Political Science 1101
American National Government
POLS1101/Fall 2005
Instructor: Dr. Hugh M Arnold Office hours: 8 – 9am TR
Office: Arts & Sciences 105-C 10:20 am – noon TR
Telephone: 770-960-4371 (leave message)
Internet: http://a-s.clayton.edu/arnold
Required
Textbooks – available in
American Government and Politics Today: 2005-2006 edition with CD-ROM by Schmidt, Shelley and Bardes.
Study Guide to Accompany American Government and Politics Today: 2005-2006.
(these first two items are sold shrink-wrapped in a bundle at one purchase price)
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For your information: “Clayton State University Student handbook.”
Optional: “US News and World Report” ***
POLS1101 is an introductory level survey of the American political system in an international context, emphasizing a cross-cultural approach to the study of the structure and process of decision-making. The course incorporates comparison of the American political system and other types of political systems. The course also includes the study of world geography, emphasizing a knowledge of the global configuration of nation-states.
Accommodations:
To obtain this document in an alternative format and request accommodations, please contact: Disability Services Coordinator, 770-961-3719 or email at disabilityservices@mail.clayton.edu.
The content of this course syllabus correlates to education standards established by national and state education governing agencies and learned society/professional education associations. Please refer to the course correlation matrices located at the following web site: http://a-s.clayton.edu/teachered/Standards%20and%20Outcomes.htm.
Below is a preliminary outline for the course. We will plan on having four tests in POLS1101 this semester, each counting equally (25%). Tests will consist of short answers, definitions, fill-in-the-blanks and some objective (multiple-choice and true-false.) This outline is subject to change as time and events dictate.
Unit I Introduction, fundamentals, pre-test Chps 1,2 and 3 (to page 91)
Unit II Elections, political parties, interest Chps 7, 8 9, and 10
Groups and the media
Unit III Political Institutions (3 branches) Chps 11, 12 and 14
Unit IV
Economic and Foreign Policy
Chps 16 and 17.
Guest Lectures:
We will have two required Guest Speakers this semester. The first will be Tuesday, September 13th at 12 noon in Spivey Hall. The speaker/topic is Dr James K. Galbraith on “The Future of the US Economy in a Global Context.” This will be considered part of class and will be reflected on the first test.
The second speaker will be Journalist Ray Suarez at
12 noon on Tuesday, October 18th in