AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
PLSC 201H: Fall 2007
Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, 10:00 a.m.
Instructor: Dr. Karen M. Kedrowski
Office: 328 Bancroft Hall
Office Hours: MWF at 11:00 a.m. - noon and by appointment
Office Phone: (803) 323-4662
E-mail: kedrowskik@winthrop.edu
Web Page: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kedrowskik/
COURSE OBJECTIVE AND GOALS:
The objective of this course is to instill in students an understanding of how the American government and political system works and an understanding of the historical and philosophical bases of both, with the goal of making students informed, active citizens.
This course fulfills a Social Science requirement in the General Education program, and addresses the following General Education goals: 1.1, 3.3, 4.2, 4.3, 7.1, 7.2 and 7.4. This course also fulfils the state’s and University’s requirement for a course on the U.S. Constitution by covering the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the “essentials” of the Federalist Papers.
PREREQUISITES: Eligibility for honors program.
REQUIRED READING:
Ø Texts. The following textbook is required. It is available through the Bookworm, Booksthatmatter.com, Amazon.com and through the publishers’ Web sites.
Stinebrickner, Bruce, editor. 2008. Annual Editions: American Government, 07/08. Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill Learning.
Welch, Susan, John Gruhl, John Comer and Susan Rigdon. 2008. Understanding American Government. Eleventh Alternate Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Ø Daily Newspaper or other daily source of current events. American government and politics is best understood by watching it “in action.” Students are expected to keep track of current events in order to fully participate in class discussions. Students may keep track of current events by reading the Herald, which is available for free in all the dormitories, listening to National Public Radio, watching CNN (available on the Winthrop cable system) or the evening news; or accessing any on-line news source.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: All grades will be assigned on a scale of "A" to "F."
Ø Reading: Students are expected to complete the assigned reading before the class period in which the material is assigned. The course schedule (below) provides a general schedule of readings and topics. Specific reading assignments will be given in class.
Ø Guided Discussions: Each student will be responsible for leading a discussion of the assigned reading from the Annual Editions text. The student will be evaluated on the ways s/he engages classmates in the discussion, plans activities, and the like. Students may choose to lead discussions on more than one occasion, and count the highest score in her/his grade.
Ø Exams: Four exams will be administered during the course – three mid-term examinations and one comprehensive final examination. Exams will be a combination of ID, short answer and essay questions.
Ø Experiencing Politics and Government (EPG) Response Papers: Students are required to write two short response papers (1-3 pages) detailing their experiences with and reactions to any approved opportunity to experience politics or government first-hand. These papers should relate to concepts covered in class whenever possible. Multiple opportunities will be provided throughout the semester. EPG papers and extra credit (see below) will be graded on two criteria: level of critical thinking involved, and grammatical and technical correctness. (See Appendix for more details).
Ø Class Participation. This course will be structured as a seminar, with discussion of the context of the texts, current events, and individuals’ political experiences. Class participation is a graded component of the course.
GRADES: Your course grade will be calculated according to the following criteria:
MIDTERM EXAMS: 45% (15% each)
FINAL EXAM: 20%
GUIDED DISCUSSION: 10%
CLASS PARTICIPATION: 10%
EPG PAPERS: 15% (7.5% each)
TOTAL 100%
Make-up Exams: Make-up exams will be offered only to students to who have a valid excuse that can be documented. Students are strongly encouraged to take the exam on the scheduled date.
Late EPG Papers: EPG Response Papers are due at the start of class (10:00 a.m.) on the dates they are due, or earlier. (I love early papers). Students must submit an electronic copy to the plagiarism detection service, turnitin.com before the start of class, AND submit a paper copy to the professor at the start of class on the due date, or before.
Papers submitted late will be docked one full letter grade for each calendar day late. Papers submitted on the due date but after the start of class will be penalized one-half letter grade. Papers slid under my door will be counted as “turned in” when I find them.
Plagiarism and other forms of Academic Misconduct: Students who commit plagiarism or any other type of academic misconduct will be penalized according to the instructor’s discretion. All incidents of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be reported to University authorities, who may wish to impose their own sanctions.
Turnitin.com: All EPG papers, including those submitted for extra credit, must be submitted electronically to the plagiarism detection service, turnitin.com before the start of class on the due date. Late submissions will be penalized. Failure to submit a paper to turnitin.com will result in a grade of zero on the assignment or zero points of extra credit.
