American Political Institutions – Spring 2012

Course Information Overview

• Political Science 155 OF
• Fully online asynchronous course
• Moodle will be used as the course learning management system (http://moodle.csun.edu)

Course Description

 

The focus of this course will be California state and local as well as national government. We will begin the course with our founding fathers and the philosophy leading to the U.S. Constitution, our political institutions and processes. We will cover every branch of government in addition to our bureaucracy to learn the role of each, especially in relation to one another at the various levels. The class will incorporate current national and state political examples.

The course is set up in an asynchronous format, which means there are no set days or times for you to be online. The only exception to the latter is will be the midterm and final exams.

The course is divided into 16 weeks with weekly modules. There are one or more chapters required in each week's module along with corresponding Moodle activities such as videos, podcasts, links to original historical documents, pictures, quotes, governmental web pages and other educational sites. You will be given exactly one week to complete your discussion questions and other weekly graded and non-graded assignments.

Course Requirements

 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

You are required to participate in discussion groups every week. Each week you will be reading the chapters and addressing the discussion question pertaining to the chapters covered. The group discussions will end once the week is over and you will be unable to go back and make-up any previous assignments. The goal of the discussion questions is to create student interaction and learning through class discussions, which usually exist in traditional classrooms. You are all encouraged to interact with one another and exchange ideas within the discussion sections. If you do not agree with a classmate’s response, then argue your point and let us know why.

*You are in a classroom of 60 students, which means there will be 60 different opinions that need to be respected by all. You will be permitted and encouraged to voice your opinions, ideas and thoughts as long as they are done so in an educated and courteous manner.

The week ends on Saturday, which means Saturday is the very last day for you to complete your discussion questions and any other graded assignments (scavenger hunts and quizzes). There may be exceptions to the latter as a result of University scheduling for national holidays and official campus closings.

EXAMS:

All the course exams will be timed. Please see the Course Schedule below for the specific dates and mark your personal calendars in advance. Quizzes/exams may NOT rescheduled.

• Quizzes:  

There are 2 quizzes scheduled for the semester. The quizzes will be available for the entire week (from Sunday to Saturday), but will be timed once a student has logged into a quiz. Each student is permitted 2 attempts for every quiz. It is the student's choice whether he/she would like to take it once or twice. Your highest score will be recorded into the course gradebook.

• Midterm exam:

There will be one midterm exam, which will be a combination of true/false, multiple choice and/or fill-in the blank questions.

• Final exam:

The final exam will also include a combination of true/false, multiple choice and/or fill-in the blank questions.

*Another important course requirement is having regular access to a computer and a CSUN email address in order to participate in the course. There are computer labs located all throughout campus including the Oviatt Library and the University Student Union.

Student Learning Objectives

The overall goal of this course is to provide you with an understanding of how our government works at each level (national, state and local). The specific learning objectives and criteria for assessment for the course include:

• Active Citizenship and Civic Engagement – Students should demonstrate a knowledge and awareness of contemporary issues, political institutions, and problems in the community and their historical contexts. Students should demonstrate an understanding of the importance of community involvement and leadership.

  • Assessment criteria for discussion questions and graded assignments– Evidence suggests that student is able to identify a major political and/or policy problem and is able to conceptualize and analyze the causes of the policy issues

• Political Decision Making – Students should demonstrate an in-depth understanding and knowledge of the political institutions through which public policies are formulated, modified, and implemented.

  • Assessment criteria for discussion questions and graded assignments – Evidence suggests student is able to identify political issues and link them to the institutions involved in solving these issues.

Grading

There will be 200 points available for the course. The grading will be broken down as follows:

Grading Summary table

Quiz 1	20
Quiz 2	20
Midterm Exam	40
Final Exam	54
Discussion questions	54
Graded assignments (scavenger hunts)	12

 

Grading Summary table

187 - 200	A
180 - 186	A-
179 - 173	B+
172 - 167	B
166 - 160	B-
159 - 153	C+
152 - 147	C
146 - 140	C-
139 - 133	D+
132 - 127	D
126 - 120	D-
0 - 119	F

*There will be no extra credit available for the course.

Course Schedule

 

How to Begin

Once you have successfully logged into Moodle, begin navigating the site and familiarizing yourself with the course. If you are new to Moodle, you may find a Moodle Student tutorial located in the top left CSUN block. Also, please be sure to fully read the Moodle Student FAQs for this course.

Reading and Module Schedule

Grading Summary table

Week 1 January 23 - 28 *	Read and familiarize yourself with the course format and syllabus Review the links located in the CSUN block, especially Student Moodle Help Post a brief introduction of yourself in the Student Introductions forum Edit your profile and upload a picture (Mandatory)
Week 2 January 29 - February 4	Chapter 1 - "The Origins of American Political Principles" Chapter 2 - "The Revolution and The Constitution"
Week 3 February 5 - 11	Chapter 3 - "Federalism and American Political Development"
Week 4 February 12 - 18	Chapter 4 - "Political Socialization and Public Opinion" Chapter 5 - "The Mass Media and the Political Agenda"
Week 5 February 19 - 25	Chapter 6 - "Interest Groups and Social Movements" Quiz 1
Week 6 February 26 - March 3	Chapter 7 - "Political Parties" Chapter 8 - "Voting, Campaigns, and Elections"
Week 7 March 4 - 10	Chapter 9 - "Congress: Lawmaking and Domestic Representation"
Week 8 March 11 - 17	Chapter 10 - "The President: Governing in Uncertain Times" Midterm exam
Week 9 March 18 - 24	Chapter 11 - "Bureaucracy: Redesigning Government for the Twenty-First Century"
Week 10 March 25 - 30 *	Chapter 12 - "The Federal Courts: Activism Versus Restraint"
Week 11 April 8 - 14	Chapter 13 - "Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: Balance or Conflict?"
Week 12 April 15 - 21	Chapter 14 - "Government, The Economy, and Domestic Policy" Chapter 15 - "America's Place in a Dangerous World" Quiz 2
Week 13 April 22 - 28	"California" "Democracy, California Style"
Week 14 April 29 - May 5	"The California State Legislature" "The California Executive and Bureaucracy"
Week 15 May 6 - 11 *	"The California Judiciary" "Local Government in California"
Week 16 May 13 - 15 *	Review week Final Exam

* Shortened weeks

Quizzes/Exams

Grading Summary table

Quiz 1	Week 5
Midterm Exam	March 16 (Friday)
Quiz 2	Week 12
Final Exam	May 15 (Tuesday)

 

At any time this syllabus may be amended or revised. However, students will be notified if any changes are made.