American National, State and Local Government – Spring 2013

Course Information Overview

• Political Science 355 OF
• Fully online asynchronous course
• Moodle will be used as the course learning management system (http://moodle.csun.edu)

Course Description

This is an upper division course that will satisfy both your Title V U.S. Constitution and the California State and Local Government requirements for graduation. 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. This means there will be no set days or times for students to be online. The only exception to the latter will be the midterm and final exams, which are scheduled for specific dates on Moodle. Please make sure to view the dates below and mark your calendars ahead of time since there will be no make-up exams or assignments in the course.

The course will be divided into 15 weekly modules with one or more chapters of reading assigned along with corresponding resources and activities such as videos, podcasts, links to original historical documents, pictures, quotes, governmental web pages and other educational sites. The items listed under the subheading Graded Assignments will be the only ones students will receive a score on. There will be exactly one week to complete the weekly module usually beginning on Sundays and ending on Saturdays unless otherwise stated on the schedule below.

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 not be able 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 explain why you disagree.

 

OTHER GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:

There will be a series of graded assignments available within given weekly modules, including scavenger hunts. Students will be required to research and find the answer to a given question.

 

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 will be two 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 will be permitted two attempts on each quiz and the student may decide whether he/she would like to take once or twice. If taken twice, then the 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 include a combination of true/false, multiple choice, fill-in the blank and one essay question.

*Having regular access to a computer and a CSUN email address is another requirement 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 will be to provide students 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 260 points available for the course. The grading will be broken down as follows:

Grading Summary table

Quiz 1	30
Quiz 2	30
Midterm Exam	60
Final Exam	74
Discussion questions	48
Other Graded Assignments (scavenger hunts, etc.)	18

Discussion questions and other graded assignments will be scored after each quiz and the midterm exam.

Grading Summary Table

247 - 260	A
234 - 246	A-
226 - 233	B+
216 - 225	B
208 - 215	B-
200 - 207	C+
190 - 199	C
182 - 189	C-
174 - 181	D+
164 - 173	D
156 - 163	D-
0 - 155	F

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

Course Schedule

 

How to Begin

Once students have successfully logged into Moodle, then they may begin navigating the site and familiarizing themselves with the course. Students new to Moodle will be encouraged to complete the 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

Week 1 January 22 - 26*	Read and familiarize yourself with the course format and syllabus Review the links 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 profile picture (Mandatory) Complete the Democracy question (This will not be graded)
Week 2 January 27 - February 2	Chapter 1 - "Introduction: Making Sense of Government and Politics" in Lowi et al. Chapter 2 - "The Founding and the Constitution" in Lowi et al.
Week 3 February 3 - 9	Chapter 3 - "Federalism and the Separation of Powers" in Lowi et al.
Week 4 February 10 - 16	Chapter 4 - "Civil Liberties and Civil Rights" - in Lowi et al. Quiz 1
Week 5 February 17 - 23	Chapter 5 - "Congress: The First Branch" in Lowi et al.
Week 6 February 24 - March 2	Chapter 6 - "The Presidency" in Lowi et al.
Week 7 March 3 - 9	Chapter 7 - "The Executive Branch" in Lowi et al.
Week 8 March 10 - 16	Chapter 8 - "The Federal Courts" in Lowi et al. Midterm exam (Friday)
Week 9 March 17 - 23	Chapter 9 - "Public Opinion and the Media" - in Lowi et al. Chapter 12 - "Groups and Interests" in Lowi et al. Chapter 3 - "Interest Groups and the Media in California" in Anagnoson et al.
Week 10 March 24 - 30	Chapter 10 - "Elections" in Lowi et al. Chapter 11 - "Political Parties" in Lowi et al. Chapter 4 - " Parties and Elections in California" in Anagnoson et al.
Week 11 April 2 - 5*	Chapter 14 - "Foreign Policy and Democracy" in Lowi et al.
Week 12 April 14 - 20	Chapter 13 - "Introduction to Public Policy" in Lowi et al. Chapter 10 - "Public Policy in California" in Anagnoson et al. Quiz 2
Week 13 April 21 - 27	Chapter 1 - "California Government in Crisis" in Anagnoson et al. Chapter 2 - "The Constitution and the Progessive Legacy" in Anagnoson et al.
Week 14 April 28 - May 4	Chapter 5 - "The California Legislature" in Anagnoson et al. Chapter 6 - "The Governor and the Executive Branch" in Anagnoson et al. Chapter 8 - "The State Budget and Budgetary Limitations" in Anagnoson et al.
Week 15 May 5 - 11	Chapter 7 - "The California Judiciary" in Anagnoson et al. Chapter 9 - "Local Government" in Anagnoson et al.
Week 16 May 12 - 17*	Review week Complete the Democracy question (This will not be graded) Final Exam (Friday)

* Shortened weeks

 

Quizzes/Exams

Grading Summary table

Quiz 1	Week 4
Midterm Exam	March 15 (Friday)
Quiz 2	Week 12
Final Exam	May 17 (Friday)

 

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