Course Syllabus

Jump to Today

PSCN 110 Introduction to American Government

Buena Vista University
610 West Fourth Street
Storm Lake, Iowa 50588
www.bvu.edu
Credit Hours: 3

Instructor

Name: Dr. David J. Meyer.

E-mail:  MEYER5@bvu.edu

Cell: (Use during office hours and in case of urgent situations, otherwise use e-mail) 937-245-1788.

Office Hours: MWF 4:00-5:00 PM Central Time and by appointment.

Your instructor's contact information also can be found in the People link on the left.

Course Description

A survey of the institutions, actors, ideologies, and processes characterizing the American polity. Course readings include selections from a standard American government text and, typically, classic works of 18th and 19th century political thinkers. Debates, discussions, and simulations are employed routinely to enhance rhetorical skills and increase familiarity with contemporary political issues. General education explorations – social science course.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

  1. Summarize the historical background and significance of the US Constitution and explain the nature of the United States as a constitutionally limited federal republic.
  2. Explain the principle of separation of powers with checks and balances, identify fundamental features of the US Constitution (such as enumerated and reserved powers), and explain the advantages and disadvantages of federalism.
  3. Describe the natures, functions, organization, and evolving power and relationships of the three branches of government, including the rise of the imperial presidency and the growth of the bureaucratic welfare-warfare state.
  4. Summarize and explain the history and significance of civil liberties and civil rights in the United States.
  5. Define and explain the role — in historical context — of political ideologies, interest groups, and parties in American politics and elections.
  6. Describe the role and influence of the media in American politics and elections, how they are perceived by the public and government, and how these have changed with technological developments over the course of American history.
  7. Describe the nature and historical evolution of American economic, domestic, and foreign policy as well as the links between them; and summarize the positions of the major political ideologies and schools of economic thought on them.

Program Objectives

In addition, this course is intended to meet an overall program objective for the major in Accounting. The objectives above should work together to help you achieve the following major objectives for the entire program:

  1. Students will communicate effectively.

Course Texts

There are two required texts for this course. The primary text must be purchased and the secondary text is available at no cost online.

Primary Text: A More Perfect Union: Inquiry and Analysis by Brigid Callahan Harrison and Jean Wahl Harris, 2011. ISBN: 9780073526386

Secondary Text: The Founders' Constitution edited by Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner. Available at no cost to students at http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.

Additional readings and material will be available online as part of each week.

Course Requirements

In order to successfully complete this course, you will need to complete the following:

Activity

Responsibilities

Points Possible

Reading

To succeed in this course, you will need to carefully read the assigned chapters in the course text and selected articles.

 

Discussion

Each week will contain two discussion forums: Discussion 1 and Discussion 2. These two discussion threads are designed to invoke critical thinking and interaction between students. The goal of having discussion activities in this course is the replicate the discussions held in traditional classrooms. It creates the space to raise questions/offer responses that illuminate other students' grasp on important ideas/terms/concepts.  In short, the value of a student's posts ought to be linked to their contributions to the shared enterprise of learning.

Each discussion is worth 10 points. In order to receive full credit each student must post an original response and respond to at least two other students' posts before the end of the week. See the Discussion Requirements table below. 

NOTE: Week 1 has one additional discussion, a non-graded introduction activity.

160

Short Paper

Each Week will contain a short writing assignment. You will be assigned to write a two-page response to a selected topic from the content covered in the corresponding week. Review the detailed Paper Requirements.

Each paper is worth 20 points and is due on Sunday.

160

Quizzes

Six quizzes will be given during the course (Weeks 1-3, 5-7). Each graded quiz contains 10-multiple choice questions worth a total of 10-points. Most questions on each quiz are conceptual in nature that require you to apply critical thinking. Exams are given in Weeks 4 and 8.

60

Exams

There will be a midterm and final examination. The midterm addresses the content covered in the first four weeks by using a 50-question, multiple-choice exam. Students will have one-hour to complete the exam. The final exam addresses the content covered in the last four weeks by using a 50-question, multiple-choice exam. Like the midterm, students have one-hour to complete the exam. Each exam is worth 50 points.

100

Total

 

480

Discussion Requirements

You will be expected to post to each discussion and respond to two fellow classmates, unless otherwise noted in the assignment. Discussion assignments will be evaluated in terms of both quantity and substance. Please also view the Discussion Grading Rubric.

Task

Responsibilities

Original Posting

Your post should...

  • Add or contribute something productive to the conversation.
  • Provide supporting materials for your argument. This may include quotes, websites, books, articles, videos, etc.
  • Provide rational for why the material you chose adds to the conversation.

An appropriate length for an original post is 2-3 well supported paragraphs. Quality is more important than quantity; try to make your posts concise.

Response Posting

Your response should...

  • Offer something significant to the conversation by either extending or adding to the argument, analysis, or position of the original post.
  • If you agree, include additional supporting material.
  • If you disagree, include a rationale for disagreement and supporting material.
  • Include a question posed to the original author; this is intended to move the conversation forward.

An appropriate length for a response post is 1-2 well supported paragraphs. Quality is more important than quantity; try to make your responses concise.

Note: Remember that the number of postings given in the assignment is a minimum: you are strongly encouraged to engage in discussion beyond the minimum.

