Course Description:  This course is an introduction to United States national government. The course includes an introduction to a framework for understanding United States government and politics, the constitutional basis for United States government and politics, the processes of United States government and politics, the institutions of United States government and politics, and the policies of United States government and politics.

 Course Rationale: Democracies need well educated citizens and leaders. The Texas legislature requires all students enrolled in a public institution of higher education to complete six hours of instruction in government in order to graduate. GOVT 2305 fulfills 3 hours of this requirement.

Instructional Methodology: This course will be taught using primarily a combination of lectures and seminar/discussion format. The lectures and textbook reading assignments are equally important. I make every effort to cover everything that will be on the test during lecture, but the coverage of the material in class alone will probably not be sufficient preparation for the tests.

                This course requires an extensive amount of time outside of the classroom. The rule of thumb for any college class is that you should be prepared to study 3 hours outside of class for every hour you are in class. We have 3 contact hours per week. Budget your time to allow for 9 hours of reading and studying outside of class.

Course Requirements and Grading:

Your grade will be determined by the sum of your points earned on six exams, minus your lowest exam score, plus any extra credit. 

There will be five non-cumulative exams which will consist of: thirty multiple choice questions, worth two points each; two short essays, worth 10 points each; and one long essay, worth 20 points. In addition to the non-cumulative exams, there will be a cumulative final exam, also worth 100 points. This exam will consist of 50 multiple choice questions, with each question being worth 2 points.

For the exams, the grading will be as follows:

In addition, you may earn up to 50 points of extra credit for the class by preparing and turning in practice essays for the tests, by completing on-line tutorials available at ACC’s website, or by doing other extra credit assignments that may come up. Practice essays are due the day of the test. Details will be outlined in a supplementary extra-credit handout.

Your final course grade will be calculated by the following point scale:

Course Schedule and Reading Assignment

The subject matter for each lecture can be found in the topic section of the reading and lecture scheldule above.

Course Objectives:The government department, the college, and I, your instructor, have specific learning objectives for this course. The following is a summary of these broad objectives.

• to understand the purpose, forms, and functions of government and politics
• to be able to describe/define democracy and the various theories about and forms of democracy
• to understand the U.S. Constitution, its background, history, principles, and its application to the political system today
• to know the structure and functions of the three branches of the federal government
• to analyze the impact of the media, interest groups, and political parties on U.S. politics.
• to understand types, goals,  and tactics of interest groups in the U.S. today
• to be able to analyze the party system in the U.S. and the policy positions of the two major parties
• to be able to describe the process of candidate selection and elections in the U.S., the expansion of voting rights in the U.S., and the factors that influence voter turnout and voting behavior.
• to understand the U.S. political culture today and is impact on politics and policy
• to assess the formation of public opinion and its impact of politics and policy making
• to evaluate the origin, development, and impact of civil rights and civil liberties on individuals and groups.
• to examine the domestic policy making process in the U.S.
• to be able to describe the role of the US government in foreign policy making and major foreign policy and defense issues facing the U.S. today