Course Syllabus ~ Political Science 1/American Government & Institutions
Last updated 5/14/2008. Scroll down/click here for the latest assignments/updates. Please note that we're a week behind as of the week of 3/10, as the instructor was out sick on March 6. EC letters are due on 3/13 as a result.
Looking for paper topic ideas? CA Sec'y. of State Debra Bowen's office offers this 2008 Initiatives Updates Page, You may also find this CNN Election '08 resource helpful. For more information on the research paper assignment, jump to the Paper section of this page.
Semester/Instructor: Spring, 2008, with Dr. Kaliopi Pappas.
When: Thursdays, 6:30pm-9:30pm. Final exam on Tuesday, May 27, 8-9:50pm.
Where: West High School, T9.
Course Registration Number: 86395
Instructor Email: kpappas@deltacollege.edu. Email is the quickest way to get in touch with me, though I cannot guarantee a quick response, nor can I guarantee that I will receive your mail. You may also leave me messages by calling Tracy Center, or leaving notes for me there. :) I will check my office box about once a week. Remember, my box is for non-time-sensitive messages ONLY; do NOT leave exams or assignments with office staff or in my box unless I specifically instruct you to do so. Thank you.
Required Texts:
1) Kenneth Janda, Jeffrey Berry, Jerry Goldman, and Kevin Hula. 2006. The Challenge of Democracy, Brief Edition, 6th edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. BUNDLED WITH: John L. Korey. 2006. California Government, 4th edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
BOTH the Janda and Korey segments are required, so make sure your edition includes the two of them. The textbook is available at the Delta College Bookstore, on main campus. Also available through http://bookstore.deltacollege.edu.
2) Required course web Supplements (and copy of this syllabus) at http://civ.strangegirl.com/polisci/
Basic Course Objectives:
1) To gain basic knowledge of how American government is structured, and why it was designed that way.
2) To understand how the American political process works, why it works that way, and how political realities match up with the intentions of those who created the American political system.
3) To learn about the various participants in the American political system, including the major societal institutions that interact with/within it.
4) To separate the theory and reality of the political system, while understanding the historical context.
5) To understand and appreciate the rights and privileges granted by the United States Constitution.
6) To gain a basic understanding of California state government, how it is structured, and how it functions.
Student Obligations:
In-class discussion is expected! :D
Read this syllabus carefully, as it is the administrative backbone of the course. You are responsible for knowing and understanding the information presented here. That being said, you should also understand that I may change or adjust course rules, procedures, assignments, and/or schedule as we go along. If you have questions, ask me!
Attendance/Enrollment
Refund date 1/28/2008
Last drop date without a W: 2/8/2008
Last drop date with a W: 4/28/2008.
Currently waitlisted students will be officially added to the course roster as space is available. If you are NOT registered for the class and NOT officially on the waitlist, you may add via the Delta online registration site. If you have some sort of hold on your registration, I cannot add you to the class until that hold is resolved. Realize that there will be absolutely no adds after the second class meeting.
Remember to CHECK YOUR ENROLLMENT now and periodically over the course of the semester to make sure you are actually signed up for the class; it’s you’re responsibility to make sure you are appropriately enrolled (or unenrolled, if you have to drop). It’s also your responsibility to drop yourself if you need to, for ANY reason. If you are in ANY doubt over the status of your enrollment, CHECK! If there’s a problem, contact me and I’ll try to help.
You must attend class regularly, take notes, and participate in discussions and activities. Participation, and by extension attendance, will affect your grade (See excused absence policy below). Please be on time, and plan to stay the whole class period. Yes, that means you’re expected to come back after the break. :) To verify your attendance, be sure to sign your enrollment name clearly on the attendance sheet at each class meeting, including test days. This is important!
