1 Social Science Department Common Course Syllabus: Government 2301 Shallowater / Plainview Course Title: American Government, Organization Fall 2011 Govt_ 2301_376_cole_FA11 Govt_2301_377_cole_FA11 Govt_2301_388_cole_FA11 Govt_2301_501_cole_FA11 CREDIT: Government 2301 is a three hour lecture course that satisfies a core curriculum requirement in Social Science and all Undergraduate Degrees. PREREQUISTS: TSI compliance in Reading. CAMPUS: Plainview TEXTBOOK: All dual credit classes: We The People:An Introduction to American Politic. ,Ginsberg, :Lowi, Weir, Champagne & Harpham. Eighth Texas Edition Published by W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-93527-7 COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is a survey of fundamental principles of political science, including the American system of government and the origins and development of the constitutions of the United States and Texas. This course satisfies the legislative requirements for teacher certification. COURSE PURPOSE: To acquaint students with the specifics of the development of the Texas and U.S. Constitutions and the party systems of the nation and the state. The primary goal is to promote critical thinking in understanding of the operation of the US and Texas Governments. Fundamentally, the course promotes general understanding of a body of knowledge any literate person should possess about the government of his or her own country. COURSE REQUIREMENTS: To maximize a students potential to complete this course, he/she should attend all class meetings, complete all homework assignments and examinations in a timely manner, and complete all other projects or papers as assigned in the instructor’s specific instructions. COURSE EVALUATION: See instructor’s course information sheet for specific items used in evaluating student performance. ATTENDANCE POLICY: Whenever absences become excessive and in the instructor’s opinion, minimum course objectives cannot be met due to absences, the student will be withdrawn from the course. The instructor information sheet details regarding attendance. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: - Recognize the differences between the New Jersey and Virginia Plans. - Identify the major components of Articles I, II and III of the US Constitution - Explain the major components of the Bill of Rights - Define federalism and it’s constitutional basis between the nation and state governments - List the differences between the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. - Describe the powers of the president as established in the Constitution - List weaknesses of the Texas Constitution - Identify the formal structure and organization of the Texas House and the Senate2 Description of the Specific Course Requirements for Government 2301 Instructor: Jim Cole, Ph.D. Communication: Before or after class or other arrangements Cell: 806-438-3426 Email: [email protected] Please do not hesitate to call, text or email me. I encourage you to do so. Text: We the People: An Introduction to American Politics. Ginsberg, Lowi, Weir, Champange & Harphram. Course Requirements and Grades .There will be five exams during the semester and a final comprehensive exam. EXAMS: The exams will be based on class lectures, notes and the text. Each exam will consist of a combination of multiple choice and true/false question Projected Exam Dates September 19: Chapters 1, 2 and 3 The Political Landscape, The Constitution, and Federalism and Chapter 4 Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights. October 10: Chapter 5 Civil Rights & Chapter 6 Public Opinion, Chapter 7 The Media Chapter 8 Political Participation and Voting October 31: Chapter 9 Political Parties, Chapter 11 Groups and Interest Groups, Chapter 12 Congress November 18 Chapter 13 The Presidency, Chapter 14 The Bureaucracy , Chapter 15 The Federal Courts December 9 Texas Government: The Legislature, the Governor and the State Courts. December 14 Comprehensive Final Exam (excluding Texas Government)3 EXTRA CREDIT There will be opportunity to earn extra credit by writing a short paper. Each paper will be up to 5 or 10 points added to an exam grade. Some topics will count more than 5 points depending upon the topic. This will be determined by the instructor. The extra credit grade for a paper is for a maximum of five to ten points for that essay. An inadequate paper will receive fewer points. All extra credit must be turned in no later than Monday, November 28, or sooner. No extra credit paper will be accepted for any reason after November 28. The topic can be a review of a movie or book on a topic within the scope of this course or a short paper that expands on a topic currently being studied in class.. The student should discuss any extra credit project with the instructor. Some extra credit papers will be required and some will be optional. Also, I will furnish you with some extra credit suggestions. for both 5 and 10 point papers. Extra credit questions will be emailed to you. If you do not understand the questions or if you are unsure as to how to proceed then email or call me Each five point extra credit paper will be three pages long, typed, and double-spaced. An extra credit paper for 10 points will be five pages long. Guidelines for organization of Extra Credit Papers. Five point papers will be 3 pages and 10 point papers will be 5 pages , double spaced, and 12 point letter size. Papers must have an introduction, body and conclusion. A thesis sentence must be included in the introduction and the major points to be discussed may be listed as 1,2,3. The thesis sentence will be underlined. Papers will discuss at least three major points as part of the body of the paper. The conclusion will restate what you intended to discuss in the paper. EXAMPLE THESIS SENTENCE AND ORGANIZATION OF PAPER THESIS SENTENCE;: The purpose of this paper is to (1) describe the features of the Virginia and New Jersey plans (2) list the differences between the two plans and (3) explain the compromises and the significance of the compromises between the two plans. BODY: The body of the paper will develop what is stated in the thesis sentence. Notice the “action words” such as “describe”, “list”, and “explain”. These words tell what you are going to do to develop each point. As you transition between the major points, your first sentence can use such terms such as “compare” or