POLS
100, Sections 1, 2, 3 and 5
Intro to American Government and
Politics
MWF
Professor Mikel Wyckoff
Office: Zulauf 403
Hours: Wednesday
753-7056 mwyckoff@niu.edu
Teaching Assistants:
Section D001 Du Sable 459 Mr. Cook z147234@students.niu.edu
Section D002 Du Sable 461 Mr. Gross z104126@students.niu.edu
Section D003 Du Sable 276 Ms. McLean z1553042@students.niu.edu
Section D005 Du Sable 252 Ms. Stone z1553188@students.niu.edu
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) basic principles of the Constitution and Bill
of Rights; and (3) the national policy making institutions of the United
States. In addition to the standard
textbook topics, of course, we will also try to keep an eye on newly elected
President Barack Obama as he tries to persuade the Congress to adopt his policy
proposals and as he struggles to lead the country through difficult times at
home and abroad.
II. REQUIRED
Plenty of used
copies of the following textbook should be available at either of the campus
bookstores:
Janda,
Berry, Goldman and Hula, The Challenge of
Democracy, Brief 6th edition, 2006.
Also, please note that several additional required readings
must be located online. Consult the outline below for specific
assignments. Links are provided to help
get you where you need to go.
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 who is trying to offer you a
decent lecture each day.
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 available on Blackboard, but anyone who attends lecture regularly should
have a pretty good notion of what to expect on the exams. If you must miss a lecture (not a good idea
in any course) it would be wise to borrow notes from someone else in the
class. Finally, if the material
presented in the lecture doesn’t make sense to you, ask questions during your Friday
morning discussion section or come to office hours and get a better explanation
from me or from your TA.
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.
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.
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 lecture 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 below under “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.
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 course issues 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)
To estimate your current grade at just about any time during the
semester simply: (1) compute your
current average scores for the exams and for the papers; (2) insert those two
numbers (along with a reasonable estimate for attendance/participation in
discussion section) into the equation; and (3) do the math.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism:
Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are serious offenses
that can and do result in serious penalties.
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 (including the Internet)
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 a paper
written in whole or in part by another; a paper copied word-for-word or with
only minor changes from another source; a paper copied in part from one or more
sources without proper identification and acknowledgment of the sources; a
paper that is merely a paraphrase of one or more sources, using ideas and/or
logic without credit even though the actual words may be changed; and a paper that
quotes, summarizes or paraphrases, or cuts and pastes words, phrases, or images
from an Internet source without identification and the address of the web site.
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.
Use of Blackboard and
SafeAssign. Students must
submit an electronic copy of all written assignments on Blackboard where the
paper will be processed by Safe-Assign, a computer program that checks
documents for instances of plagiarism.
Therefore, please do your own
work and write in your own voice.
Students who choose to purchase or “borrow” a paper from someone else,
or who steal text from various online sources stand a very good chance of being
caught by Safe-Assign. Blatant instances
of cheating will typically result in an F for the course. Milder examples will result in an F for the
paper involved, and multiples instances of this nature will translate to an F
in the course. 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 take any other action that would
allow it to be copied. If I receive
duplicate papers, or papers that display substantially overlapping text,
chances are quite good that both writers will be penalized equally.
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. Organizational Issues and Basics of Government
and Politics (Week of January 12)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 1, pp. 1-12.
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," locate at www.slate.com/id/2101835
Silva, James, Hook,
“Obama Begins Campaign to Boost His Economic Recovery Plan”
Available on Blackboard.
B. Thinking about Democracy (January 21)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 1, pp. 17-end and p. 163 (“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/
Federalist Paper #10; locate at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
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. Where do
factions come from? When trying to control factions does he favor: (1) direct or indirect
democracy? (2) majority
rule or pluralistic democracy? (3) a large nation or a small nation?
(These questions are for
you to think about as you read Fed. 10.
No paper is assigned.)
C. Public Opinion and Ideology in America (Week of January 26)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 1, pp. 12-17; Ch. 4, especially
pp. 91-102 & 109-end.
Read the following brief
essays for their main ideas. As you read
them, ask yourself whether the
the writer seems to be liberal or
conservative in outlook, or perhaps something else entirely.
