° Renka's Home Page
° PS103 Assignments
° Student Lists - Sections 07, 14
° Ultimate Bulletin Board
    °Posting on the Board - instructions
° Political Science Links
° GradeA gradebook
° PS103 Tutorials - LEC Learning Assistance Homepage
° Essay Questions - Spring 2000
° Student Essays
° Papers by Professor Renka:
    ° Madison and Federalism
    ° Primary Predictions
    ° Polling

PS103 Syllabus - Spring 2000
Professor Russell Renka

°Introduction
°Course Requirements and Credits
°Source Citations and Source Locations
°Course Textbook and Reader
°What's Expected of You
°How to Reach Me
°Weekly Readings and Examination Itinerary

Introduction                 Top

    This is a course on the government and the politics of the United States.  The modern world is dominated politically by governments of large nation-states such as  the U. S.  Governments have special authority granted to no other organizations.  This includes the power to make laws and regulations and to enforce them, and to impose and collect taxes from all of us.  Government is a nearly universal way human beings regulate themselves and their fellows.   This course introduces the fundamentals of American politics and government in a university studies context.  Coverage of topics is by national standard reflected in any competent introductory textbook.  Included here is state-required coverage of  federal and state constitutions.  There are no formal course prerequisites, although I assume nearly all of you have some background in civics and U.S. history courses.

    Politics has been defined as "the art of the possible."  To understand politics is to get beyond the dry civics and legal formalities of government structure and function.  A formal diagram of "how a bill becomes law" exists in every textbook.  Politics explains why a particular bill becomes law and another falls short, by injecting the motives and assets of politicians to gain insight.  For example, the Republican-majority 104th Congress passed a minimum wage increase in 1996 despite the traditional Republican disdain of such measures and the ardent hostility of many Members of Congress toward it.   Politics explains how that could happen--as we shall see.  Many Americans in 1999 deeply dislike politics and politicians, but it's impossible to understand government without politics.  And any effective citizenship in a democracy requires some real knowledge of politics along with the formal principles of its governance.

    This course is taught at three levels.  Some material is basic description, such as an outline of the trimester system set forth in the Supreme Court's highly controversial Roe v. Wade abortion decision, or a specification of what the First Amendment says about freedom of speech.  Some is analytic; once you know basics, you can interpret whether the distinction in law of first and second trimesters makes sense based on what we know from medical research, or whether public tobacco advertising should be classified as commercial speech.  And ultimately you confront the evaluative or judgmental; you ultimately decide what if anything to accept in Roe v. Wade or in tobacco advertising.

 All have the objective of enabling you to understand what you read or hear in the public realm, and to react as an informed consumer and citizen.  Essay portions of exams are designed to let you show knowledge at each of these levels.

    This course emphasizes two core university studies objectives (all listed at School of University Studies at Southeast Missouri State University; URL is http://www2.semo.edu/registrar/bulletin/univ_stu.html).  First is effective citizenship.  Plainly put, the course enhances your ability to be an informed participant and knowledgeable consumer.  This does not mean I promote an automatic acceptance of the American status quo; quite the contrary, blind acceptance is a fool's path.  The second, equally important objective is to master locating and gathering information.  Few things are more confusing to the average American than to figure out sources of the myriad effects our government has upon our lives.  Website access is a great help, but one must still learn navigation and acquisition skills.  Several assignments are therefore designed to ensure that you become conversant in web usage beyond the simple use of search terms in your favorite search engine.

PS103 Course Requirements and Credits            Top

Examinations:  The 16-week course has four sections, each ending with an examination worth 200 points.  Each exam has two sections, multiple-choice, and essay, worth 100 points each.

