POLS 373 Women
and Politics, Fall 2008
Rosie the Voter*
Dr.
Barbara Burrell, Office: 115 Zulauf Hall,
Office
hours: Tuesday, 2-4 PM, Wed, 10-12, 1-3
Alisa
Von Hagel, Graduate Assistant, Office: 464 DuSable, z066067@students.niu.edu
Office
hours: Wed. 12-2, Thurs. 2-3, Dusable 476.
How
fair and just is it that men monopolize positions of political leadership?
To
what extent do men and women differ and to what extent do they act the same in
the political realm?
How
have women expanded the definition of what is political?
How
do young women today view politics and equality for women?
Consider
that “domestic violence is a leading cause of death for women ages 15-44,
according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
These
are some of the questions we will address in this class. Women in the
Required
Books:
Lynne
E. Ford, Women and Politics: The Pursuit of Equality, second edition. Houghton
Mifflin
Susan J. Carroll and Richard L. Fox, editors. 2006, Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of
American Politics
Jo
Freeman, 2008. We Shall Be Heard, Rowman
and Littlefield
Also
required: CLICKER
Subscribe
to Womens enews www.womensenews.org
Students
also need to purchase a Classroom Performance System (
Proposed Class Schedule
Assignment: Collect news media articles on women engaging
in political acts in their community or acts outside of electoral politics. We
will use them on the section on community activism in November.
Week
of August 26
August
26 – Introduction
August
28 –
Week
of September 4
September
4 – finish
We Will be Heard, Chapters 1-3
Week
of September 9th -
The Women’s Rights Movement and Feminisms
Clicker
quiz: September 9
Week
of September 16th
- Women and Electoral Politics
We Will Be Heard, Chapter 8
Gender and Elections, Chapters 2, 3
“16
Ways of Looking at a Female Voter”, Linda Hirshman, New York Times,
Assignment: How are the presidential candidates
addressing women’s issues and attempting to win the women’s vote? Examine the
candidates’ websites and media articles on these topics and write a 2 page
(double-spaced) paper summarizing their activities and approaches in this
realm.
Week
of September 23 – Women as Candidates for Public Office
We Will Be Heard, Chapters 6,
7
Gender and Elections,
Chapters 4, 5, 7, 8
Clicker
quiz: September 23
Week
of September 30 – Women and the Political Parties
Gender and Elections, Chapter 6
Clicker
Quiz: September 30
Week
of October 7th - Woman for President: Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton’s Campaign for the White House
Gender and Elections, Chapter 1
Assignment,
Due October 7: Write an approximately 2 page paper on a woman head of
government in a nation outside of the
Week
of October 14th -
Midterm Examination
October 14 – Review (we will have an informal
Clicker quiz to help review)
October 16 - Midterm
Week
of October 21 Descriptive Representation
October
21: Clicker quiz
Week
of October 28 Continue with Representation and elections
Assignment: Find two women’s groups active in the
election and describe their organization, activities and strategies.
October 30 – student presentations on their
women candidates
Week
of November 4 “Election Day”, begin
Women and Public Policy
Clicker
quiz: November 4
Week
of November 11th Women and Public Policy
Women
and Politics, Chapters 6, 7, 8
November 13: Student Public Policy presentations
Week
of November 18th Community
activism
Mother
Jones, the Most Dangerous Woman,
Lecture with Rosemary Feuer
Reading
on Mother Jones, to be assigned
We
will also examine the examples of women organizing in their communities and
outside of electoral politics that you have found in the news media.
Week
of November 25th
International Women’s Rights
November 25, student presentations
on women’s rights groups
Week
of December 2 – Overview of women’s participation in politics
December
2, Clicker quiz
Week
of December 8 – Final Exam - Tuesday, December 9 from noon-1:50 PM
I expect
that at this point in your college career you know how to act responsibly in
class.
There
are a number of ways of earning points toward your ultimate grade in this
class.
1.
Attendance. Attendance will be taken each class period at the beginning of
class. One point per class for a total of 30 points (one free day). If you come
to class after attendance is taken you will not get credit for that day. If you
leave class early without an excuse you will not receive credit for attending
that day.
2.
Clicker quizzes, five points each. At least 4-5 times during the semester when
we start a new set of readings, we will have a quick Clicker quiz of five
questions at the beginning of class. See class schedule.
3.
Term paper
You
have three options to choose from for a paper topic
a. Indepth case study of a woman’s
campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate, or Governor. List of potential candidates is on Blackboard.
Your
paper should cover at a minimum the background of the candidate and her
opponent, her political career and how she came to running for this position. What are her stands on the major issues? How
are the media covering her? What words are used to describe her and her
campaign? What is her message? Describe
her campaign. What groups are supporting her and her opponent? How much money
is she raising and spending? See opensecrets.org. Explain the outcome of the election. To what
extent to you see gender playing a role in the campaign? What does it mean to you to have gender
playing a role in a campaign? These are minimum items to cover in your paper.
b An indepth analysis of an issue area in which the
Congressional Caucus on Women’s Issues is currently focusing. There are eight
Task Forces. See Blackboard for a listing of these task forces. It is up to you
to choose an area and research what the issues are that the Task Force is
focusing on. What policies are they developing to solve various problems in
that area? Provide a history of the issue. Explain the strategies of the Task
Force to create solutions to these problems.
