POLI 335: Political Environment of Business
Fall 2014
TTR 10:50-12:05
KCK 101 (Keck Hall)
Professor Paul Brace
Office: Herzstein 101
Office Hours: TBA
Phone: Office (713 348 2250), Cell (832 628 5285)
Email: [email protected]
Introduction
It is conventional in contemporary times to view government and business as adversaries with either business or government viewed as
villains threatening societal economic wellbeing. This is a horribly simplistic view that overlooks the symbiotic interdependencies of
these broad sectors of American life. Our approach in this course is to move away from a “Tom and Jerry’ view of business-government
relations to consider how each shaped the other over the course of American history.
The central concerns of the course will involve:
•
•
•
•
•
Inevitably, economic conditions reflect geography: endowments of productive resources and access to markets.
What is made of productive endowments hinges on the availability and engagement of capital and labor.
The supply of capital and labor derive from both private and public decisions conditioned by the character of public institutions
and policies or law that influence private economic rights, rewards and responsibilities. These include public infrastructure,
taxation and spending, and courts that define and uphold contracts and property rights, among others.
Technical, organizational or policy innovations alter existing economic relations, creating new winners and losers within the
economy.
There have been periodic economic shocks that have placed the existing economic order in question and occasionally resulted in
reform measures that influenced government, the economy, or both.
We will explore how American government institutions and politics reflected as well as influenced each of these elements to varying
degrees over the course of American history, and their role in contemporary political-economic processes and debates.
Assignments and Grading
Grading in this course will based on the following:
1. Class Participation
15%
a. Students are expected to come to class with at least basic familiarity with assigned readings for that day and to
contribute to class discussions.
2. Take-home Midterm
25%
a. There will be a take-home, open book, open note exam.
b. This will consist of (probably) two questions you answer out of four that I will supply.
c. There will be a two-page limit (typed) on each answer.
d. Your grade on this exam will be determined by your ability to integrate lectures and required reading to form concise
and thorough answers.
3. Brief Research Paper
35%
a. Using a topic you choose related to course topics, you will write a brief research paper (10 page maximum) evaluating
the interplay of geography, capital, labor, institutions, policy and innovation on the evolution of a firm in American
4. Essay
25%
a. You will write a brief essay (4 page maximum) relating your research to the materials covered in lecture and required
readings.
Readings
Books
All books are available for immediate purchase. Students may purchase electronic (Kindle) versions or hard copy. You should purchase
the books immediately.
Geisst, Charles R. (2012). Wall Street: A History, New York: Oxford University Press. (544 pages, Kindle Version $10.44)
Crowley, Steven P. (2008) Regulation and Public Interests: The Possibility of Good Regulatory Government. Princeton:
Princeton University Press. (392 pages, Kindle Version $13.43)
Holton, Woody. 2007. Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution. New York: Hill and Wang. (384 pages, Kindle
Version $8.69)
McCaw, Thomas K.1984. Prophets of Regulation. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA. (416 pages, Kindle Version
$29.60)
Novak, William J. 1996. The People's Welfare: Law and Regulation in Nineteenth Century America. Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press. (408 pages, Kindle Version $18.33)
Roberts, Alasdair. 2012. America's First Great Depression: Economic Crisis and Political Disorder After the Panic of 1837.
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. (264 pages, Kindle Version $9.99)
Wright, Gavin. 2006. Slavery and American Economic Development. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. (176
pages, Kindle Version $9.99)
Articles
These articles may be obtained through JSTOR.
The Political Environment of Business
Professor Paul Brace
Maier, P. (1993). The Revolutionary Origins of the American Corporation. The William and Mary Quarterly, 50(1), 51–84.
North, D. C., & Weingast, B. R. (2009). “Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice
in Seventeenth-Century England”. The Journal of Economic History, 49(04), 803.
Tomlins, C. (2001). “The Legal Cartography of Colonization and the Legal Polyphony of Settlement  : English Intrusions on the
American Mainland in the Seventeenth Century.” Law and Social Inquiry, Vol. 26, No. 2.: 315-72.
Williamson, O. (1981). “The Modern Corporation: Origins, Evolution.” The Journal of Economic Literature, 19(4), 1537–1568.
