PLS 101
Joseph Snipp
josephsnipp@creighton.com
Syllabus
Introduction: PLS 101 is a class designed to introduce the student to the general study of politics. The
focus will be on fundamental issues, ideas and beliefs that drive political experience—both those that
separate us as well as those that are common to the human experience.
Grade: The grade will be comprised of two basic elements: exams and written exercises. There will be
two exams—one midterm and one final. Each exam is worth 25% of the final grade. You will also write
five essays. These essays will comprise a total of 50% of the final grade. These essays will be discussed in
greater detail at a later time. In situations where a student’s grade lies close to the next-higher grade, I will
consider bumping the student up. In these situations, I will take into account class attendance and class
participation. I will also be looking for students who have demonstrated a concerted effort to improve their
performance over the course of the semester. If you fail to complete the coursework, like failing to write all
the essays as an example, I will not be disposed to give you this benefit of the doubt.
Rules:
1. Attendance policy, part 1: Creighton wants me to take attendance, so I will take attendance. However,
I accept and understand that even a student acting in good faith is going to miss a couple of classes. If
a student has a chronic absence problem, I will discuss it with that student, but I don’t want nor need an
excuse for every single missed class.
2. Attendance policy, part 2: The one exception to this policy regards exams. Failure to take an exam at
the prescribed time without prior notification will result in a zero for that exam. If you have a
legitimate reason for requesting a postponement, it must be made BEFORE the scheduled day of the
exam. No exceptions.
3. Attendance policy, part 3: In the event of a “snow day,” all students will be responsible for whatever
was scheduled for that day on the next available class day. This is really only important regarding
exams and papers. If inclement weather forces cancellation of class on an exam, that exam will be on
the next class day. If a snow day falls on a day when an essay is accepted, that essay will be accepted
on the next class day.
4. Academic honesty: I would like to think that everyone knows that cheating is NOT an acceptable way
to meet course requirements. However, apparently some students need this spelled out, so let me be
clear. Cheating on exams will result in an automatic zero on the exam. This includes both copying
another’s work as well as using your notes during an exam. Submitting written work under your name
that you did not complete is wrong. This includes both plagiarism of published sources as well as
turning in someone else’s writing as if it were yours. In both cases, it will result in a zero for the
writing assignment with no chance to make it up. All instances of cheating will further be passed on to
the appropriate administrative body with further sanctions possible. Consult your student handbook for
specifics.
Readings: There is one book in the bookstore for this class. It is required. In addition, from time to time,
you will be given other readings that you will be responsible for in class discussion and on exams.
Political Science: An Introduction, Ninth Edition. Roskin, Michael G., et.al.
This is a general survey text that attempts to touch every issue, some better than others. I use it more as a
base that will allow us to speak intelligently about the issue of the day, rather than the focus of a day’s
lectures. In other words, while I will not often ask specific questions about what the book says, I will
assume that you have completed the reading.
Class Outline: The material in this class does not conform to a simple weekly schedule. It is more helpful
to look at the material as I approach it in class.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Principles
A. Terms and Concepts
1. Study of politics (Roskin-1)
2. Language of politics (O’Rourke)
B. Political Theory (R-2)
C. Political Organization
1. Paradigms (R-3)
2. Democratic Organizations (R-4)
3. Non-democratic Organizations (R-5)
D. Human Behavior
1. Beliefs (R-6)
2. Origins of beliefs (Zakaria)
3. Culture (R-7)
People
A. Political Beliefs
1. Public Opinion (R-8)
2. Media (R-9)
B. Political Behavior
1. Interest Groups (R-10)
2. Political Parties (R-11)
3. Elections (R-12)
State
A. Definitions
1. Versus nations and other actors (Wills)
2. Textbook and “real world” definitions
B. Historical Context
C. Organization (R-13)
1. Legislatures (R-14)
2. Executives (R-15)
3. Bureaucracy (R-16)
4. Courts (R-17)
D. Political Organization
1. Democracies (Zakaria)
2. Anarchism
E. Transition to Modernism
1. Transition to Democracy
2. Development
F. The Person and the State
1. Liberal Democratic Model
2. Human rights
The World
A. International Politics (R-20)
1. Realism v Idealism (Purdy)
2. MGO’s, NGO’s, nations and other actors
B. International Economics
1. Political Economy (R-18)
2. Development
a.
Developed
b. Underdeveloped
c.
Nations in transition
C. International Problems
1. Environment
2. Violence (R-19)
3. Development (R-21)
a.
Nation-building
b. Economic assistance
D. Concluding Remarks
PLS 121
Joseph Snipp
Weekly Essays
Introduction: It is important in the study of politics, as in all disciplines, not only to understand the
material, but to express yourself intelligently on the material. To this end, you will be required to write a
number of essays where you will discuss class material. These essays are designed to train you to share
your thoughts in a compelling, thoughtful and concise manner.
