(If you wish to print a copy of this
document I suggest copying it into Microsoft Word and then setting your margins
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POLS
100, Sections D001-D005, D007 and H1
Intro to American Government and
Politics
MWF
Professor Mikel Wyckoff
Office: Zulauf 403
Hours: MWF 11-12:00 and by
appointment
753-7056 mwyckoff@niu.edu
Discussion Sections:
Section D001 (
Section D002
(
Section D003 (Du Sable Hall 246) Ms.
Mary McLean mmclean2@niu.edu
Section D004 (Du Sable Hall 459) Mr.
Jesse Peck jpeck4@niu.edu
Section D005 (Du Sable Hall 461) Ms.
Danae Patterson dpatter2@niu.edu
Section D007 (Du Sable Hall 252)
Ms. Katie Stone kstone3@niu.edu
Section D006/H1
(Du
Sable Hall 440) Prof. Wyckoff mwyckoff@niu.edu
I. INTRODUCTION
This course provides a college level introduction to the
American political system. Three general
topics will be covered during the semester: (1) politics and the democratic
process in the United States; (2) Congress and the President in the American
separation of powers system; and (3) the Supreme Court and the Bill of
Rights. In addition to the standard
textbook topics we will also try to keep an eye on President Obama as he tries
to persuade Congress to adopt his health care plan amidst a sea of
disinformation and ill will spread by his opponents, and facing a near certain
Republican filibuster in the Senate.
II. REQUIRED
The following paperback textbook should be available at
either of the campus bookstores.
Although the seventh edition is relatively new, used copies may be
available from online book sellers. Cengage may also be in the process of setting up a textbook
rental program. Check their web site for
more information.
Janda,
Berry, Goldman and Hula, The Challenge of
Democracy, Brief 7th edition, 2009. ISBN10: 0-547-21631-9
Note that this book also is available at considerably lower
cost if you are willing to purchase it as an electronic “eTextbook”
from the publisher.
cengage.com/cengage/catalog.do?courseid=PO11&disciplinenumber=20&codeid=Z716&cod
Electronic textbooks are a relatively new phenomenon and
I have little experience with them.
Unfortunately, then, I am in no position to advise you which version of
the textbook you should purchase. If you
go this route, be sure to check the ISBN on the book you order.
In addition to the textbook, please note that several
additional required readings must be located online. Consult the outline below for specific
assignments. If for some reason you feel
you are not capable of using the Internet and locating documents online then
you should drop this course. It is my
intention that all of the online readings are free of charge. It is possible that some web sites might
insist that you register before using their material, but typically they
request only some general demographic information when you register.
Cell Phones & Class Decorum. Please silence and
refrain from using your cell phone and other electronic devises during
class. Also please be
civil, use common sense, and respect the needs of your fellow students, not to
mention the needs of the grouchy old professor (“get off my lawn!”) who is trying
to offer you a decent lecture each day.
E-mail
Contacts. Feel free to
contact us by e-mail. By the same token,
we may contact you from time to time (for example, if I become ill and can’t
make it to class I’ll try to e-mail you ahead of time). For various reasons, it’s good to use your
NIU e-mail address when writing to us, and wise to remember to check your NIU
e-mail from time to time. When writing,
don’t forget to identify yourself and communicate clearly (using real words and
sentences, please :-)
General Advice. Your best strategy for success is to attend
class regularly, take good notes, keep up with the assigned readings, and then study (!) for the exams. Study guides
are provided (see the “documents” section on Blackboard) but a good set of
notes and a familiarity with key readings will be your best guide to the
content of the exams. If you miss a
lecture (never a good idea in any course) it would be wise to borrow notes from
a classmate. Sorry, but lecture notes
and slides are not made available on
Blackboard.
Exams. Three hourly exams will be given. All will be multiple choice in format and
each will contribute 22.5% to your final grade.
