Carnahan Hall Russell Renka

PS103 Syllabus - Professor Russell Renka, Spring 2004

Internal links:
°Introduction
°Online Instructor Suite (OIS)
°Course Textbook and Readings
°Course Requirements and Credits
°Source Citations and Source Locations
°What is Expected of You
°How to Reach Me
°Weekly Readings and Examination Itinerary

Introduction                   Next down; Top

    This course covers the government and politics of the United States and its states, including the State of Missouri.  Governments have special authority granted to no other organizations--the power to make laws and regulations and to enforce them, and to 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 our federal and state constitutions.  There are no formal course prerequisites beyond standing in this university.  The course fulfills the "Political Systems" requirement of the University Studies Program.

    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 2004 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.

Course Textbook and Readings:                           Top

Textbook:  Kernell, Samuel, and Gary C. Jacobson.  2002.  The Logic of American Politics, 2d ed.  Washington, D.C.:  CQ Press.  For supplemental assistance, use the textbook website at Logic of American Politics (URL is logic.cqpress.com).  Don't forget to try out their multiple choice examinations for each chapter.

Readings:  The Itinerary contains other readings, at web locations specified there.

Reference Source:  Paul M. Johnson of the Department of Political Science at Auburn University has an extensive website with fundamental terminology used widely in political science, economics, and policy analysis classes, at A Glossary of Political Economy Terms.

Course Requirements and Credits                     Next down; 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.  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:  100 points per exam, 400 points in all

    The take-home essays are written on your choice from two or three essay options on a basic problem cited in that section.  You'll normally have five days to write a paper of about 2.5 to 3 honest pages with appropriate citation of your sources.  Each option basically consists of a closely related set of 2 or 3 queries that require you to integrate class material and readings.  Typically the first part is basic; for instance, show the legal distinction made by Roe v. Wade between each trimester 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: 100 points per exam, 400 points in all

The fourth examination covers material from Weeks 13 through 15 only.  Essay is done during Week 15, and the multiple-choice part is done on the date of the final.  There is no comprehensive final exam.

Review for Exams:  I always run an afternoon oral review before each exam, at time to be determined.

Polling:  I teach about polling because it is such an important technique in modern life for learning about people.  It's also a very attractive way to lie or mislead.  The web has opened the polling world to millions of people, many of whom have no idea how to tell among The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Polling.  So I'll be assigning you to do just that in Week 6 on the Itinerary. Value:  50 points

Political Science Symposia:  Our Department will conduct at least two public symposia this semester (details forthcoming).  You should plan to attend at least two.  If that's impossible, then find comparable events elsewhere such as Common Hour events.  If you write an adequate summary of what took place, each Symposiumis worth 50 points.   Total Value:  100 points.

On-line Forum<:  My PS103 classes share a Forum discussion site for material pertinent to this class.  This Forum covers material from class on which I make a post and request that you respond to it.  It's also designed for addressing what the lecture and readings are about, and for exam preparation.  And there are current events on matters related to this class.  You get credit for meaningful responses, not for cursory or "me too" statements.   Value:   100 points.

    In summary, points are allotted by:

Examinations - multiple choice sections   400 points (100 per exam)
Examinations - take-home essays           400 points (100 per exam)
Miscellaneous short assignments              50 points
Polling Assignment                                50 points
Political Science Forums                       100 points
Forum                                              100 points
All assignments:                                 1100 points

Grades:   Gradebook posts interim grades and the eventual course grade, to let you keep up with your assignments and grades.

Source Citations and Source Locations                        Next down; 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 fail to cite the source when copying or paraphrasing a source.  If you have an established major, use the style guide from that profession.  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 formal citation straight from this syllabus Itinerary and paste it to your paper.  For assistance with writing, go to The Writing Center in Kent Library 412.  Or use the Center's OWL, Online Writing Lab, with policies outlined at The Writing Center Site Map.  Tutorials on source use and plagiarism are included at BU Tutorials.  For PS103 paper links in APA style, go directly to Poly-Cy Guide to Internet Resources for Political Science - Style and Web Site Citation Guides.
    Elsewhere, Kent Library's Web Searching Tools includes "Deep Web Tools" with links to many databases.
    For extensive links on American government and politics, see Grace York's University of Michigan Documents Center and click on appropriate categories, including Federal Government Resources on the Web.

