Jeffrey Alan Johnson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Department of History and Government

Why did Congress struggle to renew the USA PATRIOT Act? Who is responsible for job losses last year, and who gets to take credit for new jobs this year? Why did Clinton survive impeachment while Nixon resigned over the mere threat? This course introduces the study of American politics with the aim of learning how to answer questions like this. The discipline of political science provides analytical tools that help people involved in politics understand, explain, and predict outcomes in political affairs. In this course, you will learn a few of these tools and be able to use them to analyze political events in the United States.

Course Objectives
The aim of my courses is to develop knowledge. Knowledge is different from information. Information is raw data. It is useless as such; only when it is turned into something that tells you about the world is information useful. Knowledge is information that has been processed into conclusions one can use to explain, predict, and act reliably in the real world. In my courses you will learn how to turn information into knowledge and communicate it to others as a professional. Students who successfully complete this course will have achieved the following.

Improvement in the following basic skills:

1. Analytical reasoning. This means drawing sound conclusions using the knowledge that you have to turn new information into new knowledge. You must learn to make evaluations of evidence and use general concepts to understand specific situations in ways consistent with logical reasoning.

2. Communication. This means effectively conveying knowledge in speech and writing. You must master, at a minimum, English spelling, grammar, and style. But you must master as well the ability to express your ideas simply, briefly, and logically.

3. Professionalism. This means upholding the standards of conduct that guide persons of responsibility. You must pursue excellence in your work, accountability for your conduct, and respect for yourself and others in your attitude. "Good enough to get away with" is the great enemy of professionalism. More detailed guidance in professional conduct in my classes is described in the Standards of Performance and Conduct.

Knowledge of the following aspects of political science in relation to American Government:

1. Core structures and practices of politics in the United States.

2. Use of explanatory concepts in political science to understand, explain, and predict the outcomes of political events in the United States.

3. Conceptual understanding of what makes political actors powerful, how political institutions shape the behavior of political actors, and what practices are necessary for democratic government.

Online Enhancements
This course is Blackboard enhanced. All students must register for the course on Blackboard at http://blackboard.cameron.edu by the end of the first week under course number ps1113_johnson_s08. There will be weekly assignments to complete on Blackboard as well as materials to enhance your study. For enrollment instructions, see http://www.cameron.edu/online/student_prep.html. This course is listed under "History/Government" in the online course catalog. If you have difficulties enrolling, go to the CU Online Helpdesk page at http://www.cameron.edu/online/helpdesk.html.

The course will also use the TurnItIn.com plagiarism detection system. All essays must be submitted through BOTH Blackboard (for grading) AND TurnItIn (for evaluation of originality). Students will receive TII enrollment instructions during the third week of class. Those instructions will be sent to your official Cameron student email account. To access that account if you do not use it regularly, see the instructions on the studentemail.cameron.edu login page.

Assignments and Evaluation
Students will complete the following assignments:

1. Three examinations. These examinations will consist of one essay question and are worth 60 points each. The question may be broken down into separate sub-questions. You will usually have a choice of at least two questions. These will be taken in class.

2. Two out-of-class essays. You will be given a reading related to material discussed in this course. The essays will ask you to describe a concept used in this course and use that concept to explain the events described in the reading. Each essay is worth 60 points.

3. 12 Quizzes. For each chapter that we study there is a five question, true/false quiz on Blackboard. The questions are taken strictly from the readings, and you may use your textbook to answer the questions. These are worth a total of 40 points. You will have 60 points worth of opportunities to complete the quizzes, though no student will receive more than 40 total points.

Grades will be assigned using the following scale: A (90% - 100%); B (80% - 89.9%); C (70% - 79.9%); D (60% - 69.9%); F (below 60%).