If you miss any of the first three class meetings for any reason, you may be dropped. This is pursuant to college Policy 5150, Section A:
“Any student who fails to attend any class session during the first three sessions of the class at the beginning of a term may be dropped from that class unless the student has advised and obtained an absence approval from the faculty member.“
Additionally:
“A faculty member shall mandatorily drop a student from class when the student's absences prior to the end of the fourth week of the semester exceed two weeks of class time (i.e. 2 X the number of times the class meets per week throughout the semester).” (Policy 5150, Section B)
However, if you need to drop the course at any time during the semester, please use the appropriate official channels to do so. DO NOT simply stop coming to class; I will not automatically assume you aren’t coming back. And once you do drop, please notify me so I’ll know to drop you from my roll. It is always your responsibility to drop the course if you cannot continue at any time for any reason. If your schedule or personal life is too hectic for you to be able to do course assignments (including readings), attend class regularly, and turn in assignments/take exams on time, then you should seriously consider dropping the class.
No Late Work/No Makeups Policy and Excused Absences
Be aware that I do not accept late work or schedule makeup exams except in very rare and exceptional circumstances usually involving EXCUSED ABSENCES (see below). So, for all intents and purposes, my policy is: NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED! NO MAKEUP EXAMS! COME TO EVERY CLASS MEETING! DO NOT EXPECT OR ASSUME ANYTHING! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
The vast majority of my students have been conscientious and honest, but there have been some exceptions. There are people who will push for late credit, exam retakes, or excused absences after the fact, for no justifiable reasons. This is not only rude, it’s completely unfair to the students who work hard to come to class and turn things in on time, regardless of their personal circumstances. This is why I don’t normally accept late work or schedule makeups. This is also why I expect you to let me know when and why you cannot make it to class, whether or not the absence is excusable.
Please understand that by notifying me, however, you are not automatically excused from participation, as your reasons may not warrant an excuse. Also understand that if I say something like, “Okay, thanks for telling me,” you should not take my response as proof of excuse, nor of proof of my intent to excuse you. Even with an excused absence, you are still responsible for class activities taking place on missed days, as well as for completing and turning in (on time!) assignments/exams done/due on missed days. An excused absence does not automatically mean you get an assignment extension or exam makeup. If you think you deserve an excuse - particularly an excuse that involves late work or exam makeups - you’ll need to talk to me about it specifically, and ASAP. I can’t make any guarantees, but I’ll try to work with you if I can.
Excused absence types:
1) Board-Sanctioned Excuses - If you have a college board policy-sanctioned excuse (official school field trips and jury duty ONLY) and MUST miss class, please let me know (and provide official documentation) IN ADVANCE, as soon as possible. On normal class days when there are no assignments due nor films/presentations/exams scheduled, your absence will likely not be much of a problem, so long as you’ve been attending class regularly and doing your readings. If you’re going to be missing class on an assignment due date, you’ll need to arrange with me to turn in your assignments early, or to have someone bring it to class for you. If you’ll be missing an exam day, you must arrange with me an alternate time to take your exam early at the Writing Center in Holt Center on Main Campus. No assignment extensions or late (i.e., after the regularly-scheduled exam is over) exam makeups will be granted for this kind of excused absence.
2) Absences due to unforeseen Medical emergencies in your immediate family may be excused at my discretion, with no guarantees, on a case-by-base basis, and only if you provide official documentation in a timely manner. Depending on the circumstances involved, I may grant one-time assignment extensions or late makeup exams in these cases. Realize that I can make no guarantees. Get in touch with me ASAP to talk about it. If something happens to knock you out of commission for more than a few weeks or for the rest of the semester, be prepared to drop (this is your responsibility...don’t wait for me to tell you to do it!). If it is too late to drop, ask me ASAP about the possibility of an incomplete grade. No guarantees!
