum, this course is designed to examine sports, which are typically thought of as a leisure or entertainment activity, and to understand how sports are much more and that they can reflect, magnify and impact the concerns and issues found in society. IV. COURSE OBJECTIVES 1.
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By the end of this course, you should be able to: Recognize, understand, and describe the dynamic interaction between sports, politics, and law. Be able to define key issues involving the formation of legal policies related to sports Describe the use of sports by governments for political and legal means. Describe the basic’s government’s involvement in sports labor relations. Analyze and assess how politics shapes the meaning of sports, particularly with regards to race, gender, and class Explain how three branches of government play a role in influencing aspects of sports. 1 V. GRADING AND GRADING POLICIES 25% First Exam 25% Second Exam 20% Research Paper 15% Seminar Participation 15% Sports Observation Letter grades are assigned based on the following scale: A = 90‐100% B = 80‐89% C = 70‐79% D = 60‐69% E = 0‐59%  To receive a passing grade in this class, you must not miss more than 1/5 of the total class contact hours with unexcused absences. If you miss more than 1/5 of the class contact hours and they are unexcused absences, you will be given the option of petitioning for a W (withdrawal) or automatically given an E for the course.  Due to privacy restrictions, I will not reveal or discuss grades by phone or email.  My policy for discussing grades from exams and papers is to wait 24 hours after receiving the grade. Absences The University differentiates between excused and unexcused absences. Absences that are excused enable the student to makeup the work or receive credit for the absence. If the absence is unexcused, then no makeup is allowed. To have an absence excused, the absence must meet the University of Kentucky Academic Ombud’s policy for excused absences (see below for more on this). You should notify the instructor of the absence ahead of time, if possible. If that is not possible, then you must notify the professor of an absence within one week after the absence. If the student does not return for more than a week, then the student must notify the instructor as soon as possible. In addition, a plan must be made to makeup the absence (e.g., complete the missed work, quiz, exam, etc.). Failure to comply with this will result in the absence becoming unexcused. If the absence is unexcused, then no makeup is allowed. The Ombud’s page lists the following as excused absences: (1) serious illness; (2) illness or death of family member; (3) official University‐related trips; (4) major religious holidays; and (5) other circumstances the professor finds to be a “reasonable cause for nonattendance.” To have an absence approved as “excused” you must provide the necessary documentation. The professor has the right to request appropriate verification to authenticate the documentation, and will follow‐up when deemed necessary. For an illness, appropriate verification includes a Tier 2 or Tier 3 document from the University Health Services or a doctor’s note if it is outside the University Health Services. A Tier 1 document is not acceptable. Tier 2 and 3 documents, or independent doctor’s notes if outside the University, allow for the professor to verify the authenticity of the documentation. If necessary, I will seek to confirm the authenticity of the documentation. For a death in the family, a funeral notice is appropriate verification. Official University related trips must have supporting documentation from the sponsoring UK unit. For major religious holiday, this notice must be given two weeks in advance (see the Ombud’s link for major holidays). ‐ University Ombud page regarding religious holidays http://www.uky.edu/Ombud/ForFaculty_ReligiousHolidays.php Seminar Participation, Random Quizzes, and Short Writing Assignments This class will be run primarily as a seminar, with regular discussion of the readings. Lectures will be at a minimum. This means it is extremely important that students come to class having done the assigned readings in advance. This significantly increases the likelihood that you will benefit from the class and that you will not need to cover so much material the night before an exam. You will be expected to express ideas and analyze the readings during 2 class discussion. Most likely, the professor will call on members of the class to discuss assigned reading material. The performance on these occasions will help or hinder your overall grade. Students will be graded according to their willingness to participate and their responses. Random quizzes may also be a part of the class participation component. Short quizzes may be given at the beginning or end of class regarding the substance of the assigned readings or lecture. On limited occasions, the professor may ask you to complete a short writing assignment at the end of class. Some of the readings for this class will be more difficult than other classes you have had. As such, I expect that some of our class discussions will be focused on clarifying confusing things in the readings. Thus, if you have questions about the readings or lectures, please email me questions or write your question(s) down on a piece of paper to give to me. This is a feedback mechanism that allows students to participate in another manner, and it has proven useful for the professor and students (especially those who are hesitant to speak