Exams and major papers may be submitted late without penalty only with my consent, given no later than 24 hours before the assignment is due. Where prior consent is not practical, documentation of circumstances that prevented both the timely submission of the assignment and consultation with me will be required; such extensions will be allowed only for unavoidable circumstances. The maximum extension without penalty will be 72 hours. Other late assignments will be penalized 10% of the maximum value of the assignment for each day or portion thereof that the assignment is late. Because quizzes generally test preparation for the lectures scheduled, no credit will be given for late assignments under any circumstances except those specifically required by university regulations. Excused late submission will be permitted only if the cause in question prevents submission during the entire time it was possible to submit the assignment.

Students who must miss an exam must contact me as soon as the circumstances requiring this are known, and not less than one week before the exam. Where this is not practical, documentation of circumstances that both require the student to miss the exam and prevented consultation with me will be required. Students will be allowed to miss exams only for unavoidable circumstances or university-sponsored events that require their presence. Travel for personal reasons is not an unavoidable circumstance.

Because I will no longer be working at Cameron University after this semester, no incomplete grades can be given for this course under any circumstances. In extreme circumstances I will do all I can to facilitate withdrawal from the course for students who cannot complete the work within the semester.

Current Events
Students must keep up on current events, both nationally and internationally. Class discussion will often revolve around current political news; students who are not reasonably current  will have a much more difficult time understanding class than those that do. Excellent online sources include The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor (note that CSM does not have a religious perspective), the Manchester Guardian, and the Financial Times. If you are competent in a foreign language, I encourage you to find newspapers in the language you can read. If you are not competent in a foreign language, become so. Neither USA Today nor local and regional newspapers are sufficient to ensure adequate knowledge of world affairs. Exam essays will be based on current events.

Readings
All students must purchase Edwards et al., Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy, Brief version, 9th ed. (Longman, 2007). It is available from the bookstore and the usual online sources. There may be additional readings as announced, usually available online. You might also refer to the textbook's web site (http://wps.ablongman.com/long_edwards_gab_8/) for student resources, including chapter summaries, helpful web sites, exercises, and practice exams.

Previous editions of the textbook are, in general, acceptable for use in this course. However, note that:

1. Chapters may be numbered differently. If you are using another edition of the text, be sure to read the chapter appropriate to the topic being studied.

2. Quiz questions are developed for the 9th brief edition of the text. If you are using another edition, some questions may not be included in your text and information relevant to the question given may be different. Sufficient extra credit is built into the quiz process that this should not affect your grade.

Workload
According to the accreditation standards that validate your degree as a legitimate one, to receive three semester credit hours requires 135 hours of study, including not more than 45 hours in class. In this course, study hours are budgeted as follows:

Outside commitments will not excuse students whose performance suffers because they cannot meet these requirements.

Course Schedule

Quizzes are not listed below. The quiz for each chapter is available on Blackboard. It is due on the last day of each topic below. Quizzes will be available at the beginning of each part of the course and may be taken any time that they are available.

Lectures

Part I: Basic Principles of American Government
Jan. 14-18: Introduction. Ch. 1
Jan. 21: Martin Luther King Day (No Class)
Jan. 23-28: The Constitution. Ch. 2
Jan. 30-Feb. 1: Federalism. Ch. 3
Feb. 4-13: Civil Liberties. Ch. 4

Part II: Policymaking Institutions
Feb 18-25: Congress. Ch. 11 Congress Simulation
Feb 27-Mar. 7: Presidency. Ch. 12
Mar. 10-14: Bureaucracy. Ch. 13
Mar. 17-21: Spring Break (No Class)
Mar. 24-Apr. 2: Judiciary. Ch. 14
Mar. 26-28: Honors Program Field Trip (No Class)

Part III: Citizens and Linkage Institutions
Apr. 7-9: Public Opinion and Participation. Ch. 6
Apr. 11-14: Elections. Ch. 9
Apr. 18-25: Media. Ch. 7
Apr. 28-May 2: Interest Groups. Ch. 10

