Weber 2302 Syllabus Fall

American Government II (GOVT 2302)

(Federal and Texas Topics)

Professor Jim Weber

Fall, 2002

Del Mar College

Social Sciences

FAQs

Faculty

Weber

Course Description

Course Description

Disagreements among people are customary. (If you need verification for this statement, all you have to do some evening is visit a Texas establishment that serves adult beverages and eavesdrop on a few nearby discussions; you will eventually overhear conflicting opinions being expressed on everything from bands to booze and butts. But then, it is not really surprising in a diverse nation like the United States--with people now numbering more than 280 million, with people of many different ethnic and religious identities, with people dispersed across thousands of miles, and with people involved in tens of thousands of competing economic enterprises--that disagreements have become commonplace.

Course Objectives

Student Responsibilities

Instructor Responsibilities

Materials for the Course

Due Dates

Outline of the Course

The topics of the disagreements debated in the United States (and in some Texas saloons) are issues of governmental policy. For Example, some Americans argue that government should provide financial assistance to those citizens who need economic help; others contend that government should instead let people take care of themselves as best they can. Meanwhile, certain Americans maintain that the government's top priority should be to severely punish criminals whereas some counter that government should provide extensive rehabilitation programs for criminals. Then, there are Americans who expect government to keep its hands off the economy while others assert that government should actively configure and regulate economic life in the United States. In other words, in many in nearly every home across this nation (as well in taverns throughout Texas), disagreement abounds concerning government policies. I t appears, in fact, that disagreements over government policies have become a part of the way of life in modern-day American society.

Now, if such disagreements cannot be calmly settled in the club, the discussants will find a place b go (e.g., a parking lot) to further express their opinions and employ a process (e.g., the use of loud voices, fists, bricks, knives, or guns) to resolve them. Likewise, for government policy debates in a democracy, if the citizens of a nation cannot fully air their conflicting views and have their disagreements resolved in an acceptable manner, the country will soon be torn apart by civil disorder, revolution, and anarchy. But, in the democracy of the United States, there is a forum -- we call it government -- that can be used for the settlement of these disputes. With government, citizens have a place to go where they can voice their disagreements and a process to follow to resolve then.

Thus, for over two hundred years, Americans. have regularly turned to government to mediate and to settle this nation's policy disagreements. Understand, though, that not every citizen has always agreed with each policy decision the governments' legislatures; executives, and courts have made, but realize that most Americans have acknowledged. that the legislatures, the executives, and the courts are the proper venues in which those problems are to be discussed and settled. Near consensus, therefore, on where and how disagreements are to be resolved does exist. It is this reality that gives legitimacy to the governments and their processes in the United States.

While there is a near-consensus over where and how public policy conflicts are to be settled in this nation, differences of opinion are rampant over what the correct solutions to these policy conflicts should be (e.g., does this nation wage an all-out War on Terrorism or bolster the sagging economy, or do both?), over how policies should be structured (e.g., what portion of the federal budget should be allocated to the War on Terrorism and what part should be devoted to economic revitalization?), over who will benefit from the policies (e.g., only United States citizens or the citizens of all nations, just the rich or just the poor?), and at what cost should the policy solutions be instituted (e.g., does this nation create a large budget deficit, does this nation increase federal income taxes, or does this nation severely reduce government spending by building fewer roads, by providing less police protection, by not improving the quality of education, or by less regulation of air and water quality?). Such disagreements over political philosophies, over the shape and scope of public policy, and over where public, group, and personal interests lie are what fuels politics.

Now, to be declared the winner in a policy disagreement, the American governments' democratic processes simply require people to establish their numerical superiority over those with whom they disagree. Those who are in the majority (e.g., the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, the Democratic majority in the Senate and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and the Republicans who head the executive departments and President George W. Bush) become the people who gain considerable control over the institutions of government. And those who dominate the institutions of government can largely determine what the nation's policies are.

It is this perspective on government and politics in the United States and Texas that- provides the focus for this course. GOVERNMENT 2302 is about the institutions of government in the United States and Texas (where those battles over policy disagreements are fought), about the politics of the United States and Texas (how those battles over policy disagreements are fought), about the governmental leaders of the United States and Texas (who battles over solutions to policy disagreements), and about the shape of public policies in the United States and Texas (what solutions to those disagreements are ultimately enacted). With this as a guiding principle, GOVERNMENT 2302 has been designed to enable you foremost as citizens and secondarily as students:

1. to become aware of and assess some of the major policy disagreements in the United States and Texas over current local, state, national, and international public policies;

2. to analyze the nature, operation, and politics of national, state, and local governmental institutions and their leaders in the United States and Texas as each confronts, battles over, and ultimately resolves policy disagreements; and

3. to think critically about our governments' political institutions, leaders, politics, and public policies so that each of you will become a more participative and knowledgeable citizen of your community, your state, your nation, and your world.