Paul Krugman, “Fighting Off Depression.” nytimes.com/2009/01/05/opinion/05krugman.html?em
Steve Chapman, “False
Cures for the Recession.” http://www.reason.com/news/show/130398.html
Thomas Friedman, “Flush
with Energy” nytimes.com/2008/08/10/opinion/10friedman1.html
Steve Chapman, “Oil
Prices and Economic Reality” www.reason.com/news/show/126728.html
Steve Chapman, “Flunking
a Religious Test” www.reason.com/news/show/123825.html
Steve Chapman, “The Case
for Gay Adoption” http://www.reason.com/news/show/130325.html
Write: First,
run IDEALOG at www.uspolitics.org
(do the readings and the survey you find there).
Then write a 1-2 page
essay briefly discussing the value
preferences and policy views of
each
ideological type
(liberal, conservative, libertarian, communitarian). Which category best
applies to Barack
Obama? To John McCain? To columnist Steve Chapman? Due 1/30/09.
D. Political Parties (Week of February 2)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 6.
V.O. Key, “A Theory of
Critical Elections,” Journal of Politics
(1955), pp. 3-8 only. Locate
at the POLS 100
Blackboard website under Course Documents.
Write: In this article, Key proposes the concept of
a “critical election.” What are the
essential
characteristics of a
critical election? In his examination of
Massachusetts, why did Key
choose the particular
communities that appear in his analysis (Figure A)? What do the trends
for those two
communities reveal? Explain in a 1-2
page paper due Friday, February 6.
E. Interest Group Politics (Week of February 9)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 7 and review Ch. 1, pp. 22-24 (pluralistic democracy).
EXAM I: Friday, February 13 (administered in your
discussion section room)
A. Origins and Development (Week of February 16)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 2, pp. 31-47, 55-60
Federalist Paper
#51; locate at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
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 February 20).
B. The
Presidency, Part I: Presidential
elections; organizing and staffing the modern presidency (Week of February 23)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 6, pp. 165-170 and Ch. 9, pp.
235-238 and Ch. 10, pp. 254-265.
Federalist Paper #6; locate at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
Jack Rakove, “The Accidental Electors,.” NY Times (12/19/00). Find on Blackboard.
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 March 2)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 9, pp. 229-234, 238-end and Article II, pp. A7‑A9.
Additional
article, TBA.
SPRING BREAK: Week of March 9
D. The U.S.
Congress, Part I: Constitutional powers;
getting elected and getting a committee assignment (Week of March 16)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 8, pp. 205-210 and Article I of
the Constitution, pp. A3-A6, 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, February 27)
E. The U.S.
Congress, Part II: The legislative
process; party leadership and organization
(Week of March 23)
Read: JBGH, remainder of Ch. 8.
Additional
article, TBA.
EXAM II: Friday, March 27 (administered in your
discussion section room)
A. Constitutional
Origins: The founding fathers and
limited government; American federalism
(Week of March 30)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 2 (some of this you only need to review); Ch. 3, pp. 62-72, 81-end
Declaration of Independence, in JBGH,
pp. A1-A3.
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 April 6 )
Read: JBGH, Ch. 11 and Article III, pp. A9-A10.
C.
Krauthammer, "From Thomas, Original Views," locate at:
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901726.html
Olmstead v.
down
the page to find it). 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 (in a few seconds), click on the
case
you need. When the title page for that
case comes up, click on “Written Opinion” under
“Case
Media.” For many cases it is also
possible to actually hear the oral arguments in the case,
but
doing so is not part of the assignment.
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? These questions
are
for you to think about as you do the reading this week. No paper is assigned.
C. Civil
Rights (Week of April 13)
Read: JBGH,
Ch. 5, pp. 127-130 and Ch. 13.
Loving v.
some argued that it was also unnatural for
certain other people to marry.
"The Heterosexual
Revolution," at: www.stephaniecoontz.com/articles/article21.htm.
Write: Gay weddings 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
used 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?
(1-2 page paper due Friday, April 17)
D. Civil
Liberties and the Bill of Rights I:
Selective Incorporation; First Amendment
(Week of April 20)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 12, pp. 298-314, 321-322 and
Amendments 1-3 & 14, p. A12-A15.
Engel v. Vitale (1962); locate at www.oyez.org.
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 Friday, April 25)
E. Civil
Liberties and the Bill of Rights II:
Criminal Procedure; Right to Privacy
(Week of April 27)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 12, pp. 314- and Amendments 4-10
& 14, p. A12-A15.
EXAM III: 10:00 a.m., Monday, May 4, Location TBA (but
probably in your discussion section rooms
if those rooms are
available)