Notable Supreme Court Cases We Will Discuss
You may retrieve these cases using Westlaw or Lexis-Nexis, or various web depositories.
A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935)
Adkins v. Children's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525 (1923)
Barron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 243 (1833)
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857)
Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. 87 (1810)
Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819)
Munn v. Illinois, 94 U.S. 113 (1877)
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, 118 U.S. 394 (1886)
Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873)
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911)
Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 17 U.S. 518 (1819)
United States v. E. C. Knight Co., 156 U.S. 1 (1895)
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company v. Illinois, 118 U.S. 557 (1886)
West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937)
Useful Links
America on the Move: Transportation in American History
http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/exhibition/
Panics, Depressions and Economic Crises Prior to 1930
http://thehistorybox.com/ny_city/panics/panics_article1a.htm
Glossary of Financial Terms
http://www.hewittfs.com/invest_glosry_AAc.htm
Important Policies
1.
Late Work
a. Late work will not be accepted without certified justification (e.g., Doctors note, death in the family, etc.). Students
involved in sports or other school-related endeavors need to make every effort to prepare in advance for these activities.
2.
Electronics
a. Computers, tablets, etc. may be used for note taking or searches germane to seminar discussions. General web surfing
and texting during class are not permitted.
Academic Honesty
3.
4.
a. Students will be expected to adhere to standards of academic honesty and integrity, as outlined in the Rice Honor Code.
ADA Statement
a. Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to speak with
me during the first two weeks of class. All discussions will remain confidential. Students with disabilities will need to
also contact Disability Support Services in the Ley Student Center.
2
The Political Environment of Business
Professor Paul Brace
Schedule
Sept
Oct
26
28
2
2
4
3
9
11
Introduction: The Origins of
American Political Economy
The American Colonial
Experience
The Revolution and its Aftermath
North and Weingast, all.
Tomlins, all.
Holton, all.
4
16
18
Police Power and the Extensive
Reach of Local Government
5
23
25
Public and Private Innovation in
the Antebellum Era
Novak, all.
Geist, Ch. 1.
Wright, Intro-2.
Maier, all.
6
30
2
The First Economic Bust, the
Crisis in Political Legitimacy and
the Decline in Political Authority
Roberts, all.
9
The Political-Economic
Foundations and Consequences
of Disunion and the Civil War
7
Wright, 3-Epilogue.
Geist, Ch. 2.
8
14
16
9
21
23
The Transformed American
Political Economy: Trusts and
the Rise of Managerial Capitalism
Geisst, Ch. 3.
Williamson, all.
10
28
30
The Supreme Court and
Regulation in the Gilded Age
Klein, 6-8.
11
4
6
Progressives, Populists and the
Rise of Federal Government
Regulation
McCaw, Ch. 1-4.
11
13
Roaring Through the 20s,
Crashing in the 30s
20
The Erosion of Interventionist
Consensus and the Rise of
Deregulation
McCaw, Ch. 5-6.
Geisst, Ch. 6-8.
13
Dec
18
Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. 87 (1810)
McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819)
Trustees of Dartmouth College v.
Woodward, 17 U.S. 518 (1819)
Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
Barron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 243
(1833)
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857)
Midterm Exam 10/16
MT RECESS: NO CLASS (10/14)
Geisst, 4-5.
12
SC Cases
Reqd
Reading
1
7
Nov
Topic
Day
Aug
Week
Month
14
25
27
THANKSGIVING BREAK
15
2
4
Modern Dysfunctions through the
Lens of Historical American
Political Economy
Geisst, Ch. 9-11.
Crowley, Ch. 1-8.
McCaw, Ch. 7-8.
Geisst, Ch. 12-14.
Crowley, 9-Conc.
3
The Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36
(1873)
Munn v. Illinois, 94 U.S. 113 (1877)
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific
Railroad Company, 118 U.S. 394 (1886)
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway
Company v. Illinois, 118 U.S. 557 (1886)
Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
ALA Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United
States, 295 U.S. 495
United States v. E. C. Knight Co., 156 U.S.
1 (1895)
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United
States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911)
A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United
States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935)
Adkins v. Children's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525
(1923)
West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S.
379 (1937)