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Course Objectives

When Political Science was in its infancy as an academic discipline in the 1880s, three objectives for this field of study were established by the just newly-created American Political Science Association. This GOVERNMENT 2302 course is designed to promote your achievement of these historical Political Science objectives:

1. To convey to you the intricacies of the structure and dynamics of governmental institutions, politics, and public policies and to identify for you their leaders, practitioners, and advocates so that you will become a more informed and participative citizen of your community, of your state, of your nation, and of your world.

2. To assist you as you prepare for life and the work world beyond the ivory-covered walls of Del Mar College by developing and enhancing your critical thinking skills.

3. To help prepare those of-you who choose to pursue careers in public service, law, and politics by providing you with some of the information and skills needed for these particular vocational paths.

In addition, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which establishes education policy for all publicly-supported colleges and universities in this state, in conjunction with the Department of Social Sciences here at Del Mar College have mandated that three additional objectives be addressed in GOVERNMENT 2302. These are that this course will

1. "analyze the effects of historical, social, political, economic, cultural, and global forces on the area under study" (the United States and Texas);

2. "analyze, critically assess, and develop creative solutions to public policy problems"; and

3. encourage college students "to recognize and assume one's responsibility as a citizen in a democratic society by learning to think for oneself, by engaging in public discourse, and by obtaining information through the news media and other appropriate information sources about politics and public policy".

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Instructor Responsibilities for this Course

1. It is my responsibility to teach.-- not to preach. Consequently, I will attempt to unravel for each of you the governmental institutions, politics, the governmental leaders, and the shape of public policies in the United States and Texas; I will encourage each of you to become more knowledgeable of these political concerns; I will urge each of you to participate in government and to vote in upcoming elections; and I will prod each of you to examine your own beliefs on many basic public policy issues. This is what Political Science instructors are supposed to do. And because each of you are bright and intelligent individuals who can reach your own logical conclusions and make your own reasoned judgments, I will not preach to you about who each of you should vote for or what your beliefs should be on public policy issues, I will not reveal to you who I vote for, and seldom will I directly express my beliefs on public policy issues; this is also what Political Science instructors are supposed to do.

2. It is my responsibility to not only instruct you in the standard American government and Texas government curriculum for this course, but to also introduce any public policy, political leadership, governmental institution, or political concern which is ripped from today's headlines. For example, any decisions made and actions taken by the Bush Administration concerning the continuing War on Terrorism or any developments in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot and will not be ignored in this class.

3. It is my responsibility to respect you for the very special person each of you are, to respect your beliefs, and to respect the fact that many of you are not only students, but are also parents, spouses, and employees with all the demands and obligations that come with those job descriptions.

4. It is my responsibility not whine too much and to not be too anal.

5. It is my responsibility to value conscientious work and genuine effort along with exceptional intelligence. While not everyone is a political science genius, each of you can choose to work hard and meticulously for this course. If you do make that decision to exert real effort for this course, you will be rewarded in several ways.

6. It is my responsibility to fairly implement and carefully conform to the following grading policy: Grades for the combined Constitution Tests, the two Chapter Tests, and the Review Final Examination will be assigned in one of two ways, with each student receiving the higher of the two grades. Method One is the "ninety percent and above is an A, between eighty percent and ninety percent is a B, ..." system. Using Method Two, grades will be assigned on the basis of where each student's test score ranks relative to the class' average test score. Those students with test scores at or near the class average will earn grades of C; those with the highest test scores will earn grades of A; and those with the lowest test scores will earn grades of F. For the Syllabus Test and the learning check grade, Method One alone will be used.

Student Responsibilities for this Course

1. It is your responsibility to study, to understand, and to retain the information found in the assigned readings in your textbooks. Being bright and intelligent people who have already completed at least twenty-four hours of college-level courses including ENGL 1301, ENGL 1302, and GOVT 2301 (this course's specific prerequisites), I am confident that you are able to successfully do this without there being much need to cover in class what has been assigned to you in the textbooks. However, if there is some material in the textbooks that you do not understand, let me know so that I can rectify this situation. This also means that individual class meetings will typically expand upon and not often duplicate what is already found in your textbooks.

