University of Texas at Austin Government 310L American Government Unique Number: 38545 Instructor: Adam Myers Fall 2011 Meeting Place: Wagner 201 Meeting Time: MWF 11 11:50 Office: Mezes 2.302 Office Hours: MWF 12 1 E mail: adam.myers@utexas.edu Phone: 232 7238 Course overview: This course provides a broad overview of American government and politics. The primary focus of the course is on the national level, but it also examines the political system of the state of Texas. The course has three primary objectives. The first is to provide basic knowledge about the American and Texas political systems by examining important political processes, institutions, and actors. The second is to give students the analytical tools that they need in order to evaluate and form their own opinions about the many difficult issues and questions in contemporary American politics. The third is to provide students with a rudimentary introduction to the discipline of political science and the kind of work that political scientists do. Prerequisites: Students must have completed twelve semester hours of college credit and received a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) or another appropriate test before enrolling in this course. Course Materials: The primary textbook for this course will be: Fiorina, Peterson, Johnson, and Mayer. 2009. The New American Democracy, 7 th edition. Pearson Longman. The textbook is available for purchase at the University Co op. At various points in the semester, we will also read a variety of articles and book chapters, which will either be available on the internet or posted on Blackboard. Near the end of the course, we will make use of the online textbook Texas Politics, written and produced by the staff of the Texas Politics Project at UT. It can be found at this address: http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu In addition to the required readings, I strongly encourage students of this course to read a daily newspaper covering current events at the national and local levels. Doing so will help to facilitate our class discussions and will help you to get more out of the course in general. Grades: The course will include four exams, which will be comprised of a mixture of multiple choice and short answer questions. Each of these exams (including the final exam) will cover all material presented in readings and lecture since the last exam (i.e. they will not be cumulative). All exams will be weighted equally in computing final grades (each exam will count for 25% of the final grade).
Exam 1 Monday, September 19 Exam 2 Friday, October 14 Exam 3 Monday, November 7 Exam 4 Saturday, December 10, 9 am 12 pm (official final exam time as set by university) There will also be at least one opportunity for extra credit for the course. The specifics of the extra credit assignment(s) will be announced later in class. The following grade cutoffs will be used to calculate final course grades: 93 100 A 90 92 A 87 89 B+ 83 86 B 80 82 B 77 79 C+ 73 76 C 70 72 C 60 69 D Below 60 F Additional Information: Attendance: Students are strongly encouraged to be present in class for each class meeting. Because exams will include material covered only during lecture as well material from the readings, absences from class meetings are likely to have a negative effect on exam performance. Make Up Exams and Incomplete Grades: There will be no early or makeup exams, except for extreme emergencies (and I am the sole arbiter of what constitutes an extreme emergency). Incomplete grades are highly discouraged and will only be given in the direst of circumstances. Students must complete ALL assigned work to pass the course. Failure to complete all course requirements will result in a failing grade. Assigned Reading: Students are responsible for completing the assigned readings before class. Academic Integrity: Academic dishonesty will be dealt with according to University of Texas policies. Students are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with guidelines for academic integrity and penalties for academic dishonesty (http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/ and http://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/gi09 10/ch01/index.html). Accommodations For Special Needs: Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471 6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/
