Course information: 9:40-10:55 Tuesday and Thursday, in HSS 63 (note room change)

Instructor: Anthony Nownes, 811 McClung Tower
Office hours: 11-12 TR, and 11:15-11:45 MW, and by appointment

Email:

Web site:

Introduction

As with the standard POLS 101 course, this course is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of American national government and politics. The course is divided into three sections: 1). The rules. 2). The players. 3). The issues. In Section 1, we examine what I call the “rules” of American politics. The most basic rules of American politics are found in the Constitution. Thus, this is where we start. However, since 1787, these rules have been changed, modified, and supplemented. "New" rules have manifested themselves in court decisions, laws, and other forms of policy. We will discuss these as well. In Section 2, we examine what I call the “players.” Of course, the most prominent players are the institutions of American national government—Congress, the president, the judiciary, and the bureaucracy. But these are hardly the only players. Other players include political parties, interest groups, the media, and of course, ordinary citizens like you and me. We will discuss these players in turn. In Section 3, we will discuss the issues—the questions and problems that are the stuff of contemporary American politics. To do this, we will examine two contrasting views of American politics at the turn of the century—those of populist conservative Bill O’Reilly and liberal muckraker Michael Moore.

In some ways, this class is different from the standard American National Government course. Specifically, this class is smaller. Thus, we will conduct class like a seminar. This means I will lecture less and we will discuss more. Come to class prepared to discuss each week’s readings. As an Honors course, this course is designed to be more rigorous than the standard American National Government course. Thus, I will expect a lot from you.

Books

The following items are available at the UT Bookstore:

  • Cigler, Allan J. and Burdett A. Loomis, eds. 2002. American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings, Fifth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. (Code: CL)
  • Kernell, Samuel and Gary C. Jacobson. 1999. The Logic of American Politics. Washington, DC: CQ Press. (Code: KJ)
  • Moore, Michael. 2001. Stupid White Men…and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation. New York: Regan Books/HarperCollins Publishers Inc. (Code: MM)
  • O’Reilly, Bill. 2001. The No Spin Zone: Confrontations with the Powerful and Famous in America. New York: Broadway Books. (Code: BO)

Grading

You will earn points as follows:

  • 100 points for attendance/participation. Comment: Show up, have something good to say.

  • 100 points for a small paper. Comment: You will write a small paper.

  • 200 points for big quizzes. Comment: I will give you three big quizzes and count two of them. I will tell you in advance when you will take each big quiz.

  • 200 points for the final exam. Comment: Your final exam will be comprehensive.

  • 400 points for two midterm exams. Comment: The course schedule below indicates when you will take each midterm. My tests are mixed format tests—they contain multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions.

Your grade will be calculated as follows:

A / 900 - 1000 points
B+ / 870 - 899 points
B / 800 - 869 points
C+ / 770 - 799 points
C / 700 - 769 points
D+ / 670 - 699 points
D / 600 - 669 points
F / Less than 600 points

Other Policies

Plagiarism

Plagiarism will not be tolerated. The following is an excerpt from the University of Tennessee’s Honor Statement, which can be found in Hilltopics Student Handbook, which is the official student handbook of the University of Tennessee:

“Students shall not plagiarize. Plagiarism is using the intellectual property or product of someone else without giving proper credit. The undocumented use of someone else's words or ideas in any medium of communication (unless such information is recognized as common knowledge) is a serious offense, subject to disciplinary action that may include failure in a course and/or dismissal from the University. Specific examples of plagiarism are: Using without proper documentation (quotation marks and a citation) written or spoken words, phrases, or sentences from any source; Summarizing without proper documentation (usually a citation) ideas from another source (unless such information is recognized as common knowledge); Borrowing facts, statistics, graphs, pictorial representations, or phrases without acknowledging the source (unless such information is recognized as common knowledge); Collaborating on a graded assignment without the instructor's approval; Submitting work, either in whole or in part, created by a professional service and used without attribution (e.g., paper, speech, bibliography, or photograph).” (Hilltopics, p. 31).

The entire text of Hilltopics can be found at

Cheating

It is understood that cheating will not be tolerated. The most common form of cheating is looking at your neighbor’s paper during a test or quiz. If I catch you doing this, I will remove you from the classroom and give you an “F” on the test or quiz in question. The second most common form of cheating is bringing in outside material and using it during a test or quiz. If I catch you doing this, I will remove you from the classroom and give you an “F” on the test or quiz in question.