    The multiple choice questions cover all readings, classroom materials, and other materials we may address during that four-week period.  Each is worth 100 points--a convenient number I chose to make interpretation of interim grade averaging easy.   These questions combine the basic and the analytic, but largely bypass the judgmental (although some will require you to recognize an opinion of a writer or your instructor on an issue raised in class and/or readings).  On the proportion of questions taken directly from reading, v. those taken from lecture:  I don't know, since both are important, and single items often blend both.      Net Value:  400 points

    The take-home essays are written on your choice from two or three essay options on a basic problem cited in that section (100 points each).  You'll normally have five days (T to R, or F to W, in weekly calendars) to write your paper, which should be about 2.5 to 3 honest pages with appropriate citation of sources.  Each option basically consists of a closely related set of 2 or 3 queries.  These require you to integrate class material and readings to address that issue.  Typically the first part is basic; for instance, show the legal distinctions from Roe v. Wade between trimesters of pregnancy.  The next part requires analysis; for instance, explain why the end of the second trimester is so crucial to the abortion issue.  Finally is judgment; considering what you've said before, do you finally accept or reject the Roe v. Wade trimester distinction?      Net Value:  400 points

    The fourth examination covers material from Weeks 13 through 16 only.  Essay is done during Week 16, and the multiple-choice part is done on the date of the final.  There is no comprehensive (16-week coverage) final in this course.  Before each in-class exam, I conduct an afternoon review session, to be announced in class after we discuss what time would be best for you.  

Presidential Election Forum Series:  This spring the Department of Political Science is holding four Common Hour events on Wednesdays at noon, in Glenn Auditorium (Dempster 109), on January 26, February 2, March 1, and March 22, to cover the events of the nation's presidential primaries and caucuses.  See Political Science Events for full details on the schedule, plus links to pertinent election sites on the web.  Value:  100 points.

Ultimate Bulletin Board:  These two class sections share an Ultimate Bulletin Board as a discussion site for material pertinent to this class.  Every student is expected to read the Board and make periodic postings of his or her own on a relevant site.  This site will include material on the presidential primaries, on the material covered in class, and on other political happenings in the news.  It's an ideal place to post queries about what something in lecture or readings is about, and will help cut down on excessive e-mail.  You can save e-mail for personal or private inquiries to me, allowing the Board to answer questions that should be public.  I'm serious about this.  If you e-mail a query that should be on the Board, I'll copy the question to the Board and answer it there instead of in the e-mail.  Save us both time and post on the Board in the first place.              Value:  100 points

Extra Credit:  On occasion I accept individual proposals to something above and beyond the items listed above.  This requires that you submit a properly written proposal either before or after we discuss what you want to do.  This isn't meant to compensate for problems elsewhere in the course, but if you absolutely cannot be present for any of the Presidential Election Forum Series (cited above), this is a way out.    Net Value:  negotiable!

    In summary, points are allotted by:
Examinations - multiple choice sections   400 points (100 per exam)
Examinations - take-home essays           400 points (100 per exam)
Presidential Election Forum                    100 points
Ultimate Bulletin Board                          100 points
All assignments                                    1000 points

Source Citations and Source Locations                  Top

    Essay writing in PS103 means using and citing sources, including but not limited to those cited as reading in this Syllabus.  Use any style guide you wish, but do not copy or paraphrase something from a source while failing to cite it.  If you have an established major, become familiar with the style guide in that profession and use it.  I don't care which one you use in PS103; just pick one and be consistent in its use.  As a time-saver, whenever you use class readings as sources, you can copy the citation straight from this syllabus (in its Itinerary) and paste them to your paper's source list.  On doing internet source citations, click on Poly-Cy Guide to Internet Resources for Political Science - Style and Web Site Citation Guides, and/or consult the Reference Desk at Kent Library.
    On website sources, see Kent Library's Kent Library - Online Databases (Accessible only to users of the SEMO Network), Southeast Missouri State University.  You are entitled to use the Southeast server as a registered student, but cannot access these source materials otherwise.  As an excellent starting point for extensive website references on American government, see Grace York's University of Michigan Documents Center and click on appropriate categories, including Federal Government Resources on the Web.  If you use other major research library sites instead, OK; but you surely will find this one useful.  