Submission Rules: Essays will be accepted on every Monday. This provides you with fourteen
opportunities to turn in FIVE essays.
1. Essays need to be typed and double-spaced. You do not need a cover or title page. I like a title, but
you don’t need that either, so long as your name appears on the upper-right hand corner.
2. Each essay should run at about 700-1000 words. This is about three or four typed pages. Keep in
mind, though, that I care less about length than quality.
3. Essays must be turned in by the end of class on Monday. If Monday is a holiday, I will accept papers
on Wednesday. I will not accept any papers during Finals Week.
4. Since you have so many Mondays to choose from, I feel comfortable saying that I will NOT accept
papers on any other day. I will NOT accept e-mailed papers. If you run out of paper or into computer
problems, or you run out of JayBucks, you will certainly be welcome to turn in your essay the
following week, provided that ‘following week’ is not Finals Week. Since I can guarantee that many of
you will suffer from at least one of these problems, it is important that you plan ahead. I will not accept
responsibility for your inability to plan.
5. I will accept only one essay per week.
6. You must turn in at least two essays before Semester Break. If you do not, you will receive a grade of
zero for each essay you fail to submit.
7. You may turn in up to seven essays and I will count the best five. However, if you have a ZERO from
Rule 5, this will not be erased regardless of the essays you turn in.
8. I am happy to discuss rough drafts or essay ideas, so feel free to ask me for help.
9. I also provide comments along with my grades. I take great care to provide helpful suggestions, but as
you might imagine, as the semester progresses, I spend less time at this. I will always be happy to
discuss my thoughts about your essay, but I assume that by Week 10 or 11, you should have a pretty
good idea of what I will think of your essay before you hand it in.
10. The final two set of essays (submitted in the penultimate and final week of the semester and returned at
the final) will not contain any comments. This is for two reasons. First, I usually get a large set to
grade and have a quick turn-around to get them ready by the final. Second, the comments are designed
to assist you in producing better work. By the time you get these essays back, there will be no more
opportunity to write additional essays. If receiving significant feedback is important to you, I would
suggest planning your semester so that you don’t have to turn one in on the final two weeks.
Basic Assignment: The point of the weekly essays is to get you to personally address the material. After
reading the text or listening to the lecture, you should develop some feelings about the ideas presented.
This material could either validate or challenge some of your previously-held beliefs about politics. It
might remind you of some related ideas you discussed in another political science course or even in another
course entirely. It might remind you of a personal experience that either supports or contradicts the ideas.
Your essay, then, should explain this validation or tension. I am looking for your ability to do three things:
summarize, synthesize and analyze.
Summary: A quick treatment of relevant facts. For example, you might write a paper about the
effects of your parents on your political outlook, or political socialization. It would be important here to lay
out the key facts about this relationship that will be important in understanding your primary theme. You
may even need to sketch out the opposing viewpoint here, as a point of reference. As the essay format is
short, you should be as brief as possible with this part.
Synthesis: The very act of relating your personal experience (of, say, the formation of your
political beliefs) to the presented abstract material is synthesis. It is taking two ideas and showing how they
are related.
Analysis: These are the conclusions you base upon this comparison. You have described an idea
or event and related it to class material. What does this say about the event or the material? Does the
material help you see the event in a different way? Does the outside event challenge the thrust of the class’s
message?
Tips and Suggestions: Many of you have not written in this form before. Many of you have not been
called upon to write about what YOU think. So while this assignment may seem deceptively easy, it is an
unusual assignment for many of you. My most important suggestion is to not put this off to either Monday
night or the final five weeks of the semester. Both will lead to sub-optimal outcomes.
1. While I expect that these essays will be informal (use of informal language, informal citation, etc.) I
still want them to be well-written. There are a lot of issues surrounding this, but I want to address just
two problem areas.
A. Thesis/Introduction: Every essay should contain an introductory paragraph that lets the reader
know where you are going to go with the essay. There should be a thesis sentence that states
clearly the tone and tenor of the essay. Not only does this sentence help the reader make sense
of what will follow, a good thesis should also help you stay on track and not wander.
Bad: “This paper will examine the issue of term limits.” This is bad for two reasons. First, the
subject of the sentence is “paper” and not “term limits.” Second, it doesn’t tell the reader where
you are going with this. This thesis implies that the essay will simply outline the pro’s and con’s of
the issue without adopting a position. An essay that did this would certainly remain true to the
thesis, but would then, by definition, not possess the Synthesis or Analysis required for a good
grade.
Better: “Term limits are bad.” Better, as it is clearer, but it still lacks the descriptive power one
looks for in a good thesis.
Better Still: “Term limits are good because they force change and give other people and ideas a
chance at leadership.” This is better because it not only adopts a position, but also because gives
the reader a sense of what this argument is going.