up in class). The questions may be on specific aspects of the lectures, readings or on general themes found in multiple readings. If relevant for the whole class, these questions will be discussed at either the beginning or end of class. These questions do not completely replace general class participation. You are still expected to participate verbally in class discussions. Exams The exam schedule is listed below on the syllabus and there are 2 scheduled exams. Exams may consist of a mixture of multiple choice questions, short answer, and essay questions. The exact format and material to be covered on each exam will be announced in class prior to the exam, with the material to be covered coming from assigned readings and classes. You are expected to take the exams on the dates listed. Make‐up exams will be permitted only with an excused absence. The professor reserves the right to alter any make‐up exam. It is the primary responsibility of the student to make the necessary arrangements to take make‐
up exams and the arrangements must be worked out with the professor. Sports Observation Experience During the course of this semester you must attend two sporting events as a fan and write a 4 page reflection paper (two pages per event) using some themes and terms from class. The sporting event must be a non‐revenue generating sport at the University of Kentucky. For the purposes of this class, a non‐revenue generating sport is defined as any UK varsity sport except Football and Men’s Basketball. A hard copy of the paper is due in class on the date listed below on the schedule. Late papers will be penalized a letter grade each day it is late. The paper should describe the experience of attending the events, how it is similar and different from other sporting events one has attending in the past. One should also document the attendance based on observation and any official reports, and what it costs for regular fans to attend the game. In addition, one should describe the games or contests to sufficient degree that an independent reader would be persuaded that you attended. In addition to being graded on the content of your paper (i.e., if you incorporated themes from class correctly, etc.), you will also be graded on grammar and punctuation. There is no need for a title page or a long header. Please use 12 point font, Times New Roman, with one inch margins and double space the main text. Make sure to add page numbers at the bottom or top of the page. Class Paper You will write a 7‐8 page paper on a sports, politics and/or law topic that has generated some amount of controversy in the past that could fit under one of the topics listed on the syllabus (note, the topic doesn’t have to appear on the syllabus, but if it does not you should get the topic approved by the instructor to ensure that it is appropriate). The paper will have four sections. The first section of the paper should identify and explain the controversy as it relates to the class material, as well as provide the current status of the controversy. Second, the paper will review the scholarly research on the topic as well as any popular based arguments made about it. The third section will present some basic data collected by the student that demonstrates the basic nature of controversy. For example, one possible example of this might be to show graphically the relatively number of male and female athletes at two different schools. The fourth section is to propose a research question based on your review of the past research and your initial data collection that you think should be investigated in the future. As a 3 part of this, explain why answering that question would be important for the controversy (e.g., will it bring a resolution or will it test key arguments being made by one or both sides in a debate). In addition to being graded on the content of your paper (i.e., if you incorporated themes from class correctly, etc.), you will also be graded on grammar and punctuation. There is no need for a title page or a long header. Please use 12 point font, Times New Roman, with one inch margins and double space the main text. Make sure to add page numbers at the bottom or top of the page. VI. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT & DISHONESTY Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Individuals suspected of academic misconduct will handled according to established rules of the University of Kentucky and the College of Arts & Sciences. Misconduct includes, but is not limited to, cheating on assignments or examinations, plagiarizing (misrepresenting one’s own work done by another), submitting identical papers for more than one course (unless professor approved), depriving another of course materials, and sabotaging another’s work. Any instance of academic misconduct will result in a 0 for the student on that class segment. Pursuant to the procedures for handling academic misconduct, I will report the academic misconduct to the Political Science Department Chair. A second instance of academic misconduct will result in an automatic E for the final grade. VII. GENERAL EXPECTATIONS I expect all students to behave professionally in this class. You will be held responsible for all material covered in the readings and the class discussions. If you miss a class, you are still responsible for the content of that day’s information. I will not tolerate disruptive behavior, including (but not limited to) reading newspapers, talking during lectures, texting, using cell phones, and insulting classmates or the professor. Additionally, I expect all students to attend class prepared and to show up on time. It is extremely disruptive and damaging to our learning environment to be interrupted by individuals who show up late or are not prepared. VIII. OTHER CLASS RULES and POLICIES  CHANGES TO THIS SYLLABUS CAN AND WILL PROBABLY BE MADE IN CLASS  Cellular telephones, pagers, tape recorders, or other electronic devices may not be used without permission from the professor.  