Course Textbook and Reader:         Top

    The text is:  Edwards, George C. III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry.  1999.  Government in America:  People, Politics and Policy, 8th ed., Election Update ( New York:  Addison Wesley Longman).  Textbook website is Government in America, Eighth Edition Election Update Online (http://occ.awlonline.com/bookbind/pubbooks/edwards8e/).  From there, click on Student Resources--Online Course Companion for chapter-by-chapter review including sample exam questions, website links, web source citation guide, and glossary.

    The Reader (a collection of articles) is available at Southeast Bookstore on shelves referring to my two PS103 sections (07, 14), is:  Cigler, Allan J., and Burdett A. Loomis, eds.  1999.   American Politics:  Classic and Contemporary Readings, 4th ed.   Boston:  Houghton Mifflin.

    Additional readings come primarily from websites and occasional in-class handouts.  Website-based material is frequently included when and where appropriate  For instance, I illustrate how modern political polling is done by reference to major survey websites such as The Gallup Poll--and I then ask you to find and analyze another website poll at a site of your choosing, and to specify how you located it.

What's Expected of You:            Top

Attendance:  Those who attend typically do well, and absentees typically do not.  Attend each class session unless there’s a valid reason to miss (i.e., personal illness or ill child, death in immediate family, motorcycle wreck, full blown Midwestern blizzard, New Madrid Fault disturbance of 6.0 or greater magnitude on Richter Scale, Armageddon witness).  We often use class discussion for short writing assignments and/or assignments to find relevant information from journals, the library, or websites.  Some of these are impromptu, and it’s often difficult or impossible to compensate by asking later that I email you the assignment details.  Use email or telephone voice mail to advise me if you will miss or have missed class.

Lateness to class:  Just come in quietly.  I don’t encourage deliberate lateness, but traffic, weather, and professors in earlier classes all can cause you to arrive at six after the hour.   If you routinely amble in at ten after without giving a reason, then I will invite you to find a new class.  We have a clock in class, and I'll try to close on time.

**On plagiarism:  You should review the Student Handbook (sorry, it's currently not available online) on plagiarism, or refer to Academic Policies and Procedures and scroll down to Academic Honesty, which says 

t;plagiarism is the act of passing someone else's work off as one's own. In addition, plagiarism is defined as using the essential style and manner of expression of a source as if it were one's own. If there is any
doubt, the student should consult his/her instructor or any manual of term paper or report writing. Violations of academic honesty include: 

     That's pretty clear, yet plagiarism still crops up with distressing regularity.  I cannot and will not accept any work except your own.  In academic circles, proper recognition of authorship is the gold standard.  We are all required to maintain the currency.  You may use any source, so long as you properly distinguish what’s truly yours from what is borrowed from and attributed to someone else.  Note:  I did not plagiarize the University's statement, since it's attributed to its proper source.

Special Needs:  We have a campus office to handle formalities on this.  On a practical level, just advise me directly if you have specific difficulties that I can help you handle.  For example, I'll do oversized-print handouts if someone is visually impaired so that the usual 12-point type doesn't work.  On University policy, see Southeast Missouri State University's Accessibility Plan at the bottom of Academic Calendar 1999-2000 for Southeast Missouri State University at http://www2.semo.edu/registrar/bulletin/calendar.htm.

How to Reach Me:                  Top

    I have an open door policy, and can very often be found at or near my office computer.  My office is located in A.J.S.Carnahan (Social Science) Building, in Room 211-L.  The Department of Political Science is also located at Room 211; you can leave messages for me there if I am absent.  In general, I can be reached as follows:

a)      Leave a message at my Department mailbox or with the department office.

b)      Leave a message at the drop outside my door at 211-L.

c)      Place a voice mail message at 651-2692.

d)      Email me at rdrenka@semo.edu.

e)      If you’re out of town and cannot send a paper or assignment by email, then FAX it to 573/651-2695.

f)    Consult my Home Page (URL: http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/renka) for other details about myself and my courses, including this syllabus.

