PSCI 1040: American Government: Laws and Institutions | ||
|
Dr. Paul Hensel |
||
Course Description
This course is meant to introduce students to the government and politics of the United States and Texas We will focus on the laws and institutions that make up the U.S. and Texas political systems, including the constitution and the three branches of government. We will also examine a number of issues that are affected by these laws and institutions, including questions related to federalism, civil liberties, and civil rights. Upon completion of this course, students should have a broad understanding of the fundamentals of American and Texas government and politics, and they should be able to think critically about current and past political events in these political systems. This should be useful both for being an educated voter and citizen and for taking upper-division courses on the subject.
It should be noted that this is not a course in current events, although some reference will be made to current events. Also, I do not seek to indoctrinate students with my own personal opinions or political views, whatever these might be. Rather, my goal is to provide students with the tools to evaluate events themselves and form their own opinions. Students are expected to attend every class meeting, having already done the assigned reading; class lectures will assume a basic understanding of the readings and will go beyond the content of those readings, rather than simply restating them. Class performance will be measured with three (non-cumulative) exams that combine multiple choice and short answer/identification questions, as well as a series of assignments from the course workbook.
Teaching Assistants: Chris Freeman and Asmara Saleemi
The teaching assistants should be your first resource for any administrative or procedural questions related to the course (such as late assignments, missing homework, or incorrect grades). If you have a complaint, please only contact me after you have spoken with the TA, and be sure to clarify what you and he have already done to try to resolve the problem. Of course, you may always contact either the TA or me with any substantive questions related to the course (and you are especially encouraged to do so during our regularly scheduled office hours).
Chris Freeman | Asmara Saleemi |
|
For student names: | A - L | M - Z |
Office: | 331 WH | 136 WH |
Office Hours: | M 9-11 AM, W 9-10 AM | M 12-1:50, F 12-1 |
Office Phone: | 565-8733 | 565-2335 |
Email: |
Supplemental Instruction: Heather Williams
A Supplemental Instruction (SI) component is provided for all students who want to improve their understanding of the material taught in this course. SI sessions are led by a student who has already mastered the course material and has been trained to facilitate group sessions where students can meet to compare class notes, review and discuss important concepts, develop strategies for studying, and prepare for exams. Attendance at SI sessions is free and voluntary. Students may attend as many times as they choose. SI sessions begin the second week of class and continue throughout the semester. A session schedule will be announced in class. For information about the program, and session schedule/updates, visit http://www.unt.edu/lc.
- Email: bluefire8872001@hotmail.com
- Review session schedule:
- Tuesday 1-2 PM: Auditorium building room 302
- Thursday 1-2 PM: Wooten 214
- Friday 4-5 PM: Wooten 222
- Office hour: Monday 4-5 PM, LC2
Required Texts
Required: Morris P. Fiorina, Paul E. Peterson, Bertram Johnson, and William G. Mayer (2010). New American Democracy with Texas Chapters, custom edition, volume I. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. (Available at the usual Denton locations.)
- Note that this is a custom book for UNT's Political Science department that combines the relevant content from two other books (Fiorina et al.'s The New American Democracy, 6th edition, and Coleman et al.'s Understanding American Politics and Government, Texas edition, 2010 update). This means that students avoid the expense of buying both books and the waste of paying for so many chapters that we won't use in this course -- but it also means that you are unlikely to be able to find the correct edition at online bookstores like Amazon.
Required: Gloria C. Cox and Richard S. Ruderman, eds. (2010). Perspectives on American and Texas Politics: A Workbook for Political Science 1040, 8th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. (Available at the usual Denton locations)
Course Requirements
(1) Examinations: Three (non-cumulative) exams will be given in class. Each exam counts for 25% of the course grade (so the three exams together account for 75% of the total grade), and will draw roughly equally from the assigned readings and the instructor's lectures. Each will contain 40-45 multiple choice questions, and 5-10 short answer/fill-in-the-blank questions. Be sure to be on time to the exam; once the first student leaves the room after the exam starts, anybody else entering to take the exam will lose five letter grades.
(2) Workbook Assignments: There will also be five class assignments from the assigned workbook for this course, as listed in the class schedule on this syllabus. Each assignment counts for 5% of the course grade (so the five assignments together account for 25% of the total grade). For full credit they must be turned in before the beginning of lecture on the day when they are due; where there are multiple pages, they must be stapled together, and your name must be clearly written on each page. Assignments that are received after this time will be assessed a late penalty, and if pages are missing it will be assumed that they were never turned in.
(3) Attendance and Preparation: It is vital that students attend class regularly, starting at the beginning of each class period and staying through the end. Students are also expected to have done the assigned reading before class starts, because class lectures will assume a basic understanding of the readings and will go beyond the content of those readings. Better preparation before class will also allow students to ask better questions and to participate more actively in class discussion, which will make up an important part of most course meetings.
Rest of Syllabus
The remainder of the syllabus -- course rules, notes about academic integrity and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and assigned readings -- is only available in the complete syllabus (in PDF format). Be sure to print out that complete syllabus and be familiar with it, so that you do not fall behind or miss any assignments during the semester.
http://www.paulhensel.org/Teaching/psci1040.html
Last updated: 20 September 2010 (added more TA and SI contact information)
This site © Copyright 1996-present,
Paul R. Hensel. All rights reserved.