Even though it is not a comprehensive final, Exam III will be
administered during finals week. Barring
extraordinary circumstances everyone must take Exam III at that time. If you have a conflict of final exams, please
arrange to reschedule the class with the higher number, as per university
policy (see document on Blackboard for more information).
Written Assignments (22.5% of your final grade). About every
other week you will prepare a brief essay (1-2 pages of text, typed and
double-spaced) reacting to one of the topics for that week. The course outline (below) will tell you
exactly when papers are due. Papers not
submitted in person during your Friday morning discussion session will normally receive a
grade reduction of at least one letter.
Exceptions will be made for persons experiencing extraordinary
circumstances as defined above in the discussion of makeup exams. These papers represent a serious part of the
course, so spelling, grammar, and sentence structure will be taken into account
when assigning grades.
Students must also submit a second, electronic copy of their
essays on Blackboard
where the paper will be processed by Safe-Assign, a computer program that
checks documents for instances of plagiarism.
Students who choose to purchase or “borrow” a paper from someone else,
or who steal text from various online sources stand an excellent chance of
being caught by Safe-Assign, so please do your own work and write in your own
voice. Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are serious
offenses that may result in serious penalties.
Blatant
instances of cheating will result in an F for the course, and possibly
expulsion from NIU. Milder examples will
result in an F for the paper involved.
Once you have written your paper, please do not lend it to anyone else
“just so they can read it,” or leave it on your roommate’s hard drive or
printer, or take any other action that would allow it to be copied. If I receive duplicate papers, or papers that
display substantially overlapping text, I will assume that both writers are equally
guilty.
When submitting electronic
documents on Blackboard, please go to the “Assignments” page where you will see
a green check mark symbol beside each assignment. Do not use any other method for submitting
documents (for example, do not use “digital dropbox”).
If you need more information
about plagiarism, please consult the “Statement on Plagiarism,” prepared by
NIU’s English Department, that I have posted on Blackboard. It may also be informative to do the online
tutorial available on NIU’s Academic Integrity webpage at http://www.ai.niu.edu/ai/. It is your responsibility to educate yourself
with regard to these issues. Ignorance
is not an acceptable excuse for breaking the rules.
Participation in Discussion Sections. Students who
take the course seriously will want to attend their Friday morning discussion
sections because: (1) participation in these meetings will contribute 10% to
your final course grade; (2) your discussion leaders are the ones who will be
grading your written assignments (worth 22.5% of your course grade); (3) this
is a great chance to discuss issues relating to the course in a small group
setting.
Computing Course Grades. At the end of
the semester I will compute your final grade using the following formula which
incorporates the weights noted above:
Course
Avg. = .675(avg. grade on three exams) +
.225(avg. grade on six short papers) + .100(attendance/participation score)
Makeup exams and grades of incomplete will be provided
cheerfully when needed, but only for reasons of significant illness, family
tragedy, being away on university business, or other extraordinary
circumstances. Furthermore, evidence
of the extraordinary circumstance normally must be documented by the student.
Should makeup exams be necessary, I reserve the right to switch to an
essay format if I deem it necessary.
Extra credit. Sorry,
none is available. No exceptions. If you find you’re having trouble, please
seek help early in the semester. My TAs and I will do our best to help you
devise strategies for improving your performance on required exams and
assignments. We can’t help you, though,
if you don’t seek our assistance.
Students with Disabilities. NIU abides by the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 which mandates reasonable accommodations for qualified students with
disabilities. If you have a disability
and require some type of instructional accommodation, please contact the Center
for Access-Ability Resources (CAAR), located in the University Health Services
building (753-1303).
COURSE OUTLINE AND
READING ASSIGNMENTS
PART I: POLITICS AND THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS IN THE
A. Basic
Questions: What is government good
for? How much government do we
need? (Week of August 24)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 1, pp. 1-14.
John
Locke, Chapter 9 from The Second Treatise
of Civil Government (1690);
locate at: http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/l/locke/john/l81s/chapter9.html
W.
