PSCI 2306: U.S. and Texas Government

Dr. Paul Hensel
phensel@unt.edu
http://www.paulhensel.org
Office Hours: M 2-3, WF 11:30-12:30

Please note that this web page is not the full syllabus for this course. The full syllabus -- including the schedule of assigned readings, course exams, and other assignments -- is only available in the full syllabus (PDF Format), through this web page or Canvas. 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.

Course Description

This course is meant to introduce students to the government and politics of the United States and Texas, and is required by the Texas legislature for all students in colleges or universities receiving public funding. 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 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 should be able to think critically about current and past political events in these political systems. This should be useful for being an educated voter and citizen, as well as for taking further courses.

It should be noted that this is not a course in current events, although some reference will obviously 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. Class performance will be measured with three (non-cumulative) exams, a series of assignments from the course's online webtext and workbook, and researching and writing a letter on a political question to a relevant policymaker.

Teaching Assistants

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 s/he have already done to try to resolve the problem. Of course, you may always contact your TA or the instructor with any substantive questions related to the course (and you are especially encouraged to do so during our scheduled office hours).

 

Chris Baugher

Herbert McCullough

Tsukasa Watanabe

For student names:

A - G

H - N

O - Z

Email:

ChrisBaugher@my.unt.edu

HerbertMcCullough@my.unt.edu

TsukasaWatanabe@my.unt.edu

Office Hours:

T 10 AM-1 PM
(169 Wooten Hall or Zoom)

MW 11-Noon, T 1:30-2:30
(130 Wooten Hall or Zoom)

W 4-6 PM, Th 1-2 PM
(152 Wooten Hall or Zoom)

Assigned Readings

Webtext access code (required): This course uses a custom electronic "webtext" that is unique to this course, which gives you access to the relevant chapters of three books that will be used for this course, without forcing you to pay for chapters that we won't be using or for the cost of printing, shipping, and shelving printed books. The three books (all published by Soomo Learning) are the following:

A single access code giving access to all three books is available for purchase at the UNT bookstore and Campus Bookstore, as well as through the Barnes & Noble link in the Canvas page for this course (ISBN 978-1-954890-22-0). If you want to avoid the bookstore markup, this access code can also be purchased directly from the publisher through Canvas, by opening one of the assigned chapters and following the instructions from the login page. However you purchase your access code, once you enter it, Soomo (the publisher) will also allow you to order a printed copy of the book for what they describe as "a small fee" if you'd prefer to read a hard copy of the book rather than an electronic version -- but remember that the Get the Gist and workbook assignments can only be completed and turned in electronically, so even if you order the printed book you will still need to use the electronic version to get credit for those assignments.

To get help from the Soomo team, please visit their support site at https://soomolearning.com/support. The TAs and I cannot address technical questions regarding purchase, registration, or usage of their products, or questions like "why didn't I get a perfect score on the assignment?"; only Soomo can help with these sorts of issues.

Course Requirements

Please note that all assignments except for exams are completed online, to make sure that students have no incentive to come to class if they have recently been exposed to Covid-19 or if they are symptomatic. This does NOT mean that you are not expected to come to class when you are healthy, though. Throughout the Covid era, students who rarely came to class have done poorly in my courses, even if they thought they got enough information from friends, GroupMe, or elsewhere. Seeing and hearing the material in person, and being part of the class discussion of this material, makes a huge difference in learning and in grades.

(1) Three Examinations (20% each): Three exams will be given on the days specified in this syllabus; the two midterm exams will be held during class, and the final exam will be held during finals week at the time specified by UNT’s exam schedule. Each exam is non-cumulative, and will draw roughly equally from the assigned textbook and workbook readings and the instructor's lectures. Each will contain 40 multiple choice questions, and 5 short answer/fill-in-the-blank questions. Be sure to be on time to each exam; once the first student leaves the room after an exam starts, anybody else entering to take the exam will lose five letter grades.

(2) Workbook Assignments (20%): The 8 workbook chapters in the webtext include these questions within the text, for you to answer as you do the reading. These workbook chapters are organized around the four learning objectives adopted by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (critical thinking, communication, personal responsibility, and social responsibility). You may redo the workbook questions as many times as you'd like if you want to improve your score, up until the next exam -- but all workbook grades become final once the next exam is held. Your lowest score from the 8 workbook chapters will be dropped from calculation of the grade.

(3) "Get the Gist" Assignments (15%): The 14 chapters in the webtext from the American and Texas books include these questions within the text, for you to answer as you do the reading. You may redo these questions as many times as you'd like if you want to improve your score, up until the next exam -- but all assignment grades become final once the next exam is held. Your lowest score from the 14 chapters will be dropped from calculation of the grade.

(4) Letter to Policy-maker (5%): One of the central themes of PSCI 2306 is the division of policy-making power among the various branches and levels of government. Another is the importance of representation and having a government that reflects the will of the people. This assignment – known as the “signature assignment” because it is required by UNT as part of this course -- requires you to demonstrate core competencies of critical thinking, communication, social responsibility, and personal responsibility within the context of civic engagement in the U.S. political process. In this assignment, you will:

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.


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Last updated: 18 January 2023
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