Syllabus: The syllabus should be used as a guideline for course objectives and student responsibilities. The instructor reserves the right to modify the syllabus, including the course schedule, shown below. Any modification to the schedule will be announced. Students are responsible for announcements and other information presented in class, posted on Blackboard, and/or sent via e mail. TNAD = The New American Democracy (textbook) TBD = to be determined Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Week 5 August 24: Introduction and Course Overview August 26: Political Culture TNAD, Chapter 4 August 29: The U.S. Constitution TNAD, Chapter2, up to page 41 August 31: The U.S. Constitution Read the U.S. Constitution (TNAD, pp. 616 632) September 2: Federalism TNAD, Chapter 3, up to page 76 September 5: LABOR DAY NO CLASS September 7: Federalism TNAD, Chapter 3, 76 to end Short articles at: http://www.stateline.org/live/static/2011fivefiscalfutures September 9: Civil Liberties TNAD, Chapter 16, up to page 475 September 12: Civil Liberties TNAD, Chapter 16, 475 to end September 14: Civil Rights TNAD, Chapter 17, up to page 509 September 16: Civil Rights TNAD, Chapter 17, 509 to end September 19: EXAM ONE September 21: Public Opinion TNAD, Chapter 5, all Special Assignment: Examine the results of the polls of Texas residents conducted by UT and the Texas Tribune. Polls can be found at: http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu. We will discuss the execution and results of these and other polls in class. September 23: Political Participation and Voting TNAD, Chapter 6 (pages TBD)
Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 September 26: Political Participation and Voting TNAD, Chapter 6 (pages TBD) Guest Lecturer: Tao Fang Huang September 28: Interest Groups TNAD, Chapter 7, all September 30: The Media TNAD, Chapter 8, all October 3: Political Parties TNAD, Chapter 8, up to page 220 October 5: Political Parties TNAD, Chapter 8, pages 220 231 Brewer, Mark D. and Jeffrey M. Stonecash. 2009. Dynamics of the American Political Parties, chapter 1 (Blackboard) October 7: Campaigns and Elections TNAD, Chapter 10, all October 10: Campaigns and Elections TNAD, Chapter 11, all October 12: Campaigns and Elections/Congress Brennan Center, A Citizen s Guide to Redistricting, pp. 2 17, 45 64, 74 81, available at: http://brennan.3cdn.net/dbda15133afb14c05b_i4m6b40of.pdf October 14: EXAM TWO October 17: Congress TNAD, Chapter 12, all October 19: Congress Rohde, David and John Aldrich. 2010. Consequences of Electoral and Institutional Change. In: New Directions in American Political Parties. (Blackboard) October 21: The Presidency TNAD, Chapter 13 Week 10 October 24: The Presidency Special assignment: Go to C SPAN s Presidential Leadership Survey website (http://legacy.cspan.org/presidentialsurvey/default.aspx) and watch the Washington Journal segment on the factors that contribute to presidential greatness. Be prepared to discuss in class. October 26: The Judiciary TNAP, Chapter 15 (pages TBD) Guest lecturer: Jacqueline Hunsicker October 28: The Judiciary TNAP, Chapter 15 (pages TBD) Week 11 October 31: The Bureaucracy TNAD, Chapter 14, all November 2: Domestic Policy TNAD, Chapter 18, up to page 542 November 4: Domestic Policy TNAD, Chapter 18, 542 to end
Week 12 November 7: EXAM THREE November 9: Economic Policy TNAD: Chapter 19, up to page 563 November 11: Economic Policy TNAD: Chapter 19, 563 to end Week 13 November 14: Foreign Policy TNAD, Chapter 20 (pages TBD) Guest Lecturer: Randy Uang November 16: Foreign Policy TNAD, Chapter 20 (pages TBD) November 18: Texas Government The Constitution and Political Culture Texas Politics, Political Culture, sections 1 5 Texas Politics, The Constitution, sections 3 7 Week 14 November 21 Texas Government Parties and Elections Texas Politics, Political Parties, Sections 3 8 Texas Politics, Voting, Campaigns, and Elections, Sections 3 4 November 23 Video Last Man Standing November 25: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY NO CLASS Week 15 November 28 Texas Government The Legislature and Executive Texas Politics, The Legislative Branch, Sections 2 10 Texas Politics, The Executive Branch, Sections 1 5 November 30 Texas Government The Executive and Judiciary Texas Politics, The Executive Branch, Section 9 Texas Politics, The Judicial System, Sections 2 3 December 2 Catch up and Review FINAL EXAM Saturday, December 10, 9 am 12 pm (room TBD)