Introduction to American Government and Politics

Political Science 150 (94540)

Spring 2014

Instructor: Phil Gussin

Classroom: Online

Office Hours: By appointment (via Skype or phone)

Class Web Page:

Email:

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS

Important Note:If you don’t have the discipline and focus to carefully read this syllabus and the Orientation Letter fully and completely, you are probably going to have trouble in this class. In fact, last semester, more than a dozen students in my online class failed because they did not stay focused on complete the work on time.

This class will introduce you to the fundamentals of American and California government and politics. In a very general sense, the goal of the class is to provide you with the tools you need to think critically about the political institutions, actors, processes and events that shape our lives. On a more personal level, my hope is that by end of the class you understand that (a) politics is important and (b) your participation in the political process improves the functioning of our political system.

The syllabus describes the organization of the class in detail. If you are unwilling to take the time to read the syllabus, this may not be the right class for you. If you read it carefully, it will improve your ability to succeed in this class. If you have any questions when you’re done reading it, you can either email me or post questions on the Discussion Board.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Identify and explain the basic institutions of the government of the United States and the State of California
Compare and contrast democratic theories of American government.
Exhibit a heightened sense of personal political efficacy and civic responsibility.

Course Objectives: Upon completing this course, you should be able to:

Summarize federalism and the relationships between national, state, and local government within that political structure.
Describe and evaluate the basic theories behind the U.S. Constitution and their role in contemporary American political life.
Compare the functions of the three branches of government.
Explain the differences in the major contemporary political ideologies and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
Compare the influence of political parties, interest groups, the media and public opinion in public policy decisions.
Identify and explain the major theories and challenges in domestic and foreign political affairs.
Explain the role of state and local governments with a particular emphasis on the distinguishing characteristics of California government.

Virtual Classroom Rules: First, it is your responsibility to keep up with the quizzes, exams, and assignments. While I do not have a zero tolerance policy for submitting late work, my tolerance is close to zero.Second, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the knowledge, software, and hardware to participate fully in the class.

Disabled Student Programs and Services: Federal law (Section 508) requires that all online classes be accessible to students with disabilities. College of the Canyons takes this responsibility very seriously. If you have a disability that makes it difficult for you to access any part of this class, please contact me immediately.

Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSP&S) offers educational support services for students with disabilities who are enrolled in college classes. The program provides services to students with a variety of disabilities. The DSP&S staff can be helpful in providing a variety of services including academic counseling, general studies classes/tutorial lab, test-taking accommodations, and note takers. Students with verifiable disabilities may contact DSP&S by calling (661) 362- 3341. DSP&S staff and I are committed to assisting to students with disabilities.

Email: I will be communicating with students via email throughout the semester. My emails will automatically be sent to the email account provided by College of Canyons. Therefore, you MUST set up and check your MyCanyons student email account regularly. For information on how to have your college email forwarded to the email account you check more regularly, click here. If you have not received an email from me by the end of the first day of class, come speak with me immediately.

Grading Policy: There are four components to your grade which I describe in detail below:

12best quizzes @ 10 points each = 120 points possible

4 exams @ 100 points each= 400 points possible

Participation = 100 points possible

4 assignments @ 25 points each = 100 points possible

TOTAL = 720 points possible

Grading Scale:

A = 648 - 720

B = 576 - 647

C = 504 - 575

D = 432 - 503

F = 431 or less

Reading Questions and Quizzes: The chapters of the textbook (see below) are identified in the course schedule below. For each chapter that you are expected to read, I provide a set of questions – hereafter referred to as “Reading Questions.” The Reading Questions are based solely on the readings, not on the lectures. For each set of Reading Questions, there is also a quiz. You will find the Reading Questions and Quizzes on the class webpage.

As you read the chapters, it is a good idea to have the Reading Questions with you. I have tried to set up the Reading Questions so that you can answer as you read the chapter. If you find a question that is out of order, please email me with the correct order. If you are unsure about an answer, you can post a question on the Reading Questions Discussion Board. The rules for posting questions are described in the section on Participation. Be sure to read it carefully. Once you’re confident in your answers, you are ready to take the quiz. You have twenty minutes to complete each quiz. Once you activate a quiz – by clicking on it – the countdown begins and cannot be stopped. Therefore, make sure you have your Reading Questions readily available before you activate the quiz. For the purposes of calculating your final grade, I only count the twelve highest quiz scores. The Syllabus Quiz will not be calculated into your grade. If you don’t know what I mean by the Syllabus Quiz, read the Orientation Letter!

