Dr. Michael Coulter POLS 204: AMERICAN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT POLITICAL SCIENCE 204 MWF 2:00 pm HAL 310

Office 300E Office Phone: x3796 Home Phone: 724-458-4448 E-mail: [email protected] Office Hours: MWF 8-9 am,10 – 11:30 am; 1-2 pm; TR 1:30-2:30 pm; Also by appointment

I. Course Description: A Survey of national political institutions, including Congress, the Supreme Court, the presidency, public bureaucracy, and a review of selected topics of public policy.

Course Goals: 1) To know to the basic institutions of American Politics (Congress, Presidency, Courts and Bureaucracy) (Dept. Objective 1, 5, 6) 2) To understand the primary means of participation in American politics, including parties, interest groups and election 3) To be familiar with the use of data analysis for studying American politics (Dept. Objective 1, 2, 6) 4) To Study Important documents related to the American Founding, such as the Federalist Papers and Declaration of Independence (Dept. Objective 1, 5)

Course Outcomes: 1) Students will demonstrate knowledge of the basic institutions in American Politics – (Measured through the mid-term and final exams) 2) Students will demonstrate knowledge of means of participation in American Politics (measured through mid-term and final exam) 3) Students will demonstrate knowledge of important documents in American Politics (measured through the mid-term and final exams and writing assignments) 4) Students will demonstrate knowledge of data sources about American politics (measured through paper on Congressman)

General Objectives for Students Majoring in Political Science 1. Have acquired knowledge of the four major subject areas (American Politics, Political Theory, International Relations, and Comparative Politics) of political science 2. Be Competitive for graduate and professional school opportunities. Political science majors with strong academic records will be competitive for both master’s and Ph.D. programs in political science and other professional programs and will be competitive for financial stipends. 3. Be familiar with entry level jobs suitable for political science majors. 4. Be competitive for entry level jobs suitable for political science majors. 5. Have the ability to read, comprehend, and evaluate content in professional political science journals, scholarly books, and websites.. 6. Show familiarity with, and the ability to critically evaluate, information sources in the Social Sciences. 7. Demonstrate a mastery of research and writing skills in the field of political science. 8. Develop and capacity to apply a Christian moral principles to issues and topics within political science, including using a Christian perspective to evaluate critically political ideas, public policies, and political figures. Simply stated, our aim is that students will seek to understand the field of politics as individuals who are committed to historic Christian thought.

II. Texts The Logic of American Politics, 4th ed Kernell, Jacobson, and Kousser ISBN 978—0-87289-604-8

Additional Readings - Some links to reading and word documents containing readings will be sent throughout the semester. There are some embedded links in the syllabus.

III. Course Requirements 1. Read all assigned readings before they are discussed in class. Participation 10% 2. Examinations: Mid-term (35%) and Final (35%) 3. Writing Assignment (10%): The assignment will be a four-page essay on the Member of the United States House of Representatives who represents your hometown. Due on OCTOBER 27 The Congress Paper: 1. It is to be at least four pages long, double-spaced, with one-inch margins and written with 12 point type in Times New Roman font. 2. Describe the electoral district. What are socio-economic characteristics of that district? What are the main industries? What are voting patterns of that district in presidential elections? The characteristics of a congressional district are important. 3. Describe the most recent race (who was the opponent, was it close). When describing political races, it would be appropriate to comment on the member’s political fundraising. Information about campaign finance of members of congress can be found at www.opensecrets.org. (this site can tell you who your member of congress is by giving your zip code) Also, you must have an appendix that lists past races of your member of congress. Numerical results can be found in America Votes, which can be found in the reference section of the library. 4. Use sources from the library such as CQ Week, CQ Researcher, CQ Congress as well as Lexus-Nexus. 5. For information on votes and bills go to www.house.gov, www.senate.gov, as well as thomas.loc.gov. 4. Reaction and Analysis of Primary Sources. Write a 4 page paper analyzing EITHER Federalist papers related to Congress (October 6) or Presidency (October 13).

