|
|
|
Political Science 2305 (sections 202 and 204) American National Government Spring 1999 Mr. James A. Norris Office: KL 434C Phone: 326-2607
Off.
Hours: MW 1:30 - 3:15 Text: Greenberg, Edward S. And Benjamin I. Page. 1999. The Struggle For Democracy. 4th Ed. New York: Longman. Course Objectives: To provide you with a basic understanding of the political environment, structure, and institutions of the United States of America. You need to be aware of how the political system operates, of the environment in which it operates, and of your role in it. Furthermore, in the process of acquiring this basic understanding, you should also begin participating in classroom discussions, to critically reflect on your personal political views, and on the views of other students in the class. Attendance: Roll will be taken at almost every class meeting. Perfect attendance (no unexcused absences) with good participation (Follow the News Day) will be worth five extra points added to your final average. More than four unexcused absences will cause your final average to be lowered by one point per unexcused absence. Arriving late will be excused if the circumstances warrant, but chronic tardiness will not. Extra Credit: You may earn extra credit by completing a second class project. Grade Determination: Your final grade in this course will be determined in the following manner: Class Project........................10% 90%-100% = A First Exam...........................30% 80%-89% = B Second Exam.......................30% 70%-79% = C Third Exam..........................30% 60%-69% = D Extra Credit..........................** 0%-59% = F Exams: Exams will be multiple choice over the material covered in class and over the readings in the book. All of the chapter readings are testable, including some material that will not be reviewed in lecture. Exams will be held in class at the times listed in the Course Outline section. They are closed-book exams, which means that nothing should be on your desk during the exam. Those caught cheating -- copying others' work or consulting notes or crib sheets during the exam -- will receive a failing grade for the exam. The exam dates are set at the beginning of the course and all students are expected to show up to take the exams at the appointed time listed in the Course Outline section. Excuses for failure to take the exam at the appointed time, such as "I over slept" or "I was not prepared," will not be accepted. There are occasionally certain calamities that arise such illness that can be excused with appropriate supporting evidence, such as a note from the doctor or Student Health Center. If you feel that you have a legitimate reason for missing one of the exam dates other than a sudden emergency, you must request and receive permission for an excused absence and schedule a make-up exam(s), which must be taken and scheduled at my convenience. Make-up Exams: If you miss an exam due to University sponsored activities you may take a make-up exam. If you make arrangements prior to missing an exam or can produce a medical doctor's excuse (for yourself or a dependent family member) you may also take a make-up exam. However, you must take the effort to find me to schedule the make-up exam. Alternatively, last chance make-ups will be given the last week of the semester. You may last chance make-up any exam (except the third exam) no matter why you were absent. However, these last week of the semester exams are essay tests that emphasize a comprehensive understanding of the material in both the text and from lecture. Class Project Each student will accomplish a class project for 10% of your grade. These are due on 8 April 1999. Because different people have different talents and likes/dislikes and because most of you are not political science, history, pre-law, or social science majors you have a choice of projects: 1) Write a short term paper (5-6 pages double spaced of written work, exclusive of cover page and bibliography, 12 pt font) on a subject of your choice related to either American or Texas government. Also required, at least five references and no more than one may be an encyclopedia. Neatness, documentation, grammar, and spelling count! 2) Create a newspaper/newsmagazine "notebook." Follow a current or recent political issue in the media. Collect at least four articles (all on the same issue) paste them on blank pages, write a ½ page or more analysis of each article (ie. tone, evidence, believability, importance, implications) and close the notebook with a two-three page (double spaced, 12 pt font) essay based upon the articles. For this project you may express your own opinion in the essay. Neatness, grammar, and spelling count! 3) Volunteer to work for a local charity, community service organization, or political campaign. Go to a charity, service organization, political party, or candidate's headquarters and offer your services. Interview the volunteer coordinator, other volunteers, and/or seasoned campaign workers. Write a 5 page (double spaced, 12 pt font) essay on your experiences and interviews. Neatness, grammar, and spelling count! 4) Write three book reviews (2 pages each, double spaced, 12 pt font) of books from the "Suggestions for Further Reading" at the end of each chapter. Neatness, grammar, and spelling count! 5) Create an integrated series of WEB pages for this course with links to political science, government, and other political Internet sites. Neatness, grammar, and spelling count, as does imagination but not too many pictures (we don't want a slow page) watch out for Internet virus! Start with a copy of the syllabus. I will supply you with a copy on disk in Word Perfect, Microsoft Word, ASCII, or HTML format if you wish. Follow the News Day Each Thursday (starting the second week, but not on an exam day) is Follow the News Day. Each student will bring in one newspaper, newsmagazine, or Internet article to discuss in class. You do not need to get your own newspaper or magazine since these articles may be copied in the library. Articles from newspapers on the Internet are also acceptable. WITHDRAWALS AND INCOMPLETES: Students are responsible for voluntarily withdrawing from this course if they decide not to complete it. The last day for "free" withdrawal is February 3. Should be necessary to withdraw you must take all the necessary actions before the last drop day of April 13. Faculty are not responsible to make sure you do or do not wish to withdraw from a course. This is the student's responsibility. If you merely stop attending class without formally withdrawing you will be assigned a grade of "F." A grade of "incomplete" will not be granted except for the most extreme circumstances and only after stringent verification. Course Schedule The schedule is a plan for the course based on assumptions of how much progress we can make. As the semester progresses, the schedule may be modified to take into account actual class performance. Course Outline
|