3) Absences due to other serious, extenuating circumstances (like car accidents, medical appointments, unavoidable work commitments, planned surgeries/outpatient procedures, or funerals) MAY be excused (with timely documentation) at my discretion, with no guarantees. In every case, when you have advance notice of some sort of excusable appointment or commitment, I need to know BEFORE you miss class so we can arrange an alternate means of turning in your work (on time or early) or scheduling a time for you to take your exam early. I will not grant assignment extensions or late exam makeups for this kind of excused absence except in very, very rare instances (i.e., your car was stolen the morning the morning of class, and inside it were your paper AND the laptop on which you wrote it; yes, this did happen once, and the student could back it up with a police report). NO guarantees! Get in touch with me as soon as possible.
Know that in all cases, the absences/emergencies MUST be officially and satisfactorily documented in a timely manner. More, you MUST be in direct, ongoing, and timely contact with me regarding the absence(s)/emergencies at issue, otherwise I can’t help you. I do not give blanket excuses, so do not expect that because I excuse your participation or grant an extension once that I will do it again. Absence excuses, makeups, and extensions are one-time only occurrences; further absence excuses, makeups, and extensions, even due to ongoing circumstances of which I am aware, are not guaranteed, and must be separately and expressly granted by me in a timely manner. DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING.
Once again, please also note that even an excused absence does not automatically mean you have permission to turn in an assignment late, or make up an exam at a time of your choice; depending on the reasons for the excused absence, the situation in general, and the time available in the interim, you may be required to complete and submit work early, or on time via an alternate form of submission (ultimately my choice). Also, keep in mind that if you wait too long to inform me of an absence, even an excused one, I may not be able to accommodate you. This is particularly true at the end of the semester; once grades are in, they’re in, and that’s that.
If you believe you have good reason to request an excused absence/makeup exam/assignment extension, you MUST get in touch with me ASAP to make your specific request, and you must understand that I can make NO GUARANTEES. You must also follow my specific instructions on how to proceed, or I can’t help you. Do not make assumptions, either; if you are unclear as to what to do, ask me to clarify for you. Please also note that ALL assignments and exams are required - if you do not turn in an assignment or take a test, you will not receive points for the missed work, nor will you be “excused” from turning in the assignment or taking the test.
Procedures and Obligations Regarding Assignments/Tests
You must complete assigned readings on time (textbook and on the website), so you can participate during the scheduled discussion. This information sheet provides a tentative schedule, which may be adjusted as we go along. I may also provide web supplements for you to read as we go (they will be required). :)
You must complete and hand in all course assignments/exams on time. We’ll have one written, in-class midterm, an individually-written position paper on a California statewide initiative/proposition or national presidential candidate of your choice (with a mini-presentation), and a final. There will also be an extra credit opportunity associated with our political participation unit.
Course participation will also be assigned points. If you attend class regularly, participate actively in class discussions, and complete your mini-presentation, you will very likely get a high participation total. However, note that the precise participation scores will be awarded at my discretion.
Research Paper & Presentation
The research paper will involve analysis of either:
A) A California state initiative/proposition (potential, current, or past, but preferably one of the major initiatives on the February 5/Super-Duper Tuesday/Presidential Primary ballot or an initiative coming up on the June Primary or November Presidential Election ballots!)
B) A 2008 U.S. presidential candidate/campaign
The idea is to give you an opportunity to research important upcoming ballot activity! :D
Within those parameters, the topic is YOUR CHOICE, so pick a proposition dealing with a policy area that interests you, or a candidate whose ideas , personality, and image illustrate (for better or worse) sides of issues that are important to you. Be prepared to avoid “fact-dump” in your paper; you will be expected to do in-depth analysis on the issues, policies/policy ideas, institutional procedures, strategies, and personalities involved. More information to come.
Looking for paper topic ideas? CA Sec'y. of State Debra Bowen's office offers this 2008 Initiatives Updates Page, You may also find this CNN Election '08 resource helpful.
The paper should be your own work. You may not write papers in groups or pairs. It must be 1500+ words (which ends up being about 5 pages or longer), typed, double-spaced, using one side of the paper, in a 12 point font with NORMAL margins.