In summary Participation 10% Mid-Term 35% Final 35% Primary Source Paper 10% Congress Paper 10% 100%

Grading scale: All grades are based on a 100 point scale with the following divisions: A: 100- 93; A-: 90-92; B+: 87-89; B: 83-86; B-: 80-82; C+: 77-79; C: 73-76; C-: 70-72; D+: 67-69; D: 63-66; D-: 60-62; F: below 60. Class Policies 1. Attendance: Standard college policy allows three unexcused absences for a three-hour course. Note: Each unexcused absence over three reduces your final grade by 2%. 2. Late Assignments: Papers are due at the beginning of class on the assigned date. Each day late lowers the grade by 3%. 3. Students who must miss an exam for an excused absence must arrange with the instructor an alternative date. 4. Plagiarism and Academic Integrity: You must acknowledge your sources in endnotes or footnotes. This includes not only direct quotations but also any reference to or paraphrases of an idea that you did not come up with on your own. The instructor will determine the penalty for plagiarism. Please read the "Honesty in Learning" statement in the GCC Bulletin. Also, please note that your paper for this class must be written solely for this class and is not to be submitted to another class. If it is discovered that your paper was also submitted to another class, you will have to write another paper for this course. 5. The use or possession of former examinations from this course in preparing for tests is considered a violation of the GCC Honesty in Learning Policy as stated in the college bulletin. Note: This syllabus, including the schedule that follows, may be changed during the semester at the discretion of the instructor to better meet the needs of the class.

GCC Statement on Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious violation of moral and academic principles. It involves claiming as one’s own original work the ideas, phrasing, or creative work of another person. As such, plagiarism is a direct violation of the biblical commandments against stealing, bearing false witness, and covetousness; thus, the Grove City College policy. We encourage our students to think seriously about the demands of their Christian faith in regards to this issue.

We remind students that plagiarism includes the following: 1) Any direct quotation of another’s words, from simple phrasing to longer passages, without using quotation marks and properly citing the source of those words; 2) Any summary or paraphrase of another’s ideas without properly citing the source of those ideas; 3) Any information that is not common knowledge —including facts, statistics, graphics, drawings—without proper citation of sources; 4) Any cutting and pasting of verbal or graphic materials from another source—including books, databases, web sites, journals, newspapers, etc.—without the proper citation for each of the sources of those materials; this includes any copyrighted artwork, graphics, or photography downloaded from the Internet without proper citation; 5) Any wholesale “borrowing,” theft, or purchasing of another’s work and presenting it as one’s own, whether from the Internet or from another source; 6) Any presentation of “ghost-written” papers—whether paid for or not—as one’s own original work; 7) Making one’s work available for copying by others, as well as copying work posted on the Internet or otherwise made available by another.

Grading scale: All grades are based on a 100 point scale with the following divisions: A: 100- 93; A-: 90-92; B+: 87-89; B: 83-86; B-: 80-82; C+: 77-79; C: 73-76; C-: 70-72; D+: 67-69; D: 63-66; D-: 60- 62; F: below 60. Note: One class will be cancelled this semester. In lieu of that class, you will be required to attend 2 outside lectures. These will be announced in class as I learn of opportunities. Students should submit notes from those lectures or sign with the professor at the lecture. Schedule for the Semester

LAP – Logic of American Politics

Sept. 1 - Introduction to course

Sept. 3 – No class

Sept. 8 – The Logic of American Politics Reading: LAP Ch. 1

Sept. 10, 15 – The Constitution Reading: LAP Ch. 2, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Federalist Papers 1,2,6,9,10,51 (Link to Federalist Papers: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html)

Sept. 17, 22 - Federalism Reading: LAP Ch. 3, Federalist 45

Sept. 24, 29- Congress Reading: LAP Ch. 6, Federalists 52-53, 55-56, 62-63

PAPER on Federalist treatment of Congress due on October 6

Oct. 1, 6 – The Presidency Reading: LAP Ch. 7, Federalists 67-73

PAPER on Federalist treatment of presidency due on October 13

Oct. 8, 13 – The Bureaucracy Reading: LAP Ch. 8, W.Wilson “The Study of Administration” http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=465

Oct. 15 – Midterm

Oct. 20 – The Judiciary Reading: LAP Ch. 9, Federalists 78-81

Oct. 22 – No Class – Fall Break

Oct. 27 – Judiciary cntd. Paper on Member of Congress DUE

Oct. 29, Nov. 3 – Public Opinion Reading: LAP Ch. 10 Nov. 5, 10 – Voting and Elections Reading: LAP Ch. 11, Buckley v. Valeo case to be distributed

Nov. 12, 17 – Political Parties Reading: LAP Ch. 12

Nov. 19 – Interest Groups Reading: LAP Ch. 13

Nov. 21- 29 – Thanksgiving Break (No Class)

Dec. 1 – Interest Groups cntd.

Dec. 3, 8 – Civil Rights Reading: LAP Ch.4

Dec. 10, 15 – Civil Liberties Reading: LAP Ch. 5

Study Day: Dec. 17 Final Exam: Tuesday, December 22- 7pm