Instructor: Dr. Barbara Burrell
Room 164 SSRI (
753-9657 bburrell@niu.edu
Office Hours 416 Zulauf Hall, 753-7050
Tues:
Two required textbooks are available for purchase at the university bookstore.
1.
M. Margaret Conway, Gertrude A. Steuenagel and
David W. Ahern, Women and Political Participation: Culture Change in
the Political Arena, 2nd edition, CQ Press, 2005
2
M. Margaret Conway, Gertrude A. Steuenagel and
David W. Ahern, Women and Public Policy:
A Revolution in Progress 3rd edition, CQ Press, 2005
The
Status of Women in Your County: A Community Research Tool, the Institute
for Women’s Policy Research (available on electronic reserve)
Course Questions and Goals:
In the context of thinking about women and politics, we will address the following overarching questions:
What do we mean by politics, political behavior and political equality?
How have women acted politically and attempted to achieve political equality?
In the early years of the 21st century to what extent have women achieved political equality and how important is gender as a political issue?
What does gender have to do with policy making today?
Beyond substantive knowledge about
women and politics, we will also learn about American politics broadly defined,
about women in comparative electoral politics and about using research
methodologies to study women’s status.
Students are expected to create accounts on the Blackboard system (http://webcourses.niu.edu) as soon as possible. I will be using this site to post grades, Powerpoint presentations, notes, outlines, review questions, polls, and other materials relevant to the class. Go to the website above, create an account (using our “Z” number as your account login only, other accounts without the Z number will be removed periodically), click on the green “courses” tab, click “Browse Course Catalog,” and then search for “POLS. Then click “enroll” for this class (pols373_001_SP05). It is quite simple. Each time you enter Blackboard you will have a link to this class.
Class Schedule
Week 1
January 18 Introduction
January 20 The First Women's
Rights Movement
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, "Pioneer
Life in
Week 2, January 25, 27 The Second Women's
Rights Movement
Assignments:
Tues Jan 25th – From “The Status of Women in Your County: A Community Research Tool’ answer questions 1, 2, and 3 for the county or city assigned to you using Factfinder.census.gov.
Thurs. Jan 27th- Find a women's rights organization or an anti-feminist organization on the web and answer the following questions:
1. What is the mission or organizational goals of this group?
2. How is it organized, that is, does it have local chapters, only a national membership, how does one join the organization and who are its leaders?
3. What activities is it engaged in and what issues is it most concerned with at this time?
Turn in a 1-2 page report on this organization in which you answer these questions and include any other important information about the group that informs us about its purpose, goals, and strategies. INCLUDE A COPY OF ITS HOME PAGE IN YOUR REPORT. Be prepared to discuss your group with the class. Grade: 5 points
Week 3 (Feb1-3)
Feb. 1: Third Wave Feminism
Feb. 3 Gender, Public Opinion and Voting
Melissa Levitt and Katherine C. Naff. “Gender as a Political Constant,” in The Election of the Century, Stephen J. Wayne and Clyde Wilcox, eds. (electronic reserve)
Week 4 (February 8-10)
Feb. 8: Continue Gender, Public Opinion
and Voting
February
10, Exam 1
Feb. 10: Differences Among
Women
“How did Feminism get to be “All White”? A
conversation between Jan Mansbridge and Barbara
Jewel Prestage,
“In Quest of African American Political Woman,” in Different Roles, Different Voices, Marianne Githens
and Pippa Norris, eds. (electronic reserve)
Week 5, February 15, 17 Empowering Women in their Communities
Week 6, February 22, 24 Women’s
Campaigns for Public Office
Sue Thomas, “Women in the 107th Congress,” in The Election of the Century, Stephen J. Wayne and Clyde Wilcox, eds. (electronic reserve)
Elizabeth Cox, “Introduction”
Week 7, March 1, 3: Women Candidates
and the Structure of Elections, Comparative Perspective
Readings: Women in Parliament: Beyond the Numbers, chapter 3, Richard Matland, “Enhancing Women’s Participation: Legislative Recruitment and Electoral Systems and Chapter 4, Drude Dahlerup, “Using Quotas to Increase Women’s Political Representation” (available at http://www.idea.int/women/parl/ch3a.htm
Week 8, March 8, 10 Women in the Executive Branch and the Judiciary
Assignment, March 8: Find a notable woman in American politics today, perhaps a U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, a Governor and write a 1-2 page summary describing her political history, her political persona and her policy initiatives. Grade: 5 points
March 10 Exam 2
Week 9, March 22, 24 Women and Public Office: Do They Make a Difference?
Mary Hawkesworth,
“Congressional Enactments of Race-Gender: Toward a Theory of Raced-Gendered
Institutions” American Political Science
Review 97, No. 4, November 2003, 529-550 (electronic reserve)
Week 10 , March 29, 31)
March 29: Presidential Wives
Reading: Barbara Burrell, Public Opinion, the First Ladyship and Hillary Rodham Clinton,
revised edition, Chapters 5 and 8, (electronic reserve)
March 31: A Woman for President?