Missed Assignments: Students who fail to take any one of the exams, or do not complete both EPG response papers will fail the course, even if they are passing the course based on their scores on the remaining assignments.
Winthrop E-mail Account: All students enrolled in this class must sign up for a Winthrop University E-mail account, and check it regularly (or have all mail forwarded to another account that is checked regularly). I make copious use of the class listserv constructed by Academic Computing. Students are responsible for all information disseminated via E-mail and in class.
Attendance: I do not require attendance, other than on exam dates, or when one is leading the class discussion.
Dropping the course: The final date to drop the course for any reason is Friday, October, 19, 2007. Please consult the current Winthrop University catalog for details about this policy.
Cell Phones and Electronic Devices: Please turn off and put away all cell phones, IPODs, PDAs, and other personal electronic devices before the start of class. Students, however, may tape record lectures and class discussions, and may take notes on laptops. Use of a laptop, unless it is an accommodation required for a disability, is a privilege that I will revoke if I discover that students are engaged in activities, such as answering Email, that are irrelevant to the course or disruptive to other students.
Students with Disabilities: Winthrop University is dedicated to providing access to education to all students. If you have a disability and need accommodations, please contact Gena Smith, Coordinator, Services for Students with Disabilities, at 323-3290, as soon as possible. Once you have your Professor Notification Form, please tell me so that I am aware of your accommodations well in advance of the first exam.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1 Introduction, Administrative Details
(August 22, 24) Philosophy of the Founders
Reading: Welch, Chapter 1;
Reiff, “America the Untethered” (#5 in Annual Editions; hereafter AE)
Week 2 Philosophy of the Founders (Con’t.)
(August 27, 29, 31) Reading: Jefferson, Declaration of Independence (Welch, Appendix A)
Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address” (Welch, Appendix E)
Week 3 The Constitution
(September 3, 5, 7) Reading: Welch, Chapter 2
Madison, “The Constitution” (Welch, Appendix B)
Levinson, “It Is Time to Repair the Constitution’s Flaws” (AE #9)
Week 4 The Constitution; Separation of Powers
(September10, 12, 14) Federalism
Reading: Madison, “Federalist 51” (Welch, Appendix D)
Welch, Chapters 2, 3
Friel, “The Signing Statement Games.” (AE #13)
Week 5 Federalism
(September17, 19, 21) Catch up and Review
Midterm Examination 1: Friday, September 21, 2007
Reading: Welch, Chapter 3
Wittes, “Marital Differences.” (AE #11)
Week 6 Public Opinion and Political Socialization
(September 24, 26, 28) News Media
Reading: Welch, Chapters 4 and 5
Hacker and Teizeira, “It Wasn’t Just Iraq.” (AE #29)
Eastland, “Starting Over” (AE #43)
EPG Paper 1 due: Friday, September 28, 2007
Week 7 News Media (con’t.)
(October 1, 3, 5) Interest Groups
Reading: Welch, Chapters 5 and 6
Blitz, “The Media We Deserve” (AE #44)
Madison, Federalist 10 (Appendix C)
Cannon, “Movin’ On” (AE #40)
Week 8 Political Action Committees
(October 8, 10, 12) Midterm Examination 2: Friday, October 12, 2007
Reading: Welch, Chapter 9
Birnbaum, “The End of Legal Bribery.” (AE #40)
Dunhan, et. al., “Shakedown on K Street.” (AE #42)
Week 9 No class Monday, October 15, Fall Break
(October 15, 17, 19) Political Parties
Reading: Welch, Chapter 7
Cook, “Rebalancing Act.” (AE #34)
Third party presentations (to be assigned)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2007: LAST DAY TO DROP THE COURSE AND RECEIVE A GRADE OF “N.”
Week 10 Campaigns and Elections
(October 22, 24, 26) Congress
Reading: Welch, Chapters 8 and 10
Pastor, “America Observed.” (AE #36)
Hayward, “Vote or Else.” (AE #38)
EPG Paper 2 due: Friday, October 26, 2007
Week 11 Congress (con’t.)
(October 29, 31, Nov. 2) Presidency
Reading: Welch, Chapters 10 & 11
Hamilton, “The Case for Congress” (AE #20)
Green, “Take Two” (AE #21)
Week 12 Presidency (con’t)
(November 5, 7, 9) Midterm Examination 3: Friday, November 9, 2007
Reading: Welch, Chapter 11
Taylor, “The Man who Would Be King” (AE #15)
Nichols, “Be Bipartisan: Impeach Bush” (AE #16)
Week 13 The Bureaucracy and the Courts
(November 12, 14, 16) Reading: Welch, Chapters 12 and 13
Taylor, “Catastrophe Management” (AE #26)
Garrow, “The Once and Future Supreme Court” (AE #23)
Week 14 Civil Liberties
(November 19, 21, 23) No class Wednesday, November 21 and Friday, November 23. Happy
Thanksgiving.