Integrate an understanding of the policy making process into your
analysis. Assess the likelihood of
legislative success in this issue area. You should be creative and assertive in
exploring a Task Force, but I will be happy to help you think about ways for
finding information.
c. American women’s organizations
to promote women’s rights around the world.
Using the Internet and reading materials explore at least three groups
or organizations that are promoting women’s rights internationally. Consider
their vision and mission. What are their activities and strategies? How are
they promoting women’s rights? You may want to do telephone interviews with
some of their leaders. Check out Vital Voices (www.witalvoices.org) for example.
Each
term paper should be ten pages minimum (double spaced, 1 inch margins, 12 point
font or smaller. It can be any length
above that minimum. What is most
important is the quality of your work. I
expect excellent grammar and sentence structure. I expect all of the questions I have given
you to explore to be covered in a broad manner. I will be looking for students
to go beyond the minimum requirements listed here. VERY IMPORTANT is a concluding section that
reflects on your study. You should
reflect both on what you have learned about women and politics and on the
governmental system more generally. Your
conclusion should be at least one page long at a minimum.
Students
often ask during the course of the semester what I want in their term papers. What
I want beyond the minimum requirements spelled out in the syllabus is for
students to be creative, challenge themselves and write a professional and
thoughtful paper. It is up to you to
decide how you want to design the paper and how to collect and assemble
information for it. It should not be just a “fill in the blanks” from extensive
details on my part. I will be happy to work with you as you go about putting
together this project. I am happy to review with you what you have found along
the way and discuss how best to present your findings. There is no one right way to write your paper.
Please challenge yourself! You will not regret it. You will end up
with a project that you are proud of and a work of honor that might be used as
you seek professional employment upon graduation or apply for graduate school.
You
are expected to come see me or see our graduate assistant Alisa Von Hagel at
least once outside of class to discuss your paper and how you are developing
it. This discussion will count toward your grade. Term paper due in class December 2.
4.
Midterm and final examination. 50 points
each
5.
Three class assignments
Grading
Attendance
– 1 point for each day attending class
- 30 points
Midterm
– 50 points
Final
– 50 Points
Term
Paper 50 points
Assignments
(3) – 5 points each
Clicker
quizzes (5) – 5 points each
- 25 points
Total: points
(A= 90% of total points, B=80% of total points, C=70% of total points,
D=60% of total points)
Students with Disabilities: NIU abides by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 regarding provision of reasonable accommodations for students with
documented disabilities. Moreover, your academic success is of importance to
me. If you have a disability that may have a negative impact on your performance
in this course and you may require some type of instructional and/or
examination accommodation, please contact me early in the semester so that I
can provide or facilitate in providing accommodations you may need. If
you have not already done so, you will need to register with the Center for
Access-Ability Resources (CAAR), the designated office on campus to provide
services and administer exams with accommodations for students with
disabilities. CAAR is located on the 4th floor of the University Health Services
building
Undergraduate Writing Awards: The department of Political Science will recognize, on
an annual basis, outstanding undergraduate papers written in conjunction with
300-400 level political science courses or directed studies. Authors do not
have to be political science majors or have a particular class standing.
Winners are expected to attend the Department's spring graduation ceremony
where they will receive a certificate and $50. Papers, which can be submitted
by students or faculty, must be supplied in triplicate to a department
secretary by February 28. All copies should have two cover pages-one with the
student's name and one without the student's name. Only papers written in the
previous calendar year can be considered for the award. However, papers
completed in the current spring semester are eligible for the following year's
competition even if the student has graduated.
Website: Undergraduates are strongly encouraged to consult the Department of Political Science website on a regular basis. This up to date, central source of information will assist students in contacting faculty and staff, reviewing course requirements and syllabi, exploring graduate study, researching career options, tracking department events, and accessing important details related to undergraduate programs and activities. To reach the site, go to http://www.polisci.niu.edu/index.html
Academic dishonesty: In
preparing for your work and meeting the requirements of this course, you are
expected to adhere to all the rules, regulations, and standards set forth by
the Department of Political Science,
Good academic work must be based on
honesty. The attempt of any student to present as his or her own work that
which he or she has not produced is regarded by the faculty and administration
as a serious offense. Students are considered to have cheated if they copy the
work of another during an examination or turn in a paper or an assignment
written, in whole or in part, by someone else. Students are guilty of
plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy material from books, magazines, or
other sources without identifying and acknowledging those sources or if they
paraphrase ideas from such sources without acknowledging them. Students guilty of, or assisting others in, either cheating or plagiarism on
an assignment, quiz, or examination may receive a grade of F for the course
involved and may be suspended or dismissed from the university. (Undergraduate
Catalog)
Don’t plagiarize or cheat. I will catch you! If you are not sure what constitutes
plagiarism, ask. Ignorance will not be
tolerated as an excuse.
*Rosie
the Voter, from Womensenews