Saletan, "What Reagan Got Wrong," www.slate.com/id/2101835
Paul
Krugman, “Reagan Did It,” nytimes.com/2009/06/01/opinion/01krugman.html
Condon,
“Obama Deals with Health Care Curveball,” find in “Documents” on Blackboard.
B. Public Opinion
and Ideology in America
(Week of August 31)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 1, pp. 12-20; Ch. 4, all, but especially pp. 100-103.
Paul
Krugman, “Averting the Worst” nytimes.com/2009/08/10/opinion/10krugman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
Steve
Chapman, “False Cures for the Recession,” reason.com/news/show/130398.html
Steve
Chapman, “A Federalist Case for Gay Marriage,” reason.com/news/show/133109.html
Zorn,
“Getting Aboard a Health Plan – It’s Time to Throw a Lifeline to 60 Million
Americans,”
Find among Zorn’s columns at: chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-ericzorn,0,1832837.columnist
Steve
Chapman, “The Truth About Health Care and Infant
Mortality,” reason.com/news/show/135603.html
Goldfarb,
“Let’s Go Dutch,” weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/847hvjdk.asp
Blumenthal,
“Who’s Afraid of Public Insurance:
Health Care Consumers Give Medicare Higher Marks
Than Private Plans,” nationaljournal.com/njonline/print_friendly.php?ID=mp_20090629_2600
Most
of the essays above focus on issues of equality and the proper role of the
government
in
managing and regulating the economy.
Which of the writers are liberal in this regard?
Which
are conservative? One essay deals with
issues of order and morality. What is
the
author’s
ideological position here? What is his
ideological position on economic issues?
Write: First,
run IDEALOG at idealog10.org/en/quiz/41bf13d (do the readings and the survey you
find
there). Then write a 1-2 page essay
briefly discussing the value tradeoffs
(freedom vs.
order
and freedom vs. equality) and policy
views of ach ideological type (liberal, conservative,
libertarian,
communitarian). Which category best
applies to the national Democratic Party?
To
the national Republican Party? To
columnist Steve Chapman? To you? Due Friday,
September
4.
C. Thinking about
Democracy (September 9 and 11)
Read:
JBGH, Ch. 1, pp. 20-end and p.
167 (“The Model of Responsible Party Government”).
Paul
Krugman, "Can it Happen Here?"
nytimes.com/2008/08/11/opinion/11krugman.html
Michael Kranish, “McCain
Camp Working Out Health Care Details,”
boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/03/mccain_camp_working_out_healthcare_details/
David
Frum, “The Lunacy of the Birthers,”
Timothy
Egan, “Palin’s Poison,” egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/palins-poison/?8ty&emc=ty
Federalist Paper #10; locate at: avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
Did
we see certain aspects of the responsible party model of democracy in the 2008
election?
In
Federalist 10, founding father James
Madison is worried about self-interested groups
(factions)
and how to design a democratic system to protect the nation from them. When
trying
to control factions does he favor:
(1) direct or indirect democracy (does he have a lot
of
faith in the common man to be well informed and to make make
rational policy decisions)?
(2)
majority rule or pluralistic democracy? (3) a large scale democracy or a small
scale
democracy? These are simply questions to think about as
you read Federalist 10. No paper
is
due this week.
D. Political
Parties (Week of September 14)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 6.
V.O.
Key, “A Theory of Critical Elections,” Journal
of Politics (1955), pp. 3-8 only.
(Blackboard)
Brownstein,
“For GOP, A Southern Exposure,” nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cs_20090523_2195.php
Write: In his article, Key proposes the concept of
a “critical election” (or, as some would say, the
notion
of “party realignment”). What is he talking
about, and why did Key choose the particular
communities
that appear in his analysis (Figure A) to illustrate his ideas? What do the trends
for
those two communities reveal? Brownstein
points out a different kind of trend, this time a
geographical
one. What does this suggest about the
future of the Republican Party? Discuss
in
a 1-2 page paper due Friday, September 18.