Reading: Welch, Chapter 14
Week 15 Civil Rights
(November 26, 28, 30) Social Security
Student Course Evaluations
Reading: Welch, Chapter 15
Week 16 Catch up and review
(December 3)
Monday, December 10 8:00-10:30 a.m.
APPENDIX: Experiencing Politics and Government Response Papers
A central component of this course is to understand American government and politics first-hand. Both the current events quizzes and this experiential learning component are designed to communicate to students the relevance of the concepts discussed in this class to their daily lives. Moreover, this experiential learning component is included out of recognition that different individuals have different learning styles. This portion of the course will appeal to those who learn through experience or by “doing.”
Finally, all studies of civic engagement find that people who engage in such projects while in school are far more likely to be involved in community activities and civic life when they leave college. Consider this “preparation” for an exciting life of community involvement.
If your experience involves research on the Internet or in the library, then you must cite your sources, include a bibliography and attach your source materials to your essay.
The following is an incomplete list of opportunities to complete the EPG assignment. As special events are scheduled on campus or in Rock Hill, other events will be added to this list. Please monitor your E-mail and attend class for announcements of additional events.
1. Do you belong to an interest group? If so, describe the interest group and explain why you joined this organization. If you do not belong to an interest group, then do some research and pick one whose agenda appeals to you. Write about why you might join that organization someday.
2. Do you favor one political party over another? Research your party’s platform and discuss why you agree with the stances of that party. Third parties are acceptable for this assignment. Writing about “being independent” is not acceptable.
3. Volunteer at least five hours for a candidate or political party of your choice. Provide documentation (supervisor’s note on letterhead or an email to me) with your paper.
4. Attend a political party event (social, fundraiser, business meeting, etc.) and write about the event. Provide documentation (program, ticket stub, etc.)
5. Attend a campaign rally, candidate fundraiser, debate or event sponsored by anyone running for public office at any level in any state. Analyze this experience in the context of class discussions. Did this sway your voting decision? Provide some evidence (program, photograph, autograph) that you attended the event.
6. Attend a town meeting or public appearance of any elected official. Provide a copy of agenda or any handouts supplied at the meeting.
7. Apply for appointment to a state or local government body, such as a board or commission, or the board of an interest group. Discuss the reasons that you chose this particular organization, and describe the process of application.
8. Serve as an appointed or elected member of a state or local government body (Council, board, commission, etc.), or on the board of an interest group. Provide documentation of your appointment/election and write about your experience.
9. Attend a public meeting of a local government body (City Council, County Council, School Board) and write about what you observe. Provide some documentation that you attended (copy of an agenda, signature by a City Council member, etc.)
10. Observe a session of Congress or a state legislature and write about what occurs.
11. Attend a public session of a local, state or federal court and write about what you observe.
12. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to express your opinion about a public issue. In your paper, discuss your reasons for choosing the topic you chose, and what research you did to support your argument. Include a copy of the letter with your paper.
13. Write a letter expressing your opinion on an issue currently on the government agenda to a person holding public office. Include a copy of letter, and discuss why you chose your particular issue, what research you did to support your position, and how you decided to address your letter to this particular office holder.
14. Think about your activities in a typical day or week. Catalog the various ways in which government policies or services (at any level of government) affect your life. What do you think of this? (This is a popular option; however, this EPG paper requires quite a bit of careful reflection, and may be more difficult than one might think.)
Watching videos or DVDs of movies or documentaries is not an acceptable activity.
Other activities may be appropriate, if approved in advance.
MEETING TIMES OF SOME LOCAL GOVERNMENT BODIES:
*Rock Hill School District 3: 4th Monday of each month, 7 p.m.
*York County Council: calendar available at http://yorkcountygov.com
*Rock Hill City Council: 2nd Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m.; 4th Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m.
*Fort Mill Town Council: 2nd Monday of each month, 7 p.m.
*York City Council: 1st Tuesday of each month.
*Tega Cay Town Council: 3rd Monday of each month, 7 p.m.
Chester County Council: 1st and 3rd Monday at 6:00 p.m.