Exams:There will be four exams, the dates of which are listed on the Course Schedule. The exams can be found by clicking on the “Exams” tab on the class webpage. Eighty percent of the questions on the exams will be based on the material presented in the lecture videos. If your answers reveal a good understanding of the textbook or any source other than the lectures, I will assume you did not watch – or understand – the lecture videos and grade you accordingly. In other words, you MUST view and understand the lecture videos to do well on the essay portion of the exams.

Once an exam is activated – by clicking on it – the countdown begins and cannot be stopped. Students will have 1 ½ hours to complete each exam. The exams will be available for 24 hours and must be submitted by 11:59pm on the day they are due. As noted above, while I do not have a zero tolerance policy for submitting late work, my tolerance is close to zero.

Each exam is worth 100 points. The exams, which are not cumulative, will all have the same general structure.

Part I: Multiple Choice Questions (20%)

Each exam will include 20 multiple-choice questions. The multiple-choice questions will be randomly selected from the Reading Questions for that particular exam.

Part II: Essay Questions (80%)

Each exam will also include essay questions that require some writing. Unless you are instructed otherwise, you MUST use complete sentences in all of your answers. The answers must be based entirely on the information presented in lecture. If your answers reflect a good understanding of the material in the textbook or they are based on information from any source other than my lectures, I will assume you did not watch – or understand – the lecture and grade you accordingly. If you plagiarize material from another source – which some students have unfortunately done – I will file a report with the Dean of Students.

There will be two 25-points questions and three 10-point questions. In some instances, you will be given a choice as to which questions to answer. In some instances, you will not have a choice. Complete answers will include a succinct and accurate definition of the concept(s) in the question followed by a more detailed description of the concept(s) and, whenever appropriate, an example. This is particularly true of the 25-point questions. Students who simply copy and paste the information from the lecture notes without any elaboration should expect to get a “D.”

Participation: There are a variety of ways for students to participate. The main way to participate is by posting questions/comments/answers on the Reading Questions or Current Events Discussion Boards. For example, if you are unsure of the answer to one of the Reading Questions, you can earn participation points by posting a question about it. However, you may not simply ask fellow students to provide you with the correct answer. You must identify the answer you believe is correct and provide your reasoning. Students can also earn participation points by responding to questions. However, responses cannot simply identify the correct answer. They must explain why a particular answer is correct. Comments that fail to meet these guidelines will be deleted from the discussion board and will NOT count towards your participation grade. You can also earn participation points by posting comments on the Current Events discussion board. Please note that incivility will not be tolerated! You can also earn participation points by email me with questions.

Note #1: Students who do not post anything on the Discussion Boards will not receive any points for participation. Failing to participate can have a dramatic impact on the final grade. For example, if a student earns 100% of the points possible on the Exams, Quizzes, and Assignments but does not participate, the highest grade they can earn is a “B” (620 points). If a student earns 90% of the possible points on the Exams, Quizzes, and Assignments but does not participate, the highest grade they can earn is a “C” (558 points). Do not forget to participate!

Note #2: If a student is close to the next highest grade and has a high participation score (i.e., 95% or better), I will often give them the higher grade. If a student is close to the next highest grade and has a low participation score, I have never given them the higher grade.

Assignments: For each exam, I provide a comprehensive study guide. Students must complete the study guide for each exam and submit them online. For example, Assignment #1 involves answering the Study Guide for Exam 1.For the purposes of grading the assignments, I am looking to see whether students answered all of the questions fully and provided examples (when appropriate). However, a good grade on an assignment does not guarantee a good grade on the exam. The grades on the Assignments are based primarily on the effort students put into answering the questions.

Assignments should be submitted as attachments on the Assignments tab on the class webpage. All assignments must use a 12-point font in Times New Roman style, and be double-spaced with 1” margins all the way around (top, bottom, left, right). You must submit the questions followed by the answers.

Note #1: You must submit your assignments as .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .txt files. I cannot read documents formatted as .pages or .odt files.

Note #2: Do not email your assignments to me!!

Academic Dishonesty

While I encourage collaboration, students are expected to do their own work as assigned. Students must complete their assignments and exams independently of one another. If the wording of your answers closely approximates the wording of other students who are taking – or have taken – the class, you will receive 50% of the possible points on the assignment or exam. If the problem persists, it may be treated as an instance of academic dishonesty. At College of the Canyons, we believe that academic integrity and honesty are some of the most important qualities college students need to develop and maintain. To facilitate a culture of academic integrity, College of the Canyons has defined plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Due process procedures have been established when plagiarism or academic dishonesty is suspected.