Course Schedule

Week TOPIC READING
Week 1 The USA as a Constitutionally-Limited Federal Republic

Chapter 1, pp. 6-22, 35-37; Chapter 2 and the US Constitution; Chapter 3, pp. 96-127.
Appendix A: "The Declaration of Independence."
Appendix B: "Federalist #10."
Appendix C: "Federalist #51."
The "Articles of Confederation."
Week 2 The Legislature and Civil Liberties Chapter 11, pp. 396-433; Chapter 4, pp. 130-171; revisit pp. 72-79 & 87-89 from Chapter 2.
"National Security, Torture, and Civil Liberties" at the start of Part II.
Week 3 The Judiciary and Civil Rights

Chapter 14, pp. 506-542; Chapter 5, pp. 172-212; revisit pp. 83-89 from Chapter 2.
"Surveillance and the Constitution" at the start of Part I.
The Federalist #78 paper from the Founder's Constitution.
Tom Woods' article, "State Nullification" at http://www.tomwoods.com/learn-about-state-nullification/.
The last five paragraphs of "Report on the Virginia Resolutions (1800)" by James Madison at http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch8s42.html.
Week 4 The Executive: The Presidency and the Bureaucracy Chapter 12, pp. 434-473; Chapter 13, pp. 474-505; revisit pp. 79-82 from Chapter 2.
Week 5 Political Ideologies, Parties, and Interest Groups Chapter 1, pp. 22-37; Chapter 7, pp. 252-284; Chapter 8, pp. 286-319.
Week 6 Elections and the Media

Chapter 9, pp. 320-359; Chapter 10, pp. 360-389.
Week 7 Domestic Policy Chapter 15, pp. 548-575, 580-583; Chapter 16, pp. 584-617.
Week 8 Foreign Policy

Chapter 17 (pp. 618-658) and Chapter 15 (pp. 575-583).
George Washington's "Farewell Address."
Randolph Bourne's, "War is the Health of the State."
Federalist #8 by Alexander Hamilton.
"Crisis, Bigger Government, and Ideological Change" by Robert Higgs.

Course Policies

These course policies are designed to support your learning. When you join this course, we expect you to be committed to your own learning and the learning of the others in this course "community." Due dates are firm, not for arbitrary reasons, but because the learners in this class are depending on each other for feedback and encouragement.

  1. Weekly participation is required. The success of this class depends on every class member participating fully — your participation is part of your classmates' learning experience. You should be logging in and participating daily or at least 3-5 days each week.
  2. No late assignments will be allowed. (unless otherwise specified by the instructor in the course) Late assignments will receive zero points. Please contact your instructor in advance if there are extreme, extenuating circumstances that prevent you from turning an assignment in on time. Contact your instructor for his/her late work policy.
  3. Grading Scale: minimum percentages A=93%, A-=90%, B+=87%, B=83%, B-=80%, C+=77%, C=73%, C-=70%, D+=67%, D=63%, D-=60%, F=below 60%, with the exception of courses offered through the School of Education (prefixes: EDCO, EDUC, EXSC, GECI, GEDU, and SEDU) which do not have D+/- (60-69.99% is a D). Pass=70% & above, Fail=below70%.
  4. No incompletes will be given for this course except in extreme circumstance.
  5. Accommodations: Buena Vista University provides reasonable accommodations through an organized process. Students desiring accommodations must follow the University's process. Forms are available at: http://www.bvu.edu/learning_at_bvu/academic_affairs/cae/disability-services.dot. Please contact the Director of the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) to begin this process. The CAE's contact information is: Information Technology Center 103 | 610 W. 4th Street, Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, IA 50588 | 712-749-1237 or 1-800-383-2821 ext 1237 | CAE@bvu.edu.

Academic Honesty Policy

Cheating or plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. The University functions to promote the cognitive and psychosocial development of all students. Therefore, all work submitted by a student must represent her/his own ideas, concepts, and current understanding. Academic dishonesty also includes submitting substantial portions of the same academic course work to more than one course for credit without prior permission of the instructor(s).

Honesty in all academic matters is expected from all students. Actions contrary to academic integrity will not be tolerated. Any attempt to cheat, misrepresent someone else's work as one's own, receive credit for work one did not do, obtain an unfair advantage over other students, or aid another student to do the above will be considered a breach of academic integrity.

Assignments produced for this class may not use any copyrighted material without express permission of the copyright holder. Failure to comply is a violation of the honesty policy and may result in automatic failure for the course or project. Copyrighted materials MAY be used for course assignments if the sources are properly cited and acknowledged as part of the assignment. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. See the Academic Honesty policy below for more information.

For additional information, please see the Academic Policies section of the Academic Catalog:
http://www.bvu.edu/learning_at_bvu/catalog/.

Getting Help

Please do not hesitate to seek help immediately when you experience any difficulties or whenever you have questions.

  1. Instructor — For course related help with questions about assignments, course concepts, or course materials, contact your instructor immediately.
    • For public questions, use the Course Q&A discussion located inside the Course Info module. Other students might have the same question and will benefit from you asking. Your classmates might also have an answer for you.
    • For private questions about grades or personal issues, send private course mail from your inbox, located in the top left-hand corner of Canvas.
    • Instructor contact information can be found in the People area.
  2. 2Fix — Contact the 2Fix Help Desk for technical help.
    • Phone: 1-712-749-2FIX (2349) or 1-800-248-4462
    • Hours: Monday-Thursday 7 AM to 10 PM (Central), Friday 7 AM to 6 PM, Saturday 9 AM to 6 PM, and Sunday 1 PM to 11 PM
    • Website: http://2fix.bvu.edu
    • Web Help Desk: https://help.bvu.edu (see additional information below)
  3. Web Help Desk — Any BVU-related question is fair game – from login issues to Canvas issues to financial aid questions. You will be notified of progress in resolving the issue via email to your BVU account. Log in to the BVU Web Help Desk using the same username and password as Canvas.
  4. Tutoring Services — As a BVU student, you have free access to SMARTHINKING online tutoring services. You are strongly encouraged to use this service to improve your academic skills. You can submit things electronically or set up a time to meet with one of the tutors. To begin using SMARTHINKING, simply go to the Canvas Home page and click on SMARTHINKING in the navigation area.

Course Summary:

Date Details Due