Syllabus
United States Government

United States Government

GOVT-2305

Credit Summer 2019
06/03/2019 - 07/07/2019

Course Information

Section 008
Lecture
MTWTh 11:45 - 13:55

Ernie Casbeer

Section 053
Lecture
MTWTh 09:00 - 11:10

Ernie Casbeer

Office Hours

  • M T W Th
    NULL - NULL
    Weiss
    I will be available between classes or by appointment

Course Requirements

For course completion you will be required to:

1. Read the assigned chapters.

2. Attend class and participate in the discussions.

3. Successfully complete a short research paper which will be assigned on the first day of class.  This will be 20 % of the grade.

4. Successfully complete the daily grade papers which will be 20 % of the grade.

5. Successfully complete a paper on PACs which will be assigned later in the class.  This will be 10% of the grade.

6. Successfully take 3 exams which will be 50-% of the grade.  Each exam will be a final over that material.

Readings

The textbook that will be used is a free online book. The version that will be used can be found on Blackboard for this class.

Course Subjects

CHAPTER 1 Introduction to government

Understand tthe basics of government:  theories of government, kinds of governments, levels of government, branches of government, and pluralism, elitism, and majorityianism. 

Chapter 2:  The Constitution 

Explain how the colonial and revolutionary experiences shaped America’s first try at self-government under the Articles of Confederation, including the importance of Shays’ Rebellion;  Account for the failure of the Articles of Confederation;  Explain the Founding Fathers, the compromises necessary to write Constitution; Describe the formal and informal processes of constitutional change.

 CHAPTER 3 Federalism

Explain Expressed Powers, Implied Powers, Concurrent Powers, Inherent Powers, Denied Powers, and Reserve Powers; understand dual and cooperative federalism; explain the relations between the states and the federal government; and the relations between states

 CHAPTER 11 Congress

Outline the constitutional duties of the House and Senate;  Explain the importance of the committee system in the legislative process. Define leadership positions in both the House and Senate.

 CHAPTER 12 The Presidency

List the powers and duties of the president as set forth in the Constitution;  Describe the sources of power outside the Constitution that presidents have used to expand the authority of the office, including congressional delegation of powers. Discuss the changes that are now occurring in the president’s role as a world leader; Identify three objectives of the president in international relations and foreign policy;  Describe the special skills a president needs for crisis management.

 CHAPTER 15 The Bureaucracy

Explain the White House Office, the executive departments, and the independent agencies that are responsible for the implementation of the laws.

CHAPTER 16 Domestic Policy

CHAPTER 17 Foreign Policy

CHAPTER 13

The Courts:   Explain the concept of judicial review and how it was established in the case of Marbury v. Madison and other cases, including applications to state governments;  Sketch the basic organization of the federal court system and identify the type of jurisdiction of each level of the courts; Explain the role of the federal district courts and federal appeals courts;  Define and explain differences between criminal and civil law cases, statutory interpretation and common law;  Describe two ways in which judges exercise a policymaking role; Outline the routes by which cases come to the Supreme Court or the federal courts

CHAPTER 4 Civil Rights/Liberties

Explain the civil rights/liberties granted to the people fo the United States by the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and other amendments.

CHAPTER 5 Equality/Civil Rights

Explain the struggles to gain equality that have taken place in our nation's history.

CHAPTER 9 Political Parties

Explain the development of political parties and the organization of the national parties.

CHAPTER 7 Voting and Elections

Explain the concept of voting and explain the procedures of the elections with specific attention given to primaries, caucuses, and general elections.

 CHAPTER 6  Public Opinion

List the agents of both early and continuing political socialization and describe their impact:   Show how social or demographic characteristics (such as education, income, ethnicity, region, religion, and so forth) are linked to political values.

 CHAPTER 8 Media

Distinguish between conventional and unconventional participation, indicating the categories of each and citing specific examples: Explain the nature of the direct primary, recall, initiative, and the referendum;   Account for the low voter turnout in the United States and identify successful methods for improvement, being sure to define the standard socioeconomic model and the unsolved paradox concerning voting behavior.

 CHAPTER 10 Interest Groups

Outline the positive and negative roles played by interest groups in American politics; Explain how interest groups may form, including disturbance theory and the role of interest group entrepreneurs;  Describe the major resources interest groups use in their efforts to influence policy, including lobbying tactics;  List the tactics used by interest groups to win the support of policymakers, including PACs and 527s.

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

Through this course, students will prepare for contemporary challenges by developing and demonstrating the following core objectives: critical thinking skills, communication skills, social responsibility, and personal responsibility.

            •     Critical Thinking Skills: to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information.

            •     Communication Skills: to include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication.

            •     Personal Responsibility: to include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making.

            •      Social Responsibility: to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global   communities.

 

Upon successful completion of this course, American Government, the student will be able to:

         A.     Explain the origin and development of constitutional democracy in the United States.

         B.      Demonstrate knowledge of the federal system.

         C.      Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice.

         D.     Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government.

         E.      Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in the political system.

         F.      Analyze the election process.

         G.     Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens

         H.     Analyze issues and policies in U.S. politics.