May 5: Conclusions

Assignments
Feb. 4: Essay 1 (Blackboard)
Feb 15: Exam 1 (In Class)
Apr. 4: Exam 2 (In Class)
Apr. 21: Essay 2 (Blackboard)

Final Exam Schedule
Sec. 0932 (Meets MWF 10:00-10:50 AM): Wednesday, May 7, 10:00 AM
Sec. 0934 (Meets MWF 11:00-11:50 AM): Tuesday, May 6, 1:00 PM

General Policies

Academic Conduct
All students are subject to the university's policies regarding academic integrity (Code of Student Conduct, Academic Regulations, sec. 5.07 et seq.). If you have questions about whether something would violate these policies, feel free to talk to me about how to avoid that. In general, the assignments permit you to discuss work done outside of class among yourselves, but each student must make one's own argument and write one's own paper. Plagiarism (the use of the ideas of others without attribution, whether quoted directly or indirectly) will especially not be tolerated; while additional research is commended, each student must properly cite ideas from other sources. For further information on avoiding plagiarism, see Basic Skills on my web site.

The minimum penalty for any violation of academic regulations, even one that is unintentional, shall be that the student will receive no credit for the assignment AND that a penalty equal to the value of the assignment will be assessed on the student's course grade. Any subsequent violations, including ones in subsequent courses, will be referred to Student Development for formal disciplinary proceedings under the Code of Student Conduct.

Personal Conduct
All members of the class must treat each other responsibly and with respect, and are subject to the university's regulations regarding disruptive behavior (Code of Student Conduct, Appendix B, esp. sec. b.6) and harassment (Code of Student Conduct, Responsibilities of the Student, sec. 2.02.x). Politics courses should breed controversy at times; students who go the whole semester without being offended by something or someone are not paying attention. At times, I may try to offend in order to impress a point on the class or characterize a particular position as offensive. Tolerance in my classes means the opportunity (and perhaps the obligation) to respond substantively to positions that one sees as offensive and not to restrain voicing of such opinions. University regulations will be interpreted and applied with this in mind. However, personal attacks or other disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated. I strongly encourage students to bring to my attention any concerns about class conduct, including my own.

Email
All correspondence between students and the instructor is to be treated in a professional manner. I will not respond to any messages from inappropriate email addresses, or to messages with sensitive contents where the address is held by anyone other than the student. All communication should use correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. For useful information on email etiquette, see "What is Netiquette?" and "The Core Rules of Netiquette."

Disability Accommodations
It is the policy of Cameron University to accommodate students with disabilities, pursuant to federal and state law. Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations must make their requests by contacting the Office of Student Development at (580) 581-2209, North Shepler Room 314. Students with recognized physical or educational disabilities will be granted accommodations as permitted under University policy, provided that I am informed of the need for accommodation in a timely manner. For further details on disability accommodations, see the Disabled Student Services web site.

Student Privacy
Under the United States Family and Educational Rights to Privacy Act, all student records are considered private. Information regarding student performance or behavior will not be communicated except in person directly to the student or in writing to the student's mailing address of record without expressed written consent from the student. Grades will not be communicated by phone or email, nor can they be communicated to anyone other than the student, including parents, without such consent except as required by law.

Withdrawal
The last date to withdraw from this course with an automatic "W" is April 14. The last day to withdraw for any reason for April 28. Between the withdrawal dates, the instructor has the option of assigning a grade of "W" or "F."

Revision of Policies and Syllabi
All policies are provisional, and are subject to addition, deletion, change, or waiver with or without notice when, in the sole judgment of the instructor, doing so would further the educational goals of the course. Revision of the documents on the instructor's web site shall constitute notice of changes in policies for which students are held responsible. While the instructor will endeavor to notify students of such changes through announcements in class, students are encouraged to review these policies and the course syllabus periodically for changes. Changes after the beginning of the term will be identified with a revision date.

Where these policies conflict with university regulations, university regulations shall prevail.