Please use MLA citation formats. For assistance with MLA style, you are encouraged to visit the Writing Center on Main Campus, which has recently moved from Shima to the second floor of Holt Center. You are required to use at least five solid sources in researching your paper. Remember to use online resources with caution. No Wikipedia or other encyclopedia resources will count toward the minimum five.
For an unofficial (and thereby not necessarily always reliable) guide to using MLA style, do a Google search online. One version that may be helpful to you is located at http://www.studyguide.org/MLAdocumentation.htm.
Papers MUST be turned in in class, at the beginning of class, on the due date scheduled, and MAY NOT be rescheduled. If you have a time conflict, arrange with me to turn your paper in early. Late papers will not be accepted. Do not email me your papers unless I specifically ask you to do so. Do not hand in diskettes. Do not leave papers at the Tracy or Division offices (or in my box) unless I specifically ask you to do so. No rewrites. No re-scores.
In-class mini-presentations related to your research papers are required. You should be prepared to present in class on the day the papers are due, though time constraints may dictate that you end up presenting during the next class period. While these presentations are intended to be short (1-5 minutes) and will not be assigned a specific point value, they will be required (along with other course participation requirements, as delineated above) to get 27 points or above for course participation.
Midterm & Final Exam
The midterm and final will be in class, closed-note, and closed-book. They will consist of essay questions and several definitions; there will most likely 1 essay question and three definitions on the midterm, and 2 essay questions and five definitions on the final (actual numbers may vary, just so you know). The final exam WILL be comprehensive.
You’ll have to bring your own blue books or stapled packets of binder paper to write on. :) Also, please write in regulation blue or black ink, and be sure to double-space your work. No one may refer to notes, dictionaries, or other materials while testing. In addition, students will be expected to clear their desks, put everything but pens, test packets, and test question sheets on the floor, and sit apart from other students. You will also be expected to turn off and put away your cellphones (as usual), and refrain from communicating with fellow test-takers.
Midterm and final exams MUST be taken in class on the day specified. They MAY NOT be rescheduled, except with my prior approval, and ONLY under specific circumstances involving excused absence (see above). These circumstances are usually OFFICIAL Delta College field trips (i.e., travel for college sports teams) or jury duty ONLY. In addition, you will be expected to sit for the exams in advance of the regularly scheduled exam period. Please note that exam reschedules will take place on main campus in Stockton, at the Writing Center on the second floor of Holt. In the case of an extreme and verifiable medical emergency in your immediate family, I may schedule a makeup exam at my discretion.
I do not offer exam rescores or exam retakes.
Exam bluebooks and binder paper packets will be checked before exam question sheets are handed out. I will also check over and record as received every assignment and exam turned in during the class period on the relevant due date. If an exam, paper, or other assignment somehow “goes missing,” this is the only official record we’ll have that shows it was turned in on time.
Exams must be turned in when time is called at the end of the class/testing period. No exams will be collected or otherwise accepted afterwards.
Other Obligations
Please be courteous, pleasant, and generally group-adaptable when dealing with classmates and the instructor. :) In other words, play nice.
Disruptions, inappropriate behavior, eating, drinking, smoking, sleeping, whispering, chatting, talking, manipulation games, and flash photography are strictly prohibited. If you have cell phones, pagers, or anything else electronic that could be construed as noisy or annoying, please turn it off or set it to silent mode before class. Don’t plan on text messaging or putting on makeup during class either. Repeated disruptions will result in your removal from the class (perhaps permanently).
Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you copy another person’s work, whether it’s a student essay, a unique turn of phrase borrowed from a website without appropriate citation, or whole sentences/paragraphs/pages taken from a book without quotation or full citations, you are guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism and cheating will result in a “zero” for the assignment or exam at issue, and possibly more.
Please also note that quoting huge rafts of material even WITH citations is usually a violation of U.S. copyright laws, and a bad way to put together a paper. In your assignments, you must make your own points in your own words. Quotations and cited paraphrases are a necessity in a well-researched paper, but please keep them to less than four lines apiece, and make sure you contextualize them with your own words. Citations should be used to back up your own points, not to make points on their own.