PS103 Weekly Readings and Examination - Renka - Spring 2000      Top

Monthly Calendar - Southeast Missouri State University (here's hoping they keep it current)

Academic Calendar 1999-2000 for Southeast Missouri State University (includes full academic year)

Week 1 - January 19-21, 2000     Politics, Collective Problems, and the Place of Government
Readings:  Text Chapter 1 - Introducing Government in America
    Text Appendix - The Declaration of Independence
    Cigler and Loomis Reader, selection 1.1 - Jack N. Rakove, "A tradition Born of Strife"
    Text Chapter 2 - The Constitution

Week 2 - January 24-28   Constitutional Foundations and the Problems of Democracy
Readings:  Text Appendix - James Madison,  Federalist No. 10 (or in Reader, selection 9.1, pp. 293-299 with editors' preface)
    Text Appendix - James Madison, Federalist No. 51 (also in Reader, selection 1.5 with editors' preface)
    Reader selection 1.2 - John P. Roche, “The Founding Fathers:  A Reform Caucus in Action”
    Reader selection 1.3 - Richard Hofstadter, "The Founding Fathers:  An Age of Realism"

Week 3 - January 31-February 4    Federalism in the United States; Comparing U.S. and State Constitutions
Readings:  Text Appendix - The Constitution of the United States
    Text Chapter 3 - Federalism
    Reader selections 2.1 through 2.4: 
        2.1 - James Madison, Federalist No. 39
        2.2 -  McCulloch v. Maryland
        2.3 - John D. Donahue, "The Devil in Devolution"
        2.4 - Jonathan C. Dunlap, "The Absent Federal Partner"
    Text Chapter 21 - The New Importance of State and Local Government

Week 4 - February 7-11     Political Parties
Readings:  Text Chapter 8 - Political Parties
    Reader selections 6.1 through 6.3:
        6.1 - Kay Lawson, "Why We Still Need Real Political Parties"
        6.2 - Everett Carll Ladd, "Of Political Parties Great and Strong"
        6.3 - Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, "Promoting President Clinton's Policy Agenda"

** Exam no. 1 - Friday, February 11 (multiple choice, in class); essays topics are handed out at exam's end and are due by class time five days later, on Wednesday, February 16.

Week 5 - February 14-18     Election 2000:   The Nomination of presidential candidates
Readings:  Text Chapter 9 - Nominations and Campaigns
      Reader selections 7.2 through 7.4:
        7.2 - Everett Carll Ladd, "1996 Vote:  The 'No Majority' Realignment Continues
        7.3 - Clyde Wilcox and Wesley Joe, "Dead Law:  The Federal Election Finance Regulations, 1974-1996"
        7.4 - Ronald D. Elving, "Accentuate the Negative:  Contemporary Congressional Campaigns"

Week 6 - February 21-25    Election 2000:  The General Election 
Readings:  Text Chapter 10 - Elections and Voting Behavior
    Reader selections 5.1 through 5.3:
        5.1 - Ruy Texeira, "Voter Turnout in America:  Ten Myths"
        5.2 - Michael Schudson, "Voting Rites:  Why We Need a New Concept of Citizenship"
        5.3 - Robert D. Putnam, "Bowling Alone:  America's Declining Social Capital"

Week 7 - February 28-March 3    Public Opinion and Polling
Readings:  Text Chapter 6 - Public Opinion and Political Action
    Reader selections 4.1 through 4.3:
        4.1 - Charles Kenney, "They've Got Your Number"
        4.2 - Benjamin Ginsberg, "Polling and the Transformation of Public Opinion"
        4.3 - Larry J. Sabato and Glen R. Simpson, "When Push Comes to Poll"
        website materials - Ken Blake,  The Ten Commandments of Polling
            The Gallup Poll - The Gallup Organization (exact site and material to be specified)
            The Pew Research Center for The People & The Press - PVS General Population and Youth Survey--1999

Week 8 - March 6-10**    Unelected Agents of Influence
Readings:  Text Chapter 7 - The Mass Media and the Political Agenda
    Reader selections 8.1 through 8.3:
        8.1 - Joshua Meyrowitz, "Lowering the Political Hero to Our Level"
        8.2 - Thomas E. Patterson, "Bad News, Bad Governance"
        8.3 - Doris A. Graber, "The 'New' Media and Politics:  What Does the Future Hold?"