Computer use: Computer use will be allowed. If it becomes a problem or a distraction for any student, then the professor reserves the right to discontinue that use. With that said, computer use is strongly discouraged by the professor for a number of reasons. Namely, research supports the conclusion that knowledge retention is significantly improved with notetaking by hand (versus computers), and that multitasking on the computer actually decreases productivity. Computers can also be distracting for other individuals.  Do not “text” in class. “Texting” is sending electronic messages or reading electronic messages on an electronic device, typically on a phone, computer, or tablet. Texting is disruptive to students around you (as well as the professor ). If you have to deliver a message that cannot wait, please leave the classroom. If I observe you “texting” in class (and as an “FYI” professors generally see even the best attempts at hiding texting), I will ask you to put away your phone. If it happens more than once, I will ask you to leave class and you cannot return to class until you agree to put away your phone during all remaining class periods.  All other University of Kentucky and College of Arts & Sciences policies also apply in this course.  Students with special accommodation needs are advised to contact the professor immediately. Every reasonable effort to accommodate special needs will be made. To ensure accommodations are made, the student must provide the professor with a Letter of Accommodation from the UK Disability Resource Center (DRC). Students that need to register with the DRC to receive accommodations should visit the DRC in Suite 407 of the Multidisciplinary Science Building, 725 Rose Street, or contact them by phone (859) 257‐2754. For more information, visit their website: http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/DisabilityResourceCenter/index.html IX. COURSE OUTLINE The Course outline is listed below. You should complete the readings for each date ahead of that class period. If you have any question about assigned readings, do not hesitate to ask. 4 Other dates from the Academic Calendar to keep in mind (for full list see the Registrar’s site): 
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February 1 – Wednesday ‐ Last day to drop a course without it appearing on the student’s transcript February 27‐March 10 – Monday through Friday ‐ Midterm Grading window is open. The mid‐term grading window will close at midnight on March 10. March 6 – Monday ‐ Midterm of 2017 Spring Semester March 31 – Friday ‐ Last day to withdraw from the University or reduce course load. Students cam withdraw or reduce course load after this date only for “urgent non‐academic reasons.” Date
Jan. 11 –
Wednesday
Jan. 13 – Friday
Topic
First Day of Class
Readings
Class Syllabus
Introduction and
Review of Politics and
Law
Katie Zezima. “How Teddy Roosevelt helped save football”
Washington Post, May 29, 2014.
Video “The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football- Q&A
with John J. Miller”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI7toQhyCxQ
Video “Dave Zirin: Debunking the Myth that Sports and Politics
Don't Overlap”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpd_4luxc0o
Jan. 16 –
Monday
Jan. 18 –
Wednesday
Jan. 20 – Friday
MLK Day – no class
Introduction
Political EconomyGovernment Regulation
Jan. 23 –
Monday
Political EconomyGovernment Regulation
Jan. 25 –
Wednesday
Political Economy –
Public financing
Stadiums
Jan. 27 – Friday
Political Economyimpact of sports
facilities
Andrew Strenk. 1979. “What Price Victory? The World of
International Sports and Politics.” The Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 445: 128-140.
In Class Video- The Collision of Sports and Politics
Roger Abrams. 2003. “The Public Regulation of Baseball Labor
Relations and the Public Interest.” Journal of Sports Economics 4:
292-301.
David Davenport. 1969. “Collusive Competition in Major League
Baseball: Its Theory and Institutional Developments.” American
Economist 13: 6-30.
Philip Martin. 1972. “The Labor Controversy in Professional
Baseball: The Flood Case.” Labor Law Journal 567-571.
Flood v. Kuhn 407 U.S. 258 (1972)
David Swindell and Mark Rosentraub. 1998. “Who Benefits form the
Presence of Professional Sports Teams? The Implications for Public
Funding of Stadiums and Arenas.” Public Administration Review
58(1): 11-20.
Dennis Coates. 2007. “Stadiums and Arenas: Economic Development
or Economic Redistribution?” Contemporary Economic Policy 25(4):
565-577.
Greg Andranovich, Matthew Burbank, and Charles Heying. 2001.
“Olympic Cities: Lessons Learned from Mega-Event Politics.”
Journal of Urban Affairs 23(2): 113-131.
5 Political Economy- Big
Money in College
Sports
Arthur Padilla and Janice Boucher. 1987. “On the Economics of
Intercollegiate Athletic Programs.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues
18(May): 123-143.
Feb. 1 –
Wednesday
Political Economy –
Market and Equity in
Professional Athletes
Robert Brown. 2012. “Do NFL Player Earnings Compensate for
Monopsony Exploitation in College?” Journal of Sports Economics
13: 393-405.
