POL 101 (Traditional Lecture Course)

American Political Institutions

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Overview

Make sure that you attend the first scheduled class meeting for this course. During the first meeting we will review the syllabus (see below) and take care of all add/drop requests.

Syllabus

• Contact Information

• Course Description

• Course Goals

• Required and Recommended Course Materials

• Assignments and Grading

• Assignments Schedule

• Navigating Mypoliscilab

Contact Information

• Bryan Reece, Professor of Political Science

• Office: Social Science Building, Room 14

• Phone: (562) 860-2451 x2755

• E-mail: breece@cerritos.edu

• Office Hours (see semester schedule on Reece home page)

Course Description

In the course of this semester we will contrast democratic ideals with American politics, discussing the extent to which the U.S. is realizing or not realizing these ideals.  In carrying out this task, we will analyze the American public, five major American political institutions (the mass media, political parties, interest groups, elections, and public opinion polling), the three American governing institutions (the executive, legislative and judicial branches).

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Course Goals

I have structured this course with some specific instructional goals in mind. Through this course, it is my hope that students gain:

• an understanding of American democratic ideals.

• an understanding of the major documents, institutions, actors, policies and issues in American politics at the federal, state and local levels.

• an understanding of the public policy making process in the US.

• skills and knowledge necessary for analyzing American politics according to the ideals of American democracy.

• skills necessary for critical thinking.

• skills that improve their abilities to apply technology to the learning process.

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Required Course Materials 

The text you will be using for this course is Government in America (12th edition) by George Edwards, Martin Wattenberg and Robert Lineberry.

You are also required to purchase access to Mypoliscilab 2.0 (MPSL) for this course. MPSL is the online portal associated with the text and holds additional content that is required throughout the term.

You may purchase used copies of the text; however, you must purchase a unique (new) Mypoliscilab booklet for the course. I recommend that you look for a shrink-wrapped package in the bookstore. A shrink-wrapped package includes the book and the Mypoliscilab booklet in one unit.

Students are required to have access to a computer with an Internet connection and multimedia capabilities. You must be able to go online with the computer and watch or listen to streaming media files. A significant amount of work in this class will be done online. You may use the campus computers available to students in various computing labs (e.g., Computer Assisted Instruction Lab) or any other computer (work computer, home computer, etc.). If you plan to use campus computers, you will need to purchase headphones in order to hear audio and video files.

Students must also have an email account to complete this course. If you do not already have an account, you can get a free email account through online services such as Hotmail and Yahoo (see www.hotmail.com or www.yahoo.com).

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Assignments and Grading

Readings

There are 18 chapters you must complete for this course. Each chapter consists of reading materials, online exercises and multimedia materials. Once you have purchased the required text and corresponding Mypoliscilab booklet, you will have all the materials you need to complete this course.

Online Chapter Exams

After each chapter, you will be required to take the online chapter exam. The exams are open-book. Each exam is equally weighted.

Debates and Roundtable Quizzes

There are several streaming debates and roundtable discussions at Mypoliscilab. You will be required to watch/listen to a couple of these each week. After you have listened to each, you will be required to complete the corresponding online quiz. The quizzes are multiple choice and will be administered as open-book quizzes.

Weekly News Review

You will be required to follow the news on a weekly basis. To do this you must read the six (6) articles that are summarized each week in Mypoliscilab and take the corresponding quiz. The news summaries and corresponding quizzes are offered online through Mypoliscilab. The quizzes are multiple choice and are administered as open-book.

In-Class Exams

There are three exams you must complete during this course. Each examination will focus on lecture and book materials. The exams will be administered in-class as close-book examinations. The exams will not be comprehensive and will include multiple choice and essay questions.

• First Exam: Chapters 1-5, 21 and corresponding lectures

• Second Exam: Chapter 6-11 and corresponding lectures

• Third Exam (Final Exam): Chapters 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20 and corresponding lectures

Weighting of Exams and Assignments

• Exam 1 = 10% of Final Grade

• Exam 2 = 10% of Final Grade

• Exam 3 (Final Exam) = 10% of Final Grade

• Online Chapter Exams = 30% of Final Grade

• Online Roundtable Quizzes = 10% of Final Grade

• Online Debate Quizzes = 10% of Final Grade

• Online News Quizzes = 20% of Final Grade

Grading Scale

• A = at least 90% of points possible

• B = at least 80% of points possible

• C = at least 70% of points possible

• D = at least 60% of points possible

• F = less than 60% of points possible

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Assignments Schedule

For this schedule, we will consider the first day of the week to be Monday and the last day of the week to be Sunday. Online assignments required during any given week are to be completed and submitted by midnight on Sunday of that week. For example, all assignments required for the first week are due by midnight on Sunday of the first week. In-class assignment are to be completed during schedule class time.

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Navigating Mypoliscilab

The Mypoliscilab booklet comes with comprehensive registration and navigation instructions. To register for this course you need to used the Course ID # of reece09880. All other information regarding navigation can be found in the Student Starter Kit that comes with Mypoliscilab. The starter kit will tell you how to find and use all online resources. Look specifically for information related to:

• Chapter Quizzes

• Roundtables and Debates

• The Weekly News Review and Quizzes

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