2. It is your responsibility to attend class daily. Studies of learning in college classrooms show that larger amounts of learning take place in the classroom rather than outside the classroom; obviously, only when you are present will you fully be able to be a part of the learning process. Please remember, though, that whether you are present at a particular class meeting or not, you are responsible for all that has occurred in that class session.

3. It is your responsibility to participate in class discussions in order to take full advantage of the learning opportunities this class will present to you. I do not plan to present lectures on American government and Texas government for eighty minutes during each eighty minute class meeting. Extensive empirical research has demonstrated that students actually learn more by actively participating in class discussions than by passively reading textbooks or by listening to an instructor drone on endlessly about a particular topic.

4. It is your responsibility to comport yourself in a well-mannered, non-disruptive fashion at all times in this classroom. Appropriate deportment on the part of everyone will create and maintain a classroom environment that maximizes learning and personal growth for all. Therefore, disruptive behaviors which distract your classmates and keep them from learning and growing will not be tolerated, and steps will be taken to swiftly and firmly discipline those who conduct themselves inappropriately. The primary interferences to learning that students have identified include
     • other students who arrive late to class,
     • other students who carry on their own private discussions during class with those around them,
     • other students who work on materials for other classes or for their own entertainment during class,
     • other students who allow cell phones and beepers to be set off during class, and
     • other students who leave class early.

5. It is your responsibility should the need arise, to fill out the paperwork necessary to withdraw from this class. Please note that I do not automatically remove students from class when they are no longer in attendance. Failure to withdraw on your own by the December 2 deadline set by Del Mar College will result in an automatic course grade of F.

6. It is your responsibility to inform me if you have already gotten credit for taking one and only one American government class at another college or university. There have recently been a few enrollment and transfer problems for people who have taken GOVERNMENT 2302 under this specific circumstance. I along with other officials here can quickly determine in most instances if you are correctly enrolled in this course and whether you will therefore complete the two course government requirement. Failure to inform me could result in you not getting transfer credit for this course and having to still take GOVERNMENT 2301 or its equivalents. Again, this applies only to students who have already taken only one American government class at another college or university.

7. It is your responsibility to work hard and perform at as high a level as possible on all the graded activities for this course, which are listed next.

a. You will take a Syllabus Test, which is worth four percent of your grade, for this course. This true-false test is designed to encourage you to read the course syllabus and to understand the course description, objectives, responsibilities, organization, operation, and requirements without our having to devote a lot of class time to discussing it in great detail. The test is truly easy -- if you read the syllabus and understand its content!!

b. You will be given four brief tests covering your knowledge and understanding of the U.S. Constitution; your combined point total on these four tests will constitute twenty percent of this course's grade. To assist you in your preparations for these short-answer tests, you will receive in advance of the first test eighty questions whose answers are found in the U.S. Constitution. It is from this listing that your test questions will be taken. Your task is to answer the questions correctly before each test, to memorize the correct answers be -

c.



d. There will be two Chapter Tests that you will face. You will answer numerous multiplechoice questions covering certain designated chapters in your textbooks. These tests will be open-book, but you will have only a limited amount of time to complete the tests. Each of these Chapter Tests is worth ten percent of this course's grade.

e. You will be expected to write a Take-Home Essay Test. This activity requires that you to work cooperatively with three other class members in the writing of an essay in response to one question of your group's choosing from among several you will be given. To answer the chosen question, each group will utilize class materials, class discussion information, your textbooks, Internet sources, and library resources. The grading of each group's answer will be based on the essay's content and on standard grammatical matters. This assignment will account for sixteen percent of this course's grade. More extensive details for this assignment will be provided when you receive the set of questions.

f.   Four percent, of this course's grade will be determined by your completion of a Group Scavenger Hunt. Your Take-Home Essay group of four is to contact by letter or e-mail

(1) a national government official who is elected by the public and is currently serving in office,

(2) a state of Texas government official who is elected by the public and is currently serving in office,

(3) a Texas county government official who is elected by the public and is currently serving in office, and

(4) a Texas city government official who is elected by the public and is currently serving in office about a concern or request your group has and receive back hard copy replies from those four persons.