What is Expected of You:             Next down; Top

Attendance:  Those who attend typically do well in my classes.  Those who don't attend, do poorly.  Attend each class session unless there’s a valid reason to miss (i.e., personal illness, ill child, death in immediate family, motorcycle wreck, full blown Midwestern blizzard, New Madrid Fault disturbance of 6.0 up on the 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 (per Miscellaneous assignments, cited above).  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 five after the hour.   If you routinely amble in ten minutes late without a reason, then you should find a new class.  On my part, we have a clock in class, and I'll try to close on time.

Cheating and Plagiarism:    See Southeast's Academic Honesty brochure on this subject.  I had a certain nasty little cheater in 2003, haven't forgotten that, and have since studied some methods for catching and docking offenders.  If a student cheats on an assignment, it's an automatic zero grade on that work.  If there's evidence of cheating on more than one assignment, it's a zero on each affected assignment.  Once I have documented evidence of cheating, then I first confront the offender to elicit an explanation of the behavior, after which I file a report with the Department chair.  If I catch the evidence post hoc and cannot confront the offender, I proceed directly to the report.

    Plagiarism is a common form of cheating and a chronic plague of the academic community.  It refers to someone taking the work of others and passing it off as his or her own.  It can be as simple as taking a quotation and failing to show it properly, to lifting an entire piece verbatim and pasting it to one's own paper or exam.  The common element of this noxious practice is always the same, namely that of falsely claiming for oneself that which another person has created.  In the commercial world, plagiarism brings lawsuits for copyright violation.  In the academic world, it brings verdicts of both moral and academic failure on the offender.  For insight on what it is, see Southeast's Academic Honesty brochure, or Professor Hamner Hill's Policy on PLAGIARISM.  Each has helpful links. 

    I do not tolerate plagiarism.  I check for it--and know from bitter experience and plenty of web-smarts how to find it.  If the plagiarism is intentional, I report that as a violation of the University's academic integrity policy while assigning that paper or exam an irreversible grade of zero.  If it is not, I return the paper without a grade to its creator for immediate and thorough correction.

    The best method of avoiding plagiarism is to acquire the habit of properly citing your source material as you go along.  I do so above on the listed books for this course.  The books do so as well.  See those, or see Strunk and White's guide.  I do not stipulate a particular source guide, but will expect you to cite one in your References section of any term paper.  See Kent Library's final touches - tools for citing sources for proper use of MLA, APA, Chicago Style, and others.  I usually employ APA myself, but any of them are fine.  The core rule is really very simple.  It's this:  cite your stuff so that anyone who reads your paper can easily track its sources.  So give full citation to all sources, including names of all authors, the book/article/website file name or name and position of an interviewee, and all publication information (publisher's location, publisher's name, year of pub, volume and issue of journal, URL of a website plus date of its access).  If you got specific information from one page of a 900-page tome, do the reader the courtesy of citing that page so they can avoid poring through 899 superfluous pages.  Simple.

On guns and cell phones:  Cell phones may attend my classes ONLY when turned off.  Should one somehow manage to ring anyway, please silence it immediately and avoid a repeat.  If you must be on phone alert, use only its visual signaler for that purpose.  If a cell phone disobeys these rules, it's ejected.
    That brings us to guns.  Real guns may not attend any of my classes.  The State of Missouri passed a 'concealed carry' gun statute in 2003, leaving many unanswered questions on when and where it's permissible to pack concealed heat.  My rule is simple:  no firearms of any kind are permitted in any of my classes, or in my office, under any circumstances.  Should there be a violation, I will not confront the offender.  Instead I will contact the university's legal authorities and have them press action to ensure that the offender may not continue this practice.  There are no exceptions to this rule unless the student is:  a) a law enforcement authority authorized to carry a gun in the normal performance of duties, and b) this student gets my advance clearance to carry in class.  Note:  None of this refers to minor weapons such as Swiss Army knives, Gerber tools, nail files, or the like.  I refer to guns.

Services and Special Needs:  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; or you can use computer-assisted expansion of hypertext.  There is an Accessibility Plan at .  The Learning Assistance Center offers tutorial assistance.  And special needs or not, I urge everyone to freely use The Writing Center, including their Proofreading.

