GVPT 221 - FALL 2006 INTRODUCTION TO FORMAL THEORIES OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR AND POLITICS Instructor: Professor Piotr Swistak, TYD 1135 B, tel. 405-4149 email: [email protected]. Office hours: Thursdays 10:00 am-12:00 pm in TYD 1135B, or drop me an email and we will meet at any time that is convenient for you. Lectures: KEY 0102, Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm. Prerequisite: GVPT 170 An important message from the GVPT Advisor: The Government and Politics Advising Office has sent out several messages regarding pre-requisites for this course and others at the upper level. The pre-requisite for this course is GVPT 170. If you do not have the pre-requisite you should have already dropped this course. The advising office is giving students until next week to drop this course or they will be administratively dropped. I have a list of students who have not dropped and who have not contacted me previously about any extenuating or special circumstances regarding their presence in this class. If you do no have the pre-requisite and would like to remain in the class, please see me individually and I will make recommendations to the director of undergraduate studies. If you have any questions about prerequisites please contact the GVPT Advising office at [email protected] or by going to their offices located in 1147 and 1155 Tydings Hall. A message from the Honors Council: The Student Honor Council encourages any individuals teaching a course Fall semester to include the following information in the course syllabus: The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit www.shc.umd.edu. To further exhibit your commitment to academic integrity, remember to sign the Honor Pledge on all examinations and assignments: "I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this examination (assignment)." If you look up some major journals in political science (e.g., the American Political Science Review) you will see that a good part of the modern political science looks more like physics and other “hard” sciences than a traditional social science. This is the new face of the science of politics and the direction in which the discipline is rapidly changing. My objective in this class is (1) to show you the reasons for this revolutionary transformation, (2) to teach you how formal theories are constructed, and (3) to show you how this mode of research can be applied to solve a number of important problems of politics and society. The list of topics below will give you an idea about the scope and the content. READINGS Materials for this class (e.g., syllabus, lecture notes, sample test questions) will be posted, throughout the semester, on www.wam.umd.edu/~pswistak.All readings are placed on E-reserves. Please consult www.lib.umd.edu/PUBSERV/RESERVE/MCK-R/reserve.html on how to use E-reserves. WARNING This is not a typical social science class. Much of the material is deductive and mathematicalstudents who do not like this type of reasoning may find it agonizing. GRADING MANDATORY GRADING Your class grade will be determined by four mandatory tests (testing your understanding of the material covered) and an optional fifth test (to be given on the last day this class meets.) If you choose to take four tests, each test will count 25%, if you choose to take five, each will count 20%. With an exception of test number five, for each test there will be an optional make-up test that will allow you to improve your grade. Make-up tests will be somewhat more difficult and will count as 1/3 of your test grade. Assume, for example, that your score on Test 2 was 70% (C-) and you want to improve it by taking a make-up. Suppose that your score on the make-up test is 100%. In that case your total score for Test 2 will be determined as: (2/3)*70% + (1/3)*100% = 80% (B-). Another optional way to improve your grade is by taking the final exam. Final exam will count as 1/3 of your total test grade. For example, suppose that you took four tests and your total test score is 85% (B). In that case if you decide not to take the final exam, your class grade will automatically become a B. If, however, you take the final and score 94% on it, your class grade will be: (2/3)*85% + (1/3)*94% = 88% (B+). EXTRA CREDIT There are three ways to earn an extra credit: (1) There will be several (up to nine) homework assignments. Each properly solved and neatly written up assignment will count as extra 1%. (2) Class performance as measured by in-class group competitions. Top four students will get an extra 4%. The next four top will get an extra 2%. (3) Finally, you can get an extra credit by tutoring other students for make-up tests. You will be allowed to tutor others only if your own test score was at least 90% (this score may vary from test to test.) If your student scores on a make-up test at least 10% more than on the regular test, you will get an extra 1%. Details of the tutoring program will be announced after our first test. WHAT IS THE MAXIMAL GRADE YOU CAN GET IN THIS CLASS? If you score perfect 100% on each test (this alone gets you 100%), turn in all 9 homework assignments (+9%), get top credit for group exercises (+4%) and successfully tutor someone for all make-up tests (+4%), your grade is 117%. All grades above 100% become A+. While all testing is closed book, your are allowed to have a crib sheet—a single standard size sheet of paper with whatever information you want to put on it. Missing a test will not be allowed except for extraordinary circumstances like medical emergencies, jury duty, etc, for which I will ask you to supply relevant documents (from the physician, court, etc). Youhave to inform me about such emergencies immediately and no later than a week after the missed test. If you neglect to document your absence within a week, I will assign zero points to a missed test; there will be no appeals.