    Then your group is to submit in a folder copies of the letters or e-mails you have written to these four elected officials to verify your group has made the contacts along with copies of the four elected officials' written responses. Successful completion of this project will result in a grade of 100.

g. Empirical research on learning in the college classroom compellingly reveals that students learn considerably more by actively participating in the classroom experience than by passively listening to lectures and reading textbooks. It logically follows, then, that if you are attending class regularly, you are learning much from the classroom activities, and if you are not attending class regularly, you are not learning much from the classroom activities. Consequently, a learning check will be conducted in about forty-five percent of the scheduled class meetings as a measure of your classroom learning. This grade will constitute sixteen percent of the course's grade. My policy on a learning check is simple, straightforward, and inflexible. If you are present at the moment a learning check occurs, if you sign your name, and if you note one thing that you have learned that day in class which is significant and related to the class' discussion that day, you will receive credit for being there and learning something. On the other hand, if you are not present at the moment a learning check takes place, if you do not sign your name for any reason, or if you do not note one significant thing which you have learned that day in class, you have obviously learned nothing that day in class and you will consequently receive no learning check credit. I accept no excuses, written or otherwise, for failing a learning check. (Employers seldom pay an employee for no work being done because of sickness, because of being at a doctor's office, or because of being stuck on the Crosstown with a flat tire.) So, if you are present in ninety percent of the classes when a learning check is taken and record one significant thing you learned on those days along with your name, you will receive a learning check grade of ninety. If you are in class ninety-four percent of the time a learning check occurs and record your name as well as one significant thing you learned on those days, you will receive a grade of ninety-four; eighty-two percent of the time, an eighty-two. To somewhat lessen the harshness of this policy, extra learning check credit can be earned by your attendance and involvement in certain outside-of-class activities that are noted in the syllabus or are announced in class, whenever such opportunities become available.

h. You will be given a comprehensive Review Final Examination at the conclusion of the course, which will be worth twenty, percent of this course's grade. This test is an objective test and will be a review of some of the factual information you should have learned
throughout this course.

8. It is your responsibility to inform me whenever you will not be able to take a test at the scheduled time long before the test is ever given. The only acceptable reasons for delaying the taking
of a test are a dire emergency (for example, your death or the arrival of Hurricane Ralph) or
severe illness. In all cases, I must be informed of your impending postponement before the scheduled test is administered in writing, by e-mail, or by telephone (be sure I record the information if you contact me by telephone) and be given an acceptable reason for your missing the test; you will then be able to take the test at another time with no penalty. Failure to follow these steps exactly will not prevent you from taking the test later, but it will result in a ten percent grade reduction per day (Saturday and Sunday are counted) being assessed until the test is taken. Also, a ten percent grade reduction per day (Saturday and Sunday are again counted) will be assessed for a Take-Home Essay Test that is handed in late. In all instances, no make-up tests will be given after December 11. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE TO ANY PART OF THIS POLICY!!

9. It is your responsibility contact the Office of Special Services in Room 188 (698-1298) of the Harvin Center if you are in need of disability accommodations for this class and to inform me of your particular needs. Del Mar College and I will do everything we can to assist you. I have personally worked successfully with numerous students in the past who have had special needs, and I will endeavor to continue to do so in the future.

9. It is your responsibility to visit with me about any questions you may have and when you are experiencing difficulties. Keep in mind, it is much easier to address problems early than at some later time when options become more limited. Also, I invite you to drop by my office to just chat about government, governmental leaders, politics, or public policy.

10. It is your responsibility to visit with me about any questions you may have and whenever you are experiencing difficulties. Keep in mind, it is much easier to address problems early than at some later time when options become more limited. Also, I invite you to drop by my office to just chat about government, governmental leaders, politics, or public policy.

11. It is your responsibility to be constantly aware of the following tentative due dates for the graded assignments and extra learning check credit activities. If requested by several class members, negotiated changes in this schedule occasionally can be made.

Tentative Due Dates

Syllabus Test about September 10 (TTh) or 11 (MW)

U.S. Constitution Test #1 about September 24 (TTh) or 25 (MW)

Chapter Test #1 about October 3 (TTh) or 7 (MW)

U.S. Constitution Test #2 about October 10 (TTh) or 14 (MW)

U.S. Constitution Test #3 about October 22 (TTh) or 28 (MW)

Take-home Essay Test about October 31 (TTh) or November 6 (MW)

Chapter Test #2 about November 12 (TTh) or 13 (MW)

U.S. Constitution Test #4 about November 26 (TTh) or 27 (MW)

Group Scavenger Hunt December 5 (TTh) or 9 (MW)

Final Examination

December 12-18

	Review Final Examination	December 12 (8:00 TTh class @ 8:00 a.m. ) December 13 (9:30 MW class @ 8:00 a.m.) December 13 (11:00 MW class @ 10:45 a.m.) December 17 (9:30 TTh class @ 9:45 a.m.) December 17 (1:00 TTh class @ 12:30 p.m.)
	Known Extra Credit	September 3 (100 Mile Ultimate Challenge begins)
	Learning Check Activities	September 6 (The Lion in Winter) October 3 (NCBI Workshop) October 4 (The Patriot) October 18 (Modern Times) October 30 (Halloween 5K) November 1 (The Contender) November 5 (?Election Day?) November 8 (All Quiet on the Western Front) November 22 (The Crucible) November 22 (NCBI Workshop repeated) November 26 (Turkey Day 5K)

12. It is your responsibility if you observe something in this syllabus that you cannot put up with, do not agree with, or find objectionable -- to transfer immediately to another section of GOVERNMENT 2302 which will be more acceptable. There is no reason for you to endure something in this class that you find distasteful and displeasing for the next fifteen weeks.

