Course Syllabus

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Sections 10134 and 10136

THIS SYLLABUS contains all assignments and due dates. From time to time changes may be announced on this Syllabus page. You are responsible for keeping track of any changes to assignments or the schedule.

Be sure to  login to the course on a daily basis to stay up-to-date on your work, your reading and any announcements during this short Summer term. There is something due nearly every day of the course. You should also check your Hancock College email on a regular basis. The college communicates with you through that email, and from time to time, so will I. You are responsible for any information I send by email.

 

Course Description:

A study of American government at the national, state and local levels. Governmental principles, institutions and their historical development are examined. This course satisfies part of the history and government requirements for the California State Universities, University of California, Allan Hancock College and many private colleges.

 

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  1. Explain the structure of the US government and the major historical underpinnings of that system, including the role of the Constitution
  2. Analyze competing political ideologies, specifically as they relate to US politics
  3. Describe how economic and cultural influences effect political decisions in the US
  4. Evaluate how individual participation affects politics and democracy, and how it has changed over time

Course Content:

  • The political philosophies of the framers of the U.S. Constitution and critics of the Constitution.
  • The process of amending and interpreting the U.S. Constitution and California constitution.
  • The theory and practice of federalism.
  • Contemporary operations of United States political institutions and processes, including the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government and nongovernmental institutions.
  • The rights and liberties of individuals as articulated in the U.S. Constitution and federal court decisions.
  • Contemporary operations of California state and local political institutions within the framework of federal-state relations.
  • Individual and group political behavior of Americans and Californians within the frameworks established by the U.S. Constitution and California constitution, such as elections, interest groups, political parties, and the media.
  • Factors that shape politics and policy making including diversity, political culture, political socialization, political ideologies and public opinion.
  • Domestic, economic, and foreign issues and policies.

Textbook:

Great news: your textbook for this class is available for free online!

American Government 2e from OpenStax

You have several options to obtain this book:

You can use whichever formats you want. Web view is recommended -- the responsive design works seamlessly on any device.

In order to achieve the student learning outcomes you will be evaluated through the following assignments:

  • Exams and quizzes: To assess general knowledge of course material and critical thinking skills, students will take exams.  
  • Discussion Forums: To make sure students engage each other over the material, each student will be graded on discussion forums dispersed throughout this course worth points.  These posts must be professional, meaningful and incorporate specific examples from the text or Learning Modules. 
  • Research Essay: This will be assigned after the Chapter 2 module.
  • Reading Assignments: Students must complete reading assignments.

Discussions, Quizzes, Research Essay, and Exams

Your graded work in this course will be Discussion posts, Quizzes and Exams. There are 13 Discussion posts each of which is worth a total of 10 points, (8 points for your post, and 2 points for your responses to your classmates' posts). There are 4 Quizzes, each worth 20 points. These are short-answer quizzes with five questions each. There is a midterm exam and a final exam. Each of these is worth 100 points. Each of these will have 10 short-answer questions worth five points each and one essay question worth 50 points. There will be one research essay worth 100 points. This assignment will be made available after the Chapter 2 Module, but will not be due until July 17.

13 Discussion Posts........... 130

4 Quizzes...............................    80

Midterm Exam..................... 100

Research Essay.................... 100

Final Exam............................. 100

Total......................................... 510

Grading:

Your final grade will be based on a total of 500 points, even though its possible to earn a total of 510. In other words, there are ten points of extra credit built into the assignment schedule. Your grade will be calculated in the following manner:

90% and above (423 points and up)  A

80% - 89% (376 points through 422) B

70% - 79% (329 points through 375) C

60% - 69% (282 points through 328) D

Below 60% (less than 282 points)        F

Grading Standards

All written work will be graded on the following parameters:

  • Analysis,
  • Use of course materials (and research materials in the case of the research paper),
  • Quality of the research where appropriate,
  • Composition, Grammar and spelling  

Remember – spell-check is useful, but not enough! Common errors that spell-check cannot help you with are incorrect uses of homonyms such as: “there” “their” and “they’re,” “cite” “site” and “sight,” “whether” and “weather,” “effect” and “affect,” “were” and “we’re,” “accept and except.”

Be sure to proofread all of your work.

Important Notes:

  • All first week assignments need to be completed and submitted by the due date to avoid possibly being dropped from the class.
  • If you require personal learning accommodations it is your responsibility to let me know as soon as possible. Information about services, academic modifications and documentation requirements can be obtained from the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). For more information about services available to AHC students with disabilities, contact: (805) 922‐6966 ext, 3274 (Santa Maria Campus) (805) 928‐7834 (TTY/TDD for the Deaf) (805) 922‐69‐6966 (Video Phone)
  • Academic dishonesty and plagiarism will result in a failing grade on any assignment, quiz, or exam. Using someone else's ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as our own, either on purpose or through carelessness, is a serious offense known as plagiarism. "Ideas or phrasing" includes written or spoken material, from whole papers and paragraphs to sentences, and, indeed, phrases. Always cite your sources and if you use exact words from a source, put them in quotation marks and cite the source.

Course Summary:

Date Details Due