Syllabus


Course News

Evaluation for the library session surveys available here

Nov. 24 update

Quiz on Congress will be held on Tueday Nov. 25. Next week's topic is Administration.

Administration practice exam (quiz after Thanksgiving holiday)

Interesting new Resource on The US Role in World Affairs here

Congress and Administration assignments:

  • dont have to be turned in--no points given for them
  • do have to be done in order to complete public policy brief on Federal level policy
  • Bring them to class or office hour for help with your assignment.

Example of a B+ policy brief here

Here is a source on what an annotated bibliography is and how to make one .

Annenberg video case studies

Course Outline

Congressional Internships


Course Abstract

This course presents a survey of the origin and development of the U.S. government. It covers the structure of the Confederacy, Federalist papers, and functions of Congress, the Presidency and Courts as well as Interest Groups, Civil Liberties, Political Parties and Political Policy.


Assignment Types

You will be asked to do three types assignments in this class:

  • reading quizzes, .......................................................25%
  • weekly thinking........................................................25%
  • term long policy research. ..............................50%

Text:

Sabato and Oconner: American Government: Continuity and Change

Richard Heffner: Documents in United States History (on order: links to be provided at schedule page)

 


Daily News

It is required that you read a newspaper about politics every day. I recommend the NY Times or the Washington Post the LA Times or the Wall Street Journal as very good on National News coverage.

I also recommend that you read an "alternative" political news source. Alternative can be about:

  • Specific issues (AARP Newsletter),
  • Points of view (In These Times, Mother Jones, National Review)
  • or from foreign countries (The Economist or The Guardian).