E. Interest Group
Politics (Week of September 21)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 7 and review Ch. 1, pp. 26-28
(pluralistic democracy). Also, scan the
following brief
articles
to get some notion of the various interest groups lobbying for and against
health care reform:
Krigman, “AARP Makes Big Push for Health Care Reform”
undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/08/aarp-makes-big-push-for-health.php
Carney,
“Health Care Industry Unleashing Big Money,”
www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/rg_20090727_6650.php
Sussman, “American Hospital Association’s Vision for Health
Care Reform”
undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/08/ahas-vision-for-health-care-re.php
Sussman, “AMA: Onboard with the House Bill,”
undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/08/american-medical-association-t.php
Herbert,
“This is Reform?” nytimes.com/2009/08/18/opinion/18herbert.html?ref=opinion
EXAM I: Friday, September 25 (administered in your
discussion section room)
A. Origins and Development: A system of separated institutions that share
power (Week of September 28)
Read: JBGH, Ch.
2, pp. 40-48, 57-62 and Ch. 8, pp. 232-234 (parliamentary government)
Federalist Paper
#51; locate at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
Zakaria,
“More Crises Needed? The Only Way to
Start Reform”
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081601757.html
Write: Worried about the need to prevent government
from becoming too powerful, in Federalist
51
Madison hopes to use the very structure and organization
of government to create a system of
checks
and balances. How is this system
designed to work? One requirement is
that every
branch
must have “a will of its own.” Another
is that the separated branches must have
partially
overlapping powers. Finally, one must
adjust for the fact that some branches are
naturally
weak while some are strong. Discuss in a
1-2 page paper (due October 2).
B. The
Presidency, Part I: Presidential
elections; organizing and staffing the modern presidency (Week of Oct. 5)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 6, pp. 171-177 and Ch. 9, pp.
244-247 and Ch. 10, pp. 266-272.
Federalist Paper #68; locate at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
Jack Rakove, “The Accidental Electors,.” NY Times (12/19/00). Find on Blackboard.
Parsons and Silva, “President Obama To
Keep Fed Chief Ben Bernanke for Second Term,”
www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tue-bernanke-obama-aug25,0,4648728.story
“The Federal Reserve Board: FAQs,”
federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/faq/faqfrs.htm#1
Writing
in Federalist 68, Alexander Hamilton
argues that the Electoral College is a set of
procedures
carefully designed by the great thinkers at the Constitutional Convention who
thought only of selecting the
best possible president. Based on his
reading of the debates
that
actually occurred at the convention, scholar Jack Rakove has a different
analysis.
These
are just questions to help you think about the assignments. No paper is assigned.
C. The
Presidency, Part II: Constitutional
powers; successful presidential leadership
(Week of October 12)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 9, pp. 238-244, 247-end and Article II, pp. 392-393.
Schaller,
“Is Obama Spending His Capital, Wasting it … or Wuz
He Robbed?”
www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/08/is-obama-spending-his-political-capital.html
Dan
Balz, “Health-Care Town Hall a Platform for Obama’s Economic Defense,”
voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/08/11/health-care_town_hall_a_platfo.html?hpid=topnews
D. The U.S.
Congress, Part I: Constitutional powers;
getting elected and getting a committee assignment (Week of Oct. 19)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 8, pp. 210-218 and Article I of
the Constitution, pp. 387-392, especially sections 2, 3, 8 & 9.
Write: Go to thomas.loc.gov. Click on “House of Representatives,”
then on “Committees” (see
left
column, both pages). Investigate several
of these standing committees. Then write
a
paper
explaining which committee you would like to work on if you were a new member
of
the
House. Among the questions you should
consider: (a) What kinds of bills would you be
dealing
with? (b) How would this committee help you represent the district from which
you
were elected? (1-2 page
paper due Friday, October 23)
E. The U.S. Congress,
Part II: The legislative process; party
leadership and organization (Week of
October 26)
Read: JBGH, remainder of Ch. 8.