Keep in mind that if something you write doesn’t seem like your style, I can easily do a Google search to find out where you actually got it. :)
Stay tuned for more details. I reserve the right to clarify sections of this syllabus or to make changes to better serve the needs of the class as a whole.
Grading:
Grades are based on one midterm, a 1500+ word paper (which ends up being about 5 pages or longer) plus mini-presentation, a comprehensive final exam, and class attendance/participation. I’m providing this point information so that you may track your progress as we go along.
Here’s the basic point breakdown:
- 1 midterm: 80 points
- Paper: 80 points
- Final Exam: 110 points
- Participation (including mini-presentation and participation in class activities): 30 points
- Total: 300 points
Overall letter grades are determined by the usual 0-100% scheme. 90-100%=A, 80-90%=B, 70-80%=C, 60-70%=D, and below 60%=F.
Once I have graded an assignment or exam, I will return it to you in class. Normal grading turnaround time is about 2 weeks, though it may take less/more time depending on our calendar and other circumstances. If you do not come to class on the day(s) I pass an assignment back, you must make arrangements to pick it up from me. Originals will be destroyed if you do not pick them up from me within two weeks of grading. I will not keep copies, nor will I store the originals for you. Final exams will not be returned.
Schedule:
This is a list of topics, by class meeting, and the assignments to be discussed during each period. This is tentative. We may extend discussions, contract them, or add additional reading materials as we go along. CA readings will be assigned later, and will include readings related to several California ballot initiatives which you’ll need to read for an in-class discussion activity.*
- Week 1 - January 17 - Class Intro/Dilemmas of Democracy: Freedom, Order, and Equality (Janda, Chapter 1)
- Week 2 - January 24 - Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy (Janda, Chapter 1)
- The United States Constitution (Janda, Chapter 2, and Hobbes, Locke, and Federalist Papers on website - required)
Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes - Chapter XIII - The laws of nature, and reasonings behind the Social Contract.
John Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government - Chapters 9 and 19 - The purposes of representative government discussed. Locke's writings heavily influenced our Declaration of Independence, as well as the framers of our Constitution.
- Week 3 - January 31 - The United States Constitution, Continued (Janda, Chapter 2, and Hobbes, Locke, and Federalist Papers on website - required)
Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes - Chapter XIII - The laws of nature, and reasonings behind the Social Contract.
John Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government - Chapters 9 and 19 - The purposes of representative government discussed. Locke's writings heavily influenced our Declaration of Independence, as well as the framers of our Constitution.
- Week 4 - February 7 - Federalism (Janda, Chapter 3)
- Week 5 - February 14 - NO CLASS!
- Week 6 - February 21 - Public Opinion, Political Socialization, and the Media (Janda, Chapter 4; LBJ's "Daisy" campaign commercial from 1964, courtesy of PBS.org and The 30 Second Candidate on website)
- Papers DUE, Presentations
Here is a link to LBJ's "Daisy" campaign commercial from 1964, courtesy of PBS.org and The 30 Second Candidate.
- Week 7 - February 28 - Participation & Voting (Janda, Chapter 5; Extra credit letter assigned)
How Americans Perceive the American Political System and Their Roles Within It - A short piece on how contemporary Americans may approach American politics today.
Extra credit political participation letter on a political or policy topic of your choice, to a public official of your choice, is due in class on October 4. Three points EC for turning in a typed letter to me (written and researched yourself, at least one full page), an additional 2 EC points when you bring in proof that the letter was sent to and received by the official's office. Proof of sending/receipt is due by the end of the semester. Possible total of 5 points extra credit! :)
- Week 8 - March 6 - Political Parties, Nominations, Elections, & Campaigns...and the Majoritarian Ideal / Caucus Activity (Janda, Chapter 6; extra credit assignment due)
Extra credit political participation letter on a political or policy topic of your choice, to a public official of your choice, is due in class today. Three points EC for turning in a typed letter to me (written and researched yourself, at least one full page), an additional 2 EC points when you bring in proof that the letter was sent to and received by the official's office. Proof of sending/receipt is due by the end of the semester. Possible total of 5 points extra credit! :)
- Week 9 - March 13 - Interest Groups (Janda, Chapter 7; Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America excerpt on website - required)
- Congress (Janda, Chapter 8)
- Week 10 - March 20 - NO CLASS!
