POLS 100, Sections 2 and 4
Intro to
American Government and Politics
Professor
Mikel Wyckoff
Office: Zulauf
403
Hours: Tues.
& Thurs. 11-12:15 and by appointment
753-7056
mwyckoff@niu.edu
Teaching Assistant: Mr.
Jesse Peck
Office: DuSable 476
Hours:
753-1818 jpeck4@niu.edu
(Note: If you are enrolled in my sections of POLS 100
please consult the official course syllabus that is available on Blackboard. From time to time, minor adjustments must be
made to the syllabus and I have no access to this document once it is placed
online at my department’s web site.)
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
Although
this course is geared to the introductory level, all of you will need to study
in order to do well, and some of you will find the material new and
difficult. 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.
II.
REQUIRED
The
following paperback textbook should be available at either of the campus
bookstores. Although the seventh edition
is relatively new, plenty of used copies should be available. Cengage may also be in the process ofsetting
up a textbook rental program. Check their web site for more information.
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 my limited experience with them
has been somewhat negative. Using them
at Cengage requires downloading and installing
special decoder software on your computer that you may find difficult to
use. If you go this route, please be
prepared to solve any problems that you may encounter on your own, and 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
be free of charge. It is possible that
some web sites might insist that you register prior to using their material,
but typically they request only general demographic information when you
register.
Cell
Phones & Class Decorum.
Please silence and refrain from using your cell phone and other
electronic devices 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 :-)
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, and
typically I will not provide them to you if you miss a lecture.
Exams. Three hourly exams will be given. All will be multiple choice in format and
each will contribute 22.5% to your final grade.
Together, the exams are worth about two-thirds of your final grade, so
it is very important to do well on them (or at least not do poorly). 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). For each section of the course, you will
prepare a brief essay (about 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 by the due date will
normally receive a grade reduction of at least one letter. Exceptions will be made for persons
experiencing extraordinary circumstances as defined below 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.
Quizzes. On most Thursdays there will be a brief quiz
dealing with the reading assignments for that week. Quizzes may be objective or essay in
format. Missed quizzes normally will be
assigned a score of zero. Together, the quizzes will contribute 10% of your
final course grade.
Attendance. Although attendance is not formally computed
into your course grade, I expect you to come to class regularly and I reserve
the right to increase your final grade by up to one-third of a letter for good
attendance and participation (for example, a C+ with good attendanceand participation
becomes a B- in my grade book). To make
this work, I will need to take attendance each day.
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:
CourseAvg. = .675(avg. grade on three exams) + .225(avg.
grade on three written assignments) + .100(avg. score on quizzes)
Extra
credit. Sorry, none is available. No
exceptions. Your grade for the
course will be based on the criteria outlined above. If you find you’re having trouble, please
seek help early in the semester. Mr.
Peck 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.
Submission
of an electronic copy of written assignments to Safe-Assign. In addition to a hard copy submitted in
class, students
must also submit an electronic version of each written assignment on Blackboard
where it will be processed by
Safe-Assign, a computer program that checks documents for instances of
plagiarism. To accomplish this, 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”). You will
not receive credit for your paper until you upload it to Safe-Assign.
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 an excellent
chance of being caught by Safe-Assign.
If that happens, serious penalties will be invoked. Blatant
instances of plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty will result in an F for the course, and
possible expulsion from NIU. Other
significant instances may result in a score of zero for the paper involved, or
a significant reduction in your final course grade. 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
dishonest. Also, please be aware that
submitting a paper written by someone who has already taken the course may well
get that person in trouble with the University.
I am required to report instances
of plagiarism to the NIU Office of Judicial Affairs. If you submit a paper written by someone
else, that person’s name will appear on my report, as well as your name.
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 engaging
in academic dishonesty.
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.
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 requiresome type of instructional accommodation, please contact the Center
forAccess-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? (January 12 & 14)
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
B. Public Opinion and Ideology in
Read: JBGH, Ch. 1, pp.12-20; Ch.4, all, but
especially pp. 100-103.