All students are expected to be familiar with the University of Tennessee Honor Statement and to abide by its terms. The entire Honor Statement can be found in Hilltopics.

Attendance

I will take roll every day. You may be excused from class (or given credit for attending a class you did not actually attend) if you have written evidence of sickness, infirmity, or commitment to a university-sanctioned extracurricular activity. Appeals will be heard in other cases. Appeals are very seldom granted.

Talking in Class

This class will involve a great deal of discussion. However, you are to speak only when recognized by me. Furthermore, you may NOT talk when someone else (including me) is speaking.

Paper Assignment

Guidelines:

  • Ten percent of your grade will be based on a short paper.
  • You will be docked 1/3 of a letter grade for each day your paper is late.
  • Your paper should be well crafted, and should be free of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. You will be docked 1/3 of a letter grade for each five (5) such errors that I find.
  • You must cite at least three (3) references (not including your primary text) in your paper.
  • Your paper should be 3-5 double-spaced pages long, assuming 12-point font and standard margins.

Choose one (1) of the following paper assignments and complete it.

1. Americans tend to distrust and dislike the national government more than ever. Why do you think this is the case? In your answer, be sure to cite credible evidence to support your argument.

2. Pretend that President Bush has contacted you and asked for your opinion on an important policy matter. It is your job to write a “policy brief” that explains your position on the issue and what you think the government should do about it. You can choose any issue you please, as long as you let me know what it is in advance. Here is a list of possible issues: a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, our alliance with Saudi Arabia, development of defensive biological weapons, farm subsidies, immigration from Mexico, learning about Islam in college courses, privatization of Social Security, regulation of violent entertainment, reparations for the descendants of slaves, restrictions on civil liberties (to fight the war on terrorism), school vouchers, war with Iraq.

Course Schedule (subject to change!)

W1. Thursday 8/22
The Rules
W2. Tuesday 8/27 / The Constitution: Read: KJ chs. 1 and 2, CL chs. 1.1 and 1.3.
W2. Thursday 8/29
W3. Tuesday 9/3 / Federalism: Read: KJ ch. 3, CL ch. 2.4
W3. Thursday 9/5 / Civil Liberties: Read KJ ch. 5, CL chs. 3.2, 3.4, and 3.6.
W4. Tuesday 9/10
W4. Thursday 9/12 / Civil Rights: Read KJ ch. 4
W5. Tuesday 9/17 / Catch up day
W5. Thursday 9/19 / Midterm #1
W6. Tuesday 9/24
The players / Congress: Read KJ ch. 6, CL chs. 10.1 and 10.2.
W6. Thursday 9/26
W7. Tuesday 10/1 / The President: Read: KJ ch. 7, CL chs. 11.1 and 11.3.
W7. Thursday 10/3
W8. Tuesday 10/8 / The Bureaucracy: Read: KJ ch. 8, CL chs. 12.1 and 12.3.
W8. Thursday 10/10 /
HOLIDAY
W9. Tuesday 10/15 / The Judiciary: Read: KJ ch. 9, CL chs. 13.3 and 13.4.
W9. Thursday 10/17
W10. Tuesday 10/22 / The Public: Read: KJ ch. 10, CL ch. 4.1.
W10. Thursday 10/24 /
Campaigns and Elections: Read: KJ ch. 11, CL chs. 5.1 and 5.3.
W11. Tuesday 10/29 / Political Parties: Read KJ ch. 12, CL chs. 6.1 and 6.3.
W11. Thursday 10/31 / Midterm #2
W12. Tuesday 11/5 / Interest Groups: Read KJ ch. 13, CL chs. 9.2 and 9.3.
W12. Thursday 11/7 / The Media: Read KJ ch. 14, CL ch. 8.3.
W13. Tuesday 11/12 / Paper due
W13. Thursday 11/14
The Issues / Conservatives on the March. Read: BO, whole book.
W14. Tuesday 11/19
W14. Thursday 11/21 / Liberals Fight Back. Read: MM, whole book.
W15. Tuesday 11/26
W15. Thursday 11/28 /
HOLIDAY
W16. Tuesday 12/3 /
LAST DAY

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