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Materials for the Course

Textbooks: Maxwell and Crain.Texas Politics Today, Tenth Edition
Supplements
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Tentative Outline of this Course

The remainder of this syllabus suggests many possible course topics, of which only some will be examined in this course, and the corresponding readings appropriate for each potential topic. It is not the goal of this course to devote class time to every topic listed below, or even to most of the topics. Please understand that the time devoted to each topic is not solely dependent on what my interests are or on some arbitrarily predetermined deadlines. However, since the current focus of the national government centers on the upcoming midterm elections in November, the Bush Administration, the ending of the 108th Congress, the beginning of the new session of the Supreme Court in early October, and the public policies each might decree (for the War on Terrorism, for homeland security, for economic stimulus efforts, and for budgetary matters, among others), since the current focus of Texas government is on the tout de suite November elections for most state offices, the soon-to-be chosen 80th Texas Legislature and the public policies it may enact (projected budget deficits, education reform, and economic development, among others), and since the current focus of Corpus Christi city government and Nueces County government is on the continuing financial difficulties faced locally (additional funding needed for basic city services and for economic development) as well as the upcoming November county elections, the time spent on each syllabus topic will also be somewhat dependent on what actions these governmental entities ultimately pursue, on any unforeseen events that may unfold during the next four months in the city, county, state, nation, and world, and on the class' interest in each proposed topic.

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PART I. The People's Agenda

The Composition of Congress and Its Procedures: Who Are The Members of Congress?; How Do the Members of Congress Spend Their Time?; The Organization of Congress; The Legislative Process; **Read: Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. Chapter 12; **Read: Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. The Constitution. pp. 65-81
The Executive Branch: Limited and Unlimited Potential: Presidential Roles and Power; The Bureaucracy as Advisors to the President; **Read: Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. Chapters 13 and 14; **Read: Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. The Constitution. pp. 65-81
The Judiciary: A Superior Among Equals: Organization of the Courts; Justiciability; Powers of the Court; The Supreme Court; Recruitment of Judges; **Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. Chapter 15; **Read: Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. The Constitution. pp. 65-81

PART III. Texas Government: Its Institutions

The Texas Legislature

Structure of the Legislature
Membership Characteristics
Structural Criticisms and Suggested Reforms: The Presiding Officers; Powers of the Presiding Officers; Limits on Presiding Officers; How a Bill Becomes a Law in Texas; Legislative Handicaps; Suggested Procedural Reforms; **Read: Maxwell and Crain, Chapters 6 and 7; **Read: Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. The Constitution. pp. 65-81
The Governor and State Administration: Basic Structure of the Governor's Office; Qualifications for Governor; Roles of the Governor and the Limits on Those Roles; Formal Roles and Limitations; Informal Roles and Limitations; State Administration: What Is It?; Bureaucracy: Survival Techniques; Harnessing the Administrative State; State Administrative Agencies; **Read: Maxwell and Crain, Chapters 8 and 9; **Read: Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. The Constitution. pp. 65-81
The Judiciary and the Law: Functions of the Judiciary; The Courts; The Attorney General's Opinion; Lawyers and Judges; Juries; Liberties, Rights, and Criminal Law; The System Under Fire
**Read: Maxwell and Crain. Chapter 10
**Read: Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes. The Constitution. pp. 65-81

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Syllabus Test		about September 10 (TTh) or 11 (MW)
U.S. Constitution Test #1		about September 24 (TTh) or 25 (MW)
Chapter Test #1		about October 3 (TTh) or 7 (MW)
U.S. Constitution Test #2		about October 10 (TTh) or 14 (MW)
U.S. Constitution Test #3		about October 22 (TTh) or 28 (MW)
Take-home Essay Test		about October 31 (TTh) or November 6 (MW)
Chapter Test #2		about November 12 (TTh) or 13 (MW)
U.S. Constitution Test #4		about November 26 (TTh) or 27 (MW)
Group Scavenger Hunt		December 5 (TTh) or 9 (MW)
Final Examination		December 12-18