The following brief
essays are intended to be read fairly quickly, and for their main points. No need
to study them and become
an expert on the subject matter. Most of
the essays focus on issues of
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?
Two essays deal with issues of order and
morality. What is the author’s ideological position on that
kind of issue? What is his ideological position
on economic issues?
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
Steve Chapman,
“Rationalizing Torture,” reason.com/news/show/135700.html
Zorn, “Getting Aboard a
Health Plan – It’s Time to Throw a Lifeline to 60 Million Americans,”
(see Blackboard Documents)
SteveChapman, “The Truth
About Health Care and Infant Mortality,” reason.com/news/show/135603.html
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? Due Thursday, January21.
C. Thinking about Democracy (January 26 & 28)
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/
with
His Party's Visions of Sweeping Change,”nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/hc_20090828_8654.php
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. To create the best possible
democratic system 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 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 (February 2 & 4)
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
In his article, V.O. 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 idea? 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?
E. Interest Group Politics (February 9)
Read: JBGH,Ch.
7 and review Ch. 1, pp. 26-28 (pluralistic democracy). Also, skim 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
EXAM I: Thursday, February 11
A. Origins and Development: A system of separated institutions that share
power (February 16 & 18)
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
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 18).
B. The Presidency, Part I: Presidential elections; organizing and staffing
the modern presidency (February 23 & 25 )
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 (
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
Suggested
(not required) if you want to know more about the Federal Reserve Board:
“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 (March 2& 4)
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-
voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/08/11/health-care_town_hall_a_platfo.html?hpid=topnews
SPRINGBREAK: Week of March 8
D. The U.S. Congress, Part I: Constitutional powers; getting elected and
getting a committee assignment (March 16 & 18)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 8, pp.210-218 and Article I of the Constitution, pp.
387-392, especially sections 2,3, 8 & 9.
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 think
about 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?
E. The U.S. Congress, Part II: The legislative process; party leadership and
organization (March23)
Read: JBGH, remainder of Ch. 8.
Hulse
and Pear, “Health Care Poses Stiff Test for Top Democrats,” (see Blackboard
Documents)
EXAM II: Thursday, March 25
A. Constitutional Origins: The founding fathers and limited government;
American federalism (March 30 & April 1)
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
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 in Course Documents
section
at Blackboard.
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 (April 6 & 8)
Read: JBGH,
C. Krauthammer,
"From Thomas, Original Views," locate at:
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901726.html
Justice Brandeis’
dissent in Olmstead v.
of Blackboard.
As you read excerpts of
Justice Brandeis’ dissenting opinion, consider that the founding fathers
could not have been
thinking about wire tapping when they wrote the 4th Amendment since
telephones did not exist
in the late 1700s when they wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
In this case, Olmstead
has been convicted of a crime by wire tap evidence obtained without a
search warrant. Is this evidence acceptable or does it
violate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition
on “unreasonable search
and seizure?” The Court majority, led by Justice Taft, ruled against
Olmstead and let his
conviction stand. In his dissenting
opinion, Justice Brandeis argued that the
defendant’s Fourth
Amendment rights had been violated and that the evidence obtained from the
wire tap must not be
used against him. Which opinion best exemplifies judicial activism? Which
reflects the philosophy
of judicial restraint (as well as the
philosophy of originalism?) How would
would you have voted and
why? Given Clarence Thomas’ approach to
interpreting the Constitution,
how do you think he
might have voted in the Olmstead case?
C. Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights
I: Selective Incorporation; 1stAmendment;
Criminal Procedure (April 13 & 15)
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. 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
“370
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 April 15)
D. Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights
II: Criminal Procedure (finish) and
Right to Privacy (April 20 & 22)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 12, pp. 328-end and Amendments 4-10 & 14, p.
397-398.
E. Civil Rights
(April 27 and April 29)
Read: JBGH, Ch. 5, pp.131-133 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.
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,
should those principles be extended to protect the
rights
of gay men and women who wish to marry?
EXAM
III:
12:00Noon,Thursday, May 6 (Section 4, which normally meets from