Cohen
and Friel, “Chairmen Rising in the Democratic
Congress,”
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cs_20090124_9947.php
EXAM II: Friday, October 30 (administered in your
discussion section room)
A. Constitutional
Origins: The founding fathers and
limited government; American federalism
(Week of Nov. 2)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 2, especially pp. 35-43, 49-57; 61-62; Ch. 3, pp. 64-74, 85-end. Article IV, pp. 394-395.
Declaration of Independence, in JBGH,
pp. 385-387.
John
Roche, “The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action,” American Political Science
Review (1961), Intro and Parts 2-4, pp. 799-800 and
803-811. Locate under Course Documents
at
the
POLS 100 Blackboard website.
What
is the most useful way to think about the founding fathers? Were they simply, “Great Men?”
Were
they greedy, devious elites trying to protect their wealth? Or were they experienced politicians
acting
like state representatives, not unlike contemporary members of the U.S.
Congress? These
are
questions for you to think about as you read the assignment. No paper is assigned this week.
B. The Supreme
Court and Judicial Review (Week of November 9)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 11 and Article III, p. 394.
C.
Krauthammer, "From Thomas, Original Views," locate at:
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901726.html
Olmstead v. U.S. (1928); locate at www.oyez.org. Once at Oyez, type the title of the case into
the search box in the upper right corner of the page and
click on “Go.” When results appear,
click
on
the case you need. When the title page
for that case comes up, do read the case summary but
also
locate the full decision by clicking on the case citation number that appears
in line five in the
“Case
Basics” box. In this particular instance
you will click on “277
U.S. 438 (1928)” in line five.
Read
only Justice Brandeis’ Dissent (scroll down the page to find it).
Write: Given Clarence Thomas’ approach to
interpreting the Constitution, how do you think he might
have
voted in the Olmstead case? How would you
have voted and why? As you think about
these
questions, consider that the founding fathers could not have been thinking
about wire tapping
when
they wrote the 4th Amendment since the technology had not yet been
invented. Discuss in
a
1-2 page paper due November 13.
C. Civil
Liberties and the Bill of Rights I:
Selective Incorporation; 1st Amendment; Criminal
Procedure (Week of Nov. 16)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 12, pp. 326-328, 311-326 and
Amendments 1-3 & 14, p. 396 and 399.
Engel v. Vitale (1962); locate at www.oyez.org.
Krauthammer,
"Let's Have No More Monkey Trials," locate online at:
staff.science.nus.edu.sg/~sivasothi/biorefugia/2005/08/time-lets-have-no-more-monkey-trials.html
JBGH,
Ch. 12, pp. 328-end (criminal procedure) and Amendments 4-10, pp. 397-398.
Write: Read
Justice Black’s opinion of the Court in Engel
v. Vitale and Justice Stewart’s dissenting
opinion. Compare and contrast these two conflicting
interpretations of the establishment
clause. Which is most convincing to you? Why?
(1-2 page paper due November 20)
D. Civil
Liberties and the Bill of Rights II:
Criminal Procedure (finish) and Right to Privacy (November 23)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 12, pp. 328-end and Amendments
4-10 & 14, p. 397-398.
E. Civil
Rights (Week of November 30)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 5, pp. 131-133 and Ch. 13.
Loving v. Virginia (1967); locate at www.oyez.org. Before gay marriage became an issue,
some argued that it
was also unnatural for certain other people to marry.
"The Heterosexual
Revolution," at: www.stephaniecoontz.com/articles/article21.htm.
Gay marriages challenge
our traditional notions of what marriage is all about, but less than
fifty years ago many
people argued that inter-racial marriages were also “unnatural,” and
they relied on many of
the same arguments that opponents of gay marriage use today. If the
decision in Loving v. Virginia is correct, shouldn’t
those principles be extended to protect
the rights of gay men
and women who wish to marry? (no paper
is due this week)
EXAM III: 10:00
a.m., Monday, December 7, Location TBA (but probably in your discussion section
rooms
if those
rooms are available)