Jerry Hausman and Gregory Leonard. 1997. “Superstars in the
National Basketball Association: Economic Value and Policy.”
Journal of Labor Economics 15(4): 586-624.
Feb. 3 – Friday
International Relations
Jan. 30 –
Monday
Richard Espy. 1981. The Politics of the Olympic Games: with an
Epilogue, 1976-1980. “Preface” and Chapter 1 “The Role and
Importance of Sport in International Relations.”
Jonathan Grix. 2013. “Sport Politics and the Olympics.” Political
Studies Review 11: 15-25
Thomas Carter and John Sugden. 2012. “The USA and Sporting
Diplomacy: Comparing and Contrasting the Cases of Table Tennis
with China and Baseball with Cuba in the 1970s.” International
Relations 26(1): 101-121.
Feb. 6 –
Monday
International Relations
Feb. 8 –
Wednesday
International Relations
Jarol Manheim. 1990. “Rites of Passage: The 1988 Seoul Olympics as
Public Diplomacy.” Western Political Quarterly (now: Political
Research Quarterly) 43(2): 279-295.
Feb. 10 – Friday
Gender
Patricia Huckle. 1978. “Back to the Starting Line: Title IX and
Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics.” American Behavioral Scientist
21: 379-392.
Feb. 13 –
Monday
Gender
Feb. 15 –
Wednesday
Gender
Feb. 17 – Friday
Gender
Read over “Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972”
https://www.justice.gov/crt/title-ix-education-amendments-1972
Gavora, Jessica. 2007. “Tilting the Playing Field: Schools, Sports, Sex
and Title IX." in Equal Play: Title IX and Social Change, Nancy
Hogshead-Makar and Andrew Zimbalist, eds. Philadelphia: Temple
University Press.
Hogshead-Makar, Nancy. 2007. “A Critique of Tilting the Playing
Field: Schools, Sports, Sex and Title IX " in Equal Play: Title IX and
Social Change, Nancy Hogshead-Makar and Andrew Zimbalist, eds.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Elaine Blinde, Diane Taub, and Lingling Han. 1993. “Sport
Participation and Women’s Personal Empowerment: Experiences of
the College Athlete.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues: April: 47-60.
Mary Hums and William Sutton. 1999. “Women Working in the
Management of Professional Baseball: Getting to First Base?”
Journal of Career Development 26: 147-158.
Brad Humphreys 2000. “Equal Pay on the Hardwood: The Earnings
Gap Between Male and Female NCAA Division 1 Basketball
Coaches.” Journal of Sports Economics 1(3): 299-307.
6 Feb. 20 –
Monday
Feb. 22 –
Wednesday
Race
Race
Feb. 24 – Friday
Race
Feb. 27 –
Monday
March 1 –
Wednesday
March 3 –
Friday
March 6 –
Monday
Race
Review
Neil J. Sullivan. 1998. “Baseball and Race: The Limits of
Competition.” The Journal of Negro History 83: 168-177.
Michael Beschloss, “When Jim Crow Got Cut from Spring Training.”
New York Times, February 14, 2015.
Robert Jiobu. 1988. “Racial Inequality in a Public Arena: The Case of
Professional Baseball.” Social Forces 67: 524-534.
Earl Smith and Monica Steff. 1989. “Race, Position Segregation and
Salary Equity in Professional Baseball” Journal of Sport and Social
Issues 13: 92-110.
Brian Goff and Robert Tollison. 2009. “Racial Integration of
Coaching: Evidence from the NFL” Journal of Sports Economics
10(2): 127-140.
Devin Pope, Joseph Price, and Justin Wolfers. 2014. “Awareness
Reduces Racial Bias.” Unpublished Manuscript.
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Exam 1
Drugs
J. Savulescu, B. Foddy, and M. Clayton. 2004. “Why we should allow
performance enhancing drugs in sport.” British Journal of Sports
Medicine 38: 666-670.
David Woods “Lilly King puts a little Cold War into heated Olympic
rivalry” IndyStar, Aug. 7, 2016.
Shaun Walker “Yulia Efimova hits back at critics: ‘I thought cold war
was long in the past’” The Guardian, August 9, 2016.
March 8 –
Wednesday
Drugs
March 10 –
Friday
Drugs
March 13 –
Monday
March 15 –
Wednesday
March 17 –
Friday
March 20 –
Monday
March 22 –
Wednesday
Rebecca Ruiz “Report Shows Vast Reach of Russian Doping: 1,000
Athletes, 30 Sports.” New York Times, December 9, 2016.