At COC, we define plagiarism as follows: Plagiarism is the submission of someone else’s work or ideas as one’s own, without adequate attribution. When a student submits work for a class assignment or exam that includes the words, ideas or data of others, without acknowledging the source of the information through complete, accurate, and specific references, plagiarism is involved. This may include dual submissions of a similar work for credit for more than one class, without the current instructor’s knowledge and approval. Students do not have to cite information presented in the lecture videos.

To be specific, below are some of the situations that will be considered plagiarism at COC:

Use information from any source, online or in print, in one’s own writing without acknowledging the source in the content and in the reference page of the assignment;
Simply list the sources in the reference page, without parenthetical citations in the body of the essay;
Take morethan one printed line of words consecutively from the source without putting quotation marks around them, even though the student has put the author’s name in the parentheses or in the reference page;
Turn in work done for other classes, regardless how big or small the assignment may be, without the current instructor’s approval—this is considered “self-plagiarism,” which is a form of academic dishonesty; or,
Turn in work by another student, even by accident.

In addition, COC has strict rules against using electronic devices during exams without the instructor’s approval. To be specific, absolutely no cell phones or any electronic devices can be on the desk or in sight during tests or exams without the instructor’s approval. The presence of electronic devices in sight during exams may be considered as intention to cheat and will be processed as a form of academic dishonesty.

Cases of alleged academic dishonesty, such as plagiarism or cheating, will be referred to the Dean of Student Services for investigation.

READING MATERIAL

Custom Bundle includes two textbooks in one (available at COC bookstore):

We The People by Ginsberg, et. al.Governing California by Anagnoson, et. al.

ISBN: 9780393137903

Day / Date / Topic / Due Dates
F / 2/14 / Assessing Democracy .01 - .07
T / 2/18 / Assessing Democracy .08 - .12 / Chapter 1 Quiz*
F / 2/21 / Constitution .01 - .04 / Chapter 2 Quiz*
T / 2/25 / Constitution .05 - .09 / Chapter 3 Quiz*
F / 2/28 / Federalism .01 -.05 / Chapter 4 Quiz*
T / 3/4 / Civil Liberties .01 - .06
SN / 3/7 / Quizzes (1-4) & Assignment 1
M / 3/10 / Exam 1 opens at 11:59PM
T / 3/11 / Exam 1 closed at 11:59PM
M / 3/17 / Public Opinion .01 - .06
F / 3/21 / Public Opinion .07 - .11 / Chapter 6 Quiz*
W / 3/26 / News Media .01 - .04 / Chapter 7 Quiz*
T / 4/1 / New Media .05 - .08 / Chapter 8 Quiz*
T / 4/8 / Elections .01 - .07 / Chapter 10 Quiz*
F / 4/11 / Quizzes (6, 7, 8, 10) & Assignment 2
M / 4/14 / Exam 2 opens at 11:59PM
T / 4/15 / Exam 2 closed at 11:59PM
F / 4/18 / Political Parties .01 - .03 / Chapter 9 Quiz*
T / 4/22 / Interest Groups .01 - .06 / Chapter 11 Quiz*
F / 4/25 / Congress .01 - .06 / Chapter 12 Quiz*
W / 4/30 / Congress .07 - .11
W / 5/7 / HABBAL .01 - .05
SN / 5/11 / Quizzes (9, 11, 12) & Assignment 3
M / 5/12 / Exam 3 opens at 11:59PM
T / 5/13 / Exam 3 closed at 11:59PM
F / 5/16 / Presidency .01 - .04
M / 5/19 / Presidency .05 - .08 / Chapter 13 Quiz*
W / 5/21 / Bureaucracy .01 - .06 / Chapter 14 Quiz*
SA / 5/24 / Judiciary .01 - .05 / Chapter 15 Quiz*
M / 5/26 / Judiciary .06 - .09
TH / 5/29 / Civil Rights .01 - .05 / Chapter 5 Quiz*
SA / 5/31 / California .01 - .04
M / 6/2 / Quizzes (13, 14, 15, 5) & Assignment 4
W / 6/4 / Exam 4 opens at 11:59PM
TH / 6/5 / Exam 4 closed at 11:59PM
* The asterisks denote recommended due dates. This is my way of recommending that you not wait until the last minute to complete the quizzes.

Note: This syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor in order to adapt to instructional needs.