B. Clarity and focus. Once you have a thesis, stick to it. I encourage you to discuss both sides of
an issue and various reasons for your position, but stay on track. For example, if you wanted
to write about the terrorist attacks, you could talk about terrorism, threats to personal freedom,
the goals of Osama bin Laden, the military strikes against Afghanistan & Iraq, etc. However,
if you include all of these ideas in one essay, your essay will read as a random, unfocused set
of ideas and not a cohesive essay. Note that, while I stress that you have a clear thesis, you
do not have to adopt an extreme position. You can write a clear strong essay that adopts the
middle ground on an issue. For example, you might want to write an essay about how the US
should be more vigilant in protecting First Amendment rights, but still realize that these rights
can be taken too far. I demand clear writing, not extreme positions.
2. Don’t tell the reader something they already know. Nothing is more boring than a debate with only one
side. Theses like “we need a national defense,” “terrorism is pointless” or “hate crimes are bad” have
no point. Is there really someone who would say that hate crimes are good or that we don’t need a
national defense? All of these issues may be good places to start, but look for the tension. For
example, “we need a national defense, but we spend too much money for too little defense,” “terrorism
is bad, so why do people use it?” or “hate crimes are bad, even worse than other crimes.” Notice that,
by simply pushing the idea a little bit further, you can arrive at a good topic. All ideas have points of
contention.
4. Avoid the regurgitation essay. You may want to start with something that I or an author says, but do
not simply summarize the readings or lectures. I said this above the Basic Assignment, but people still
do it, so I say again, don’t do it.
5. Avoid the obvious essay. While you can certainly be in favor of capitalism, democracy or patriotism,
these issues generally do not lend themselves to compelling essays, unless you can either directly
address those who disagree with you or appeal to larger issues in the class. As you start to write this
6.
7.
8.
essay, ask yourself, does this essay need to be written? Am I defending something that is under attack?
Now, you could certainly find some interesting things to write about here, but as mentioned in (2), you
might have to look hard to find it.
Be careful if you write a position paper. Along with the “Obvious Essay,” the one format that gives
students the most trouble is the straight-on position paper. Papers on issues like abortion, capital
punishment or euthanasia struggle because they either tend to re-hash the same tired arguments without
adding anything new (summary without synthesis or analysis) or because they seem primarily targeted
at “preaching to the converted.” I would encourage you not to write on one of these subjects, but as
some of you will anyway, I would at least warn you of the challenges and provide some advice.
A. The fundamental point of these essays is to get you to relate the material in the class to other
issues. So, if you are going to write on one of these “classic” issues, you will want to do it in
the context of one of the issues we discuss.
 Abortion as an example of the tension between individual freedom and social equality.
 Capital punishment as an example of the conflict between freedom and order.
B. Try to focus your discussion in a manner that seeks to persuade. Too often, people will write
their essays and talk past the opposing viewpoint. For example, I know that the moral
injunction against abortion or the “woman’s right to choose” argument rings true to you, but
by now, these arguments really do not persuade anyone. If you want to defend your position,
work harder to make its approach broad.
C. I am generally more impressed with the position essay that can address intelligently opposing
viewpoints. If you can address opposing viewpoints while still keeping focus on your thesis,
then you probably found a solid essay topic.
You may notice that some of these problem areas stem from one root: writing about an issue without
addressing either the larger themes in the class or the possible objections of your opponents. While I
do not expect you to respond to every flaw in your argument, I do not expect you to ignore them.
Edit your work. Another big problem that students face is that they will write an essay and hand it in
without ever reading it to fix style, syntax or structure problems. RUNNING SPELL-CHECK DOES
NOT COUNT AS EDITING.
Grading: Some might imagine that when grading, one assumes that an essay is a 10 and then every
problem found detracts from that grade. This is false. In my mind every essay starts as a 0 and every
positive decision you make adds to that grade. This is a general guideline to the grades I assign on the
essays. There is still, clearly, a lot of room within these groups where I can reward or penalize for the
overall quality of the writing.
Less Than 7: Serious problems with the essay ranging from simple lack of clarity of point to
significant grammar problems and inability to write clearly. This is a common grade for simplistic diatribes
that simply rail against something.
7-7.9: An essay that summarizes some points or positions, but does little more than that.
Generally, if the “Why capital punishment is wrong” and “Why abortion is wrong” position papers are wellwritten enough to avoid the first category, they fall into this category.
8-8.9: More than simple summary, essays in this category do make an effort to relate the issues
discussed to larger issues from the class or fundamental concepts of politics. However, they generally lack
either a compelling synthesis or thoughtful analysis.
9-10: This is the essay that successfully combines summary, synthesis and analysis. Not only does
this essay relate an issue or idea to the class material, but it also answers the question “Is this a good thing
or a bad thing.” It evaluates and draws conclusions about the material discussed and does not simply
outline.