Vittorio Addona and Jeremy Roth. 2010. “Quantifying the Effect of
Performance-Enhancing Drug Use on Fastball Velocity in Major
League Baseball.” Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports 6(2):
Article 6.
Tom Coupe and Oliver Gergaud. 2013. “Suspicious Blood and
Performance in Professional Cycling.” Journal of Sports Economics
14(October) 546-559.
No Class- UK Spring Break
Sports in Universities
The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (chapters to be
announced) http://www.knightcommission.org/collegesports101/
Sports in Universities
Taylor Branch. 2011. “The Shame of College Sports.” The Atlantic.
October.
Devin Pope and Jaren Pope. 2009. “The Impact of College Sports
Success on the Quantity and Quality of Student Applications.”
Southern Economic Journal 75(3): 750-780.
7 March 24 –
Friday
March 27 –
Monday
No class – Professor has Michigan State Law symposium
Sports in Universities
Jay Smith and Mary Willingham. 2015. Cheated: The UNC Scandal,
The Education of Athletes, and the Future of Big-Time College Sports.
University of Nebraska Press. Read the excerpt on publisher’s
website “Introduction and part of chapter one”
http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Cheated,676417.aspx
Kentucky Herald Leader Article “College sports come at a cost to
Kentucky taxpayers”
March 29 –
Wednesday
Gambling
CNN Money articlehttp://money.cnn.com/2010/03/18/news/companies/basketball_profits/
Thomas Ostertag. 1992. “From Shoeless Joe Jackson to Charley
Hustle: Major League Baseball’s Continuing Crusade against Sports
Gambling.” Seton Hall Journal of Sport Law 2: 19-49.
David Purdum “I’m not pro sports gambling. I’m just a realist” ESPN.
http://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/12262502/gambling-issueadam-silver-wants-sports-gambling-legalized-other-leagues-join-him
March 31 –
Friday
April 3 –
Monday
April 5 –
Wednesday
April 7 – Friday
April 10 –
Monday
Violence and Crime
Benjamin Morris. 2014. “The Rate of Domestic Violence Arrests
Among NFL Players.” Fivethirtyeight.com. July 31, 2014.
Violence and Crime
David Kalist and Daniel Yee. 2016. “The National Football League:
Does Crime Increase on Game Day?” Journal of Sports Economics
17(8): 863-882.
Violence and Crime
Jeff Yates and William Gillespie. 2002. “The Problem of Sports
Violence and the Criminal Prosecution Solution.” Cornell Journal of
Law and Public Policy 12: 145-168.
NO Class- Professor has Midwest Political Science Association Meeting
Watch Frontline Documentary on concussions “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion
Crisis”
Health and Well-Being
K. Lamb, K. Roberts, and D. Brodie. “Self-Perceived Health Among
Sports Participants and Non-Sports Participants.” Social Science
Medicine 31(9): 963-969.
April 12 –
Wednesday
April 14 –
Friday
Health and Well-Beinglearning
Of Kentucky Interest –
April 17 –
Monday
Of Kentucky Interest –
Contracts
Ira Casson, David Viano, John Powell, and Elliot Pellman. 2010.
“Twelve years of national Football League Concussion Data.” Sports
Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach 2(November): 471-483.
Impact on education- readings to be announced
Dave Kindred “A Dream Deferred, Now Restored” Los Angeles
Times, December 21, 2000.
Select other readings to be announced
Memorandum of Understanding- Billy Gillespie
Selected news stories- to be announced
8 April 19 –
Wednesday
Athletes, Activism and
Politics
Peter Kaufman and Eli Wolff. 2010. “Playing and Protesting: Sport as
a Vehicle for Social Change.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues
34(2): 154-175.
Mark Sandritter “A Timeline of Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem
protest and the athletes who joined him.” SBNation
http://www.sbnation.com/2016/9/11/12869726/colin-kaepernicknational-anthem-protest-seahawks-brandon-marshall-nfl
April 21 –
Friday
April 24 –
Monday
April 26 –
Wednesday
April 28 Friday
May 4 –
Thursday
10:30am
Discussion of Sports
Observation Experience
Film- 42
Dave McMenamin “LeBron James supports Colin Kaepernick’s right
to protest but will stand during anthem.” ESPN.com Sept. 27, 2016.
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Sports Observation Paper Due
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Film - 42
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Film and Review
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Final Exam
9