- Week 11 - March 27 - The Presidency & the Electoral College (Janda, Chapter 9)
- Week 12 - April 3 - The Bureaucracy (Janda, Chapter 10) and REVIEW for Midterm
- Week 13 - April 10 - MIDTERM EXAM
- The Courts (Janda, Chapter 11; Benjamin Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process excerpt on website - required)
Benjamin Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process, Lecture I
Justice Cardozo, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1930s, explains how judges decide - or SHOULD decide - a case. What are the logical, Constitutional, social, and moral considerations that should contribute to court opinion? Do you agree, considering how strongly court opinions often affect policy and the law in general?
- Week 14 - April 17 - The Courts, Continued (Janda, Chapter 11; Benjamin Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process excerpt on website - required)
- Order and Civil Liberties (Janda, Chapter 12; Prop. 85 section on website - required)
Benjamin Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process, Lecture I
Justice Cardozo, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1930s, explains how judges decide - or SHOULD decide - a case. What are the logical, Constitutional, social, and moral considerations that should contribute to court opinion? Do you agree, considering how strongly court opinions often affect policy and the law in general?Read and consider the following information concerning Proposition 85, which was on the California ballot in November, 2006. It sough to require parental notification (but not consent) in the case of minors seeking abortions. It didn't pass, but it brought up interesting wrinkles in the ongoing debate on civil liberties, particularly the 9th Amendment "Right to Privacy" established in Griswold v. Connecticut in the 1960s and further bolstered by Roe v. Wade in 1973. What do you think? Was the decision in Roe "right"? Was it constitutional? Is there a difference? Do you think policy ideas like the ones proposed in Prop. 85 are constitutional? Are they fair? Whose rights/freedoms and needs must be balanced here? What compelling state interests might slant the balance one way or another?
- Week 15 - April 24 - Order and Civil Liberties, continued (Janda, Chapter 12; Prop. 85 section on website - required)
Read and consider the following information concerning Proposition 85, which was on the California ballot in November, 2006. It sough to require parental notification (but not consent) in the case of minors seeking abortions. It didn't pass, but it brought up interesting wrinkles in the ongoing debate on civil liberties, particularly the 9th Amendment "Right to Privacy" established in Griswold v. Connecticut in the 1960s and further bolstered by Roe v. Wade in 1973. What do you think? Was the decision in Roe "right"? Was it constitutional? Is there a difference? Do you think policy ideas like the ones proposed in Prop. 85 are constitutional? Are they fair? Whose rights/freedoms and needs must be balanced here? What compelling state interests might slant the balance one way or another?
- Week 16 - May 1 - Equality and Civil Rights (Janda, Chapter 13; Bollinger Cases and Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1 section on website - required)
Gratz v. Bollinger (Syllabus and Decision) - Affirmative action and U. Mich. undergraduate admissions policy.
Grutter v. Bollinger (Syllabus and Decision) - Affirmative action and U. Mich. law school admissions policy.
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1 (Syllabus) - Applied Gratz/Grutter "standard" to K-12 Schools.
- Week 17 - May 8 - Policymaking (Janda, Chapter 14)
- California as a microcosm...and more; State Constitution; CA State Government
Structures*
- Week 18 - May 15 - Public opinion/media/parties; California issues, campaigns, and elections*
- Local Government; California wrap-up*
- REVIEW for final exam
- Week 19/20 - Tuesday, May 27, 8-9:50pm. Last chance to pick up graded assignments. Last chance to turn in proof of receipt for extra credit letter.