POLS 101: American Government

Syllabus for Spring 2018

Instructor: Dave Dehnel

Course Objectives

The goal in this course is to help us develop into informed and effective citizens. Citizenship is not something that can be learned in ten weeks, it is a life-long activity. But we can begin by gaining an understanding of the basic structure of the political system and learning how to critically analyze that system. In other words, we will pursue the following learning goals:

-Gain familiarity with the major institutions of the United States government and their functions.

-Gain an understanding of why, currently, national politics is not functioning as well as it might.

-Be able to critically assess ideas about how to move forward in American politics, distinguishing alternatives with real promise (but no guarantees) from those that are simplistic and/or self-serving.

In order to accomplish these goals, we will learn by speaking, listening, reading and writing about politics. We will compare the structure of American government to other democracies around the world. In summary, this course emphasizes the following Augustana Student Learning Outcomes: understand, analyze, relate, and communicate.

Contacting Me Outside of Class

E-Mail: daviddehnel | Office: 312 Old Main | Phone: 7235

Office Hours: I will be available in my office after class. Good times for appointments include late afternoons and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 to noon.

Books

Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein. 2016. It's Even Worse Than It Looks, New and Expanded Edition. New York: Basic Books.

Raymond Smith. 2014. The American Anomaly, 3^rd Edition. New York: Routledge.

Rules and Policies

1. Regular attendance is required.

2. Students who miss class are responsible for finding out about any assignments, handouts, etc. that they missed.

3. Assignments turned in late will be penalized. Writing Assignments are due at the beginning of class, or they may be submitted by email before the class period begins. I recommend email submission.

4. Students who miss an exam without prior permission will be penalized. If some form of personal disaster prevents you from making it to an exam, to be eligible for a make-up, you must notify me of your problem before the beginning of the exam.

5. Please do not take bathroom breaks during class. This rule will be enforced during exams.

6. Use of electronic devices for non-class purposes is inappropriate.

Grades will be based on:

-three exams (10% each)

-a final exam (15%)

-quizzes (10% total, the lowest quiz score will be dropped)

-four reports—each with a written and oral component (15% total)

-one symposium day reflection (5%)

-three analytical essays (15% total)

-class attendance and participation (10%)

Exams will emphasize material covered in lecture. Your lecture notes will be your study guide for the exams. Quizzes will be given approximately once a week. They will be designed to reward you for doing the reading assignment for the day and to help prepare you for the exams. A typical quiz will include one review question and one question about the main point from the reading assignment for the day. The reports will ask you to reflect on the readings and apply them to current political events.

For the reports, I will divide the class into four groups. On any given day, one of the groups will have a report due. (All students are expected to do the reading assignment and be able to identify the main points made in each reading.) The reports will consist of a written component and an oral report to the class. When calculating the average for the reports, I will drop the lowest score.

For the reports, you will typically be asked to find news articles or make use of web sites. Part of the learning process for these assignments will getting better at knowing what you are finding on the internet—that is, being able to identify and critically evaluate the source. To do this, you will need to be able to distinguish between edited news sources, edited opinion pieces, blogs, and other sources.

More information about the symposium day reflection and the analytical essays will be given later in the term.

Schedule of Reading Assignments

Week 1 (March 5-9)

Monday: Course Introduction

Wednesday: America in World Politics

Readings: Smith, The American Anomaly, chapter one

Friday: America’s Decentralized Government

Readings: American Anomaly, chapter 3

Week 2 (March 12-16)

Monday: Separation of Powers vs. Parliamentary Government

Readings: American Anomaly, chapter 4

Wednesday: Why Has the US Government Been Unable to Act Recently?

Readings: Mann and Ornstein, It’s Even Worse Than it Looks, Preface, Introduction and chapter 1

Friday: The Decline of Political Compromise

Readings: It’s Even Worse Than it Looks, pp. 31-67

First Analytical Essay Due

Week 3 (March 19-23)

Monday: Money in Politics

Readings: It’s Even Worse Than it Looks, pp. 67-80; Drinkard, “Drugmakers Go Furthest to Sway Congress” (handout)

Wednesday: First Exam

Friday: The Consequences of Party Deadlock

Readings: It’s Even Worse Than it Looks, chapter 3

Week 4 (March 26-28)

Monday: Simplistic Solutions Won’t Work

Readings: It’s Even Worse, chapter 4

Wednesday: Reforming the Political Parties

Readings: It’s Even Worse, chapter 5

Friday: No class meeting

Week 5 (April 3-6)

Tuesday: Reforming Governmental Institutions

Readings: It’s Even Worse, Chapter 6; New York Times articles on national monuments (handout)

Second Analytical Essay Due

Wednesday: Living in the System We Have

Readings: It’s Even Worse, “Afterword to the 2016 Paperback Edition”

Friday: Second Exam

Week 6 (April 9-13)

Monday: Citizens in a Democracy

Readings: American Anomaly, chapters 8 and 11

Wednesday: Thinking Outside the Box of the Two Party System

Readings: American Anomaly, chapter 10

Friday: Elections and Voting

Readings: Nichole Mellow “Voting Behavior: Continuity and Confusion in the Electorate” (handout)

Week 7 (April 16-20)

Monday: Thinking Outside the Box of the Bicameral Legislature

Readings: American Anomaly, chapter 6

Wednesday: The Executive Branch

Readings: American Anomaly, chapter 5

Friday: The Scope and Limits of Presidential Power

Readings: Jones, “Perspectives on the Presidency”; Genovese, “The Limits of Presidential Power” (handouts)

Week 8 (April 23-27)

Monday: Making Policy without the Congress

Readings: Articles on climate change policy (handout)

Wednesday: Third Exam

Friday: The Trump Presidency

Readings: Pfiffner, “Organizing the Trump Presidency,”; Grunstein, “The Gathering '-Storm'” (handouts)

Week 9 (April 30-May 4)

Monday: The World’s Oldest Constitution

Readings: American Anomaly, chapter 2; Selections from the U.S. Constitution (handout)

Wednesday: Symposium Day

Friday: Interpreting the World’s Oldest Constitution

Readings: Plessy v. Ferguson; Brown v. Board of Education; Terry v. Ohio

(handouts)

Symposium Day Reflection Due

Week 10 (May 7-11)

Monday: Domestic Policy—the Debate over Big Government

Readings: American Anomaly, pp. 165-175

Wednesday: Race and Politics

Readings: American Anomaly, pp. 175-180; Michelle Alexander, “Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote,” The Nation, February 10, 2016

Friday: American Politics in Perspective

Readings: American Anomaly, pp. 198-203

Third Analytical Essay Due

Final Exam: Tuesday, May 15, 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.