** Exam no. 2 - Friday, March 10 (multiple choice, in class); essays topics are handed out at exam's end and are due by class time after Spring Recess, on Monday, March 20.

Spring Recess - March 13-17

Week 9 - March 20-24     Interest Groups
Readings:  Text Chapter 11 - Interest Groups
    Reader selections 9.2 through 9.4:
        9.2 - Burdett A. Loomis and Allan J. Ciglar, "The Changing Nature of Interest Group Politics”
        9.3 - Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, "Lobbyists--Why the Bad Rap?"
        9.4 - Robert Dreyfuss, "The New China Lobby"

Week 10 - March 27-31   Diversity, Democracy and Civil Liberties
Readings:  Text Chapter 4 - Civil Liberties and Public Policy
    Reader selection 3.6 - Joshua Wolf Shenk, "Steve Forbes, Joe Camel, and the ACLU"
    website:  Roe v. Wade 
Readings:  Text Chapter 5 - Civil Rights and Public Policy
    Reader selection 3.2 - Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
        Selection 3.4 - Brown v. Board of Education (1954; 1955)
        Selection 3.5 - Nathan Glazer, "In Defense of Preference"

Week 11 - April 3-7   The U.S. Congress
Readings:  Text Chapter 12 - Congress 
    Text Appendix - Party Control of the Presidency, Senate, and House of Representatives in the Twentieth Century
    Reader selection 7.1 - Gary C. Jacobson, "The 1994 House Elections in Perspective"
    Reader selection 10.1 - Kenneth A. Shepsle, "The Changing Textbook Congress"
    Reader selection 10.2 - Linda L. Fowler, "Who Runs for Congress?"

Week 12 - April 10-14    The Congress
Readings:  Reader selection 10.3 - Richard F. Fenno, Jr.  "Learning to Govern"
        10.4 - Lizette Alvarez, "Four Days in a Life Where the Grass Was Greener"
        14.2 - James Kitfield, "Jousting with Jesse""
        
**Exam no. 3 - Friday, April 14 (multiple choice, in class); essays topics are handed out at exam's end and are due by class time five days later, on or Wednesday, April 19.

Week 13 - April 17-19 (F, Ap 21:  Easter Break)     The Presidency and the Modern Presidency
Readings:  Text Chapter 13 -  The Presidency 
    Text Appendix - Presidents of the United States
    Reader selection 11.1 - Richard E. Neustadt, "The Power to Persuade"
    Reader selection 11.2 - Robert A. Dahl, "Myth of the Presidential Mandate"

Week 14 - April 26-28 (M, Ap. 24:  Easter Break)    The Presidency (conclusions)   
Readings:  Reader selection 11.3 - Charles O. Jones, "Perspective on the Presidency"
   Reader selection 11.4 - E.J. Dionne, Jr., "Governing in an Age of No Majorities"

Week 15 - May 1-5    Divided Government in America
Readings: Text Chapter 14 - The Congress, the President, and the Budget

Week 16 - May 8-12    The Judges and Courts
Readings:  Text Chapter 16 - The Federal Courts
    Reader selection 13.3 - David J. Garrow, "The Rehnquist Reins"
    Reader selection 13.4 - Richard A. Posner, "What Am I?  A Potted Plant?"

Finals Week - May 15-19
    Section 07 final (for MWF 11) - Wednesday, May 17, 10:00 to 11:50 a
    Section 14 final (for MWF 1:30) - Wednesday, May 17, 12:00 noon to 1:50 p

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