How to Reach Me:                      Next down; Top

    I have an open door policy, and can very often be found at or near my office computer.  My office is Carnahan 211-L; it's in a suite of offices immediately next to Carnahan 202.  You can reach me any of the following ways:
        a)      Leave a message at my Department mailbox or with the Department office in Carnahan 211.
        b)      Leave a message at the mail drop outside my door at Carnahan 211-L.
        c)      Leave a voice mail message at my office telephone number, (573)651-2692.
        d)      E-mail me at rdrenka@semo.edu.
        e)      If you’re out of town and cannot send a paper or assignment by email, deliver it to the OIS Drop Box.  Or if no on-line access, then FAX it to 573/651-2695.
        f)    Consult Renka's 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 Itinerary - Professor Renka - Spring 2004      Top

°Master Calendar - click at upper left corner for Academic Calendar
Week 1 - January 20-23      Politics, Public Goods, and Government
Readings:  Kernell and Jacobson Text, Chapter 1
    The Declaration of Independence - textbook Appendix 1, or on-line: Historical Documents: Declaration of Independence at lcweb2.loc.gov/const/declar.html
    on-line reading:  Continental Congress & Constitutional Convention Time Line, 1776-1789

Week 2 - January 26-30   Constitutional Foundations of Democracy
Readings:
   ºText, Chapter 2 - The Constitution
   ºThe Constitution of the United States - text Appendix 2, or Historical Documents - THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES at
    lcweb2.loc.gov/const/const.html; and for guidance, see About the Constitution at lcweb2.loc.gov/const/abt_const.html
ºJames Madison, The Federalist No. 10 in text, Appendix 3 or at www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm
    ºColonial Maps - Federalist and Anti-Federalist Areas, 1787-1790; and Ratification of the Constitution; both from Colonial Maps by CU Department of History

Week 3 - February 2-6      Federalism; U.S. and State Constitutions
Readings:
   ºText, Chapter 3 - Federalism
   ºJames Madison, The Federalist No. 51 in text, Appendix 4 or at www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm
   ºwebsite reading - Russell D. Renka, Madison and Federalism

Week 4 - February 9-13      Civil Rights
Readings:
    Text Chapter 4 - Civil Rights
   ** Exam no. 1 - (multiple choice, in class); essays topics are handed out at exam's end and are due by class time five days later 

Week 5 - February 16-20    Civil Liberties
Readings:
    Text Chapter 5 - Civil Liberties

Week 6 - February 23-27        Public Opinion and Polling
Readings:
    Text Chapter 10 - Public Opinion
    ºwebsite reading - Russell D. Renka, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Polling

Week 7 - March 1-5     Political Participation and Voting
Readings:
    Text Chapter 11 - Voting, Campaigns, and Elections
    ºText Chapter 12 - Political Parties

Week 8 - March 8-12     Review
** Exam no. 2 - March 11,12

Spring Break - Week of March 15-19

Week 9 - March 22-26         What was that about in Florida during the 2000 Election?
Readings:
        ºwebsite 1:  Law and Data:  The Butterfly Ballot Episode by Henry Brady et al., in PS Online, March 2001; see a copy of the infamous Palm Beach County ballot itself, at NPR's Election 2000 Coverage (along with a more normal ballot from Dade County)
ºwebsite 2:  Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - 2000 election results, with each state shown county by county for the 3000-plus U.S. counties; State of Florida in 2000 for the results, including Palm Beach County

Week 10 - March 29-April 2      Linkage Institutions:  Interest Groups and the News Media
Readings: Text Chapter 13 - Interest Groups
ºText Chapter 14 - The News Media
ºFrom Program on International Policy Attitudes:  At American attitudes, follow links to Media_10_02_03_Press Release (PDF file) and print this out.

Week 11 - April 5-8         The Congress
    Note:  Friday, April 9, is Good Friday.  Hence:  no class is held that day.
Readings:    Text, Chapter 6 - Congress
ºwebsite:  Presidents and Congresses from Russell D. Renka
ºother readings:  Gallup Poll Analyses - Congressional Approval Rating Lowest in Three Years(11/04/2003)
ºOn Tom DeLay:  Go to logic.cqpress.com/cqnews.asp and access the file called DeLay's Conservatism Solidifies GOP Base for Bush

Week 12 - April 12-16   The Congress
Readings:
Barbara Sinclair, Bipartisan Governing: Possible Yes; Likely No, PS Online, March 2001

**Exam no. 3 (multiple choice, in class) on Thursday and Friday, April 15-16.

Week 13 - April 19-23    The Presidency
Readings:
    Text Chapter 7 - The Presidency
    ºwebsite reading:  Presidential Elections through 2000 from Russell D. Renka

Week 14 - April 26-30    The Bureaucracy
Readings:
    Text Chapter 8 - The Bureaucracy

Week 15 - May 2-6    The Judiciary
Readings:
    Text Chapter 9 - The Federal Judiciary

Finals Week  Section 08 (TR12:30 p) - 12:00 -1:50 p.m., Tuesday, May 11
    Section 10 (MWF1:30 p) - 12:00 -1:50 p.m., Wednesday, May 12

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Copyright©2004, Russell D. Renka
July 24, 2007 12:33 PM
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