Week 11, April 5, 7 Women and the Law
April 7: Exam
3
Week 12, April 12, 14 Women and Public Policy
Week 13, April 19, 21 Presentations on Status of Women in Illinois
Counties
Week 14, April 26, 28 Feminism around the World
Assignment: Find a news article about some aspect of political activism regarding women’s rights from another country or part of the world. Write a one-two paragraph summary of the this activity with an emphasis on how it relates to or is different from the material we have covered on women in American politics, include a copy of the article as part of your assignment. Be prepared to share your article with the class. Grade: 5 points
Week 15, May 3 -5 Women in the Military
May 3 – Exam 4
Course Assignments
Research Project 1: The Status of Women in Illinois Counties
The Institute for Women's Policy
Research has initiated a project, the Status
of Women in the States. They have also constructed "The Status of
Women in Your County: A Community Research Tool." We will use that tool to analyze the status
of women in
The project will involve:
1. completing
the exercises in the Research Tool that are available for
2. exploring
other data sources for
3. interviewing women leaders in the counties and other officials as informants about the status of women in these counties
4. compile all of the data for each of the counties into a research report and rate your county on each of the indicators of women's status.
5. present the results in class
6. Our goal will be to have comparative documents across the counties that can be presented to county officials and state officials.
7 consider the policy implications of the result of our study
Most likely I will have students work in pairs to analyze the status of women in a county. You will have to keep track of each person's contribution to the project, document what assignments each person fulfills, turn in a list of all tasks each person has completed with each member of the team initializing that that person completed the task. The final report will be turned in as a joint project, although students can be given a separate grade. If an individual wishes to write a supplementary report on his or her own for credit that can also be arranged.
Project 2. Monitoring media coverage of political, social and economic life as it particularly affects women. Choose one or two media sources (newspapers, TV, internet sites, etc) and monitor their coverage of women each day of the semester. Keep a journal of coverage of the media sources to which you have committed. The completed journal is due on May 5th. The journal should include a page on each relevant item that you have found. You should briefly summarize the article or news piece, describe why it is relevant and the perspective of the author or reporter. Include whether it is a straight piece of news reporting and whether there is a slant to the reporting. You must also write a few sentences about your reflection on this piece. The newspaper clipping, downloaded article, etc must be attached to each entry. Your journal should also have a short (two-three pages or more) summary of what you have learned about the social, economic and political status of women from coverage of the media.
Starting with January 27, each Thursday, we will have a "check in time" about the information you are gathering for your media reports. Each student must report orally twice during the semester about the media coverage you have gathered in your journal as part of your journal grade. Turn in examples of your journal pages early in the course so I can be sure that you are on the right track and that there is no misunderstanding about the assignment.
Any student absence from class on
any day in which a guest speaker is invited will lose 5 points from his or her
attendance grade.
Do not read a newspaper or other materials in class, or chat with your classmates. If this happens, I will ask offenders to leave class and they will be marked absent for the day.
Class lasts for 75 minutes. I will
be the one to end class. I will end promptly so that you can get to other
classes. Do not start to pack up to leave before I have ended class. Be sure to take everything with you that you
brought to class. Do not leave newspapers and food or beverage containers in
class for someone else to pick up.
No cell phones are allowed in class. I do not want to see a cell phone. No playing of games on electronic equipment.
Do email me with questions, to set up a meeting or to provide me with information.
Do not email me to avoid having an exchange with me face-to-face. I will not engage in a discussion over exam grades in particular via email. Do come to see me in person. I encourage you to talk with me about any problems you are having with the course.
Grading
Exams (4): Each exam is worth 25 points for a total of 100 points.
Attendance: 30 points
Status of Women Research Project: 100 points
News Media Journal: 50 points
Women’s Movement Project: 5 points
Notable Woman In American Politics Project: 5 points
Women’s History Month Presentation: 5 points
Feminism around the world presentation: 5 points
Total 300 points
Total points: 300 270-300=A; 240-269=B; 210-239=C; 180-209=D; 0-179=F
Course Policies
1. Makeup Exams: Makeup exams
will only be given in extraordinary circumstances. If such circumstances arise,
please contact me as soon as possible and before the scheduled exam. To
keep the process fair for everyone in the course, students will be asked to
support requests for makeup exams with documentation. A missed examination
without prior notification and a documented excuse will result in a zero for
that exam.
2. Students with Disabilities:
Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, NIU is committed to making
reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Those
students with disabilities that may have some impact on their coursework for
which they may require accommodations should notify the Center for
Access-Ability Resources (CAAR) on the fourth floor of the
3. Late Assignments: The 5 point assignments must be turned in in class on the assigned day. They will not be accepted late or by email. The two major assignments must be submitted on the due date for full credit.
5. Extra Credit: Extra credit
assignments will not be given on an individual basis to raise final course
grades. Like makeup exams, such projects raise serious questions of equity. If
such a project is made available, every member of the class will be given the
opportunity to complete it.
6. Incomplete Requests: Such
petitions will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances. I reserve the
right to ask for documentation to verify the problem preventing completion of
the course by the normal deadlines. If the student does not present
documentation from a university office or official, the matter will be left to my
discretion.
7. Academic Dishonesty:
Regarding plagiarism, the NIU Undergraduate Catalog states: "students are
guilty of plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy material from books,
magazines, or other sources without identifying and 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." The above statement encompasses the purchase or use of papers
that were written by others. Students must do their own work and learn the
rules for proper quoting, paraphrasing, and footnoting.
8. Unannounced Quizzes: I reserve
the right to conduct pop quizzes, if it becomes grossly apparent through class
discussions that students are not completing the assigned readings on a regular
basis. If such quizzes are administered, they will be averaged and used to
raise or lower a student’s final course grade. Whether a particular student’s
grade is adjusted positively or negatively will be dependent on a class average.
It will not be done capriciously.
Department of Political Science Web Site:
Undergraduates are strongly encouraged to consult the Department of Political
Science web site 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://polisci.niu.edu