Govt2305 2011
Federal Government 2305
Syllabus
Blinn College – Bryan Campus
Section(s): E1 (Spring 2011)
Instructor's Name: Eric Miller
Office Number: A-228 (Academic)
Office Hours: MWF- 8-12 (noon)
Office Phone: 979-209-7330
Office Email: emiller@blinn.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Government 2305 is a study of the organization, functions, and administration of the several branches and
agencies of the national government, including a study of the federal constitution. The primary factors
considered relate to the three branches of government -- judicial, executive, legislative -- major historical
documents, the events that shaped the nation, and current events. Emphasis will be placed on the interaction
of these subsystems. Three credit hours.
PREREQUISITES:
Appropriate score on the THEA test or alternative test or completion of READ 0306 with a grade of “C” or better.
CORE CURRICULUM COURSE:
This is a Core Course in the 42-Hour Core of Blinn College. As such, students will develop proficiency in the
appropriate Intellectual Competencies, Exemplary Educational Objectives, and Perspectives. The URL for the
Blinn College Core Curriculum web site is: www.blinn.edu/corecurriculum
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
After successfully completing Government 2305, students should have a working knowledge of the
organization, functions and administrations of the several branches and agencies of the national government,
plus an understanding of the national constitution. These include:
analyze the United States Constitution
evaluate federalism and its effectiveness as a form of government
identify the primary components of Congress, its major functions, and its effectiveness
explain the structure, roles, functions, and expansion of the executive branch
analyze the structure, functions and effectiveness of the federal judiciary
determine the functions of the bureaucracy
trace the development of American political parties and their current functions in United States politics
describe the types and effectiveness of political participation
compare and contrast civil liberties and civil rights
evaluate the objectives of foreign and domestic policies
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TEXTBOOKS, SUPPLIES, MATERIALS:
Textbook: Dye, Thomas. Politics in America, 2010 Pearson Publishing. ISBN: 978-0-558-31486-6. Use of another
version/edition of the textbook other than the approved version is done at your own risk!
COURSE OUTLINE:
Jan 18:
Week 1:
Week 2:
Week 3:
Week 4:
Week 5:
Week 6:
Week 7:
Week 8:
Week 9:
Week 10:
Week 11:
Week 12:
Week 13:
Week 14:
Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 16:
First day of classes
Introduction/Orientation, Chapter 1
Section 1: Homework 1, Chapters 2 & 3
Section 1: Homework 2, Chapters 3 & 4
Section 1-2: Homework 3, Test 1, Chapter 5
Section 2: Homework 4, Chapters 6, 5, 8
Section 2: Homework 5, Chapters 9 & 7
Section 2: Homework 6, Chapters 7 & 8
Section 2-3: First Written Assignment, Test 2, Chapter 10
Spring Break!
Section 3: Homework 7, Chapters 10 & 16
Section 3: Homework 8, Chapter 17 & Test 3
Section 4: Homework 9, Chapters 11 & 12
Section 4: Homework 10, Chapters 12 & 18, Last day for “W”
Section 4: Homework 11, Test 4, Chapter 13
Section 5: Homework 12, Chapters 14 & 15
Section 5: Second Written Assignment, Chapter 15
Final Exam: Thursday the 5th- 10:15-12:15 in A-113
Please note: The exact daily schedule is subject to change. The above represents chapters/events
scheduled that week.
CIVILITY STATEMENT:
Members of the Blinn College community, which includes faculty, staff and students, are expected to act
honestly and responsibly in all aspects of campus life. Blinn College holds all members accountable for their
actions and words. Therefore, all members should commit themselves to behave in a manner that recognizes
personal respect, and demonstrates concern for the personal dignity, rights, and freedoms of every member of
the College community, including respect for College property and the physical and intellectual property of
others.
CIVILITY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM:
If a student is asked to leave the classroom because of uncivil behavior, the student may not return to that
class until he or she arranges a conference with the instructor: it is the student's responsibility to arrange for this
conference.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
The following sections describe the various ways you will earn points in this class.
-TESTS:
There will be four (4) normal examinations, each covering approximately one-fifth (1/5) of the class material,
each worth 100 points. The final exam will be a comprehensive exam covering the most recent one-fifth (1/5) of
class material in addition to the previous 80%. The Final Exam is worth 150 points. The exams themselves will be a
combination of multiple choice and true-false questions and will be taken from the textbook and lecture. You
are expected to read the assigned material, and may only "skip" the parts I tell you to skip. You have been told,
and I don't want to hear any complaints later. Again, use of another version/edition of the textbook other than
the approved version is done at your own risk! Furthermore,
No books or notes are allowed during the tests.
No electronic devices may be used during the tests.
No sharing of answers or information with other students is allowed during the tests.
These are considered cheating and will result in a non-replaceable grade of 0 (zero) for the test. Stiffer
penalties are in order for repeated incidences. All tests will be done in class on the specified days. You will need
a Scantron (long green kind) and appropriate marking materials for each test.
Each regular test will have 70 questions, each worth 1.5 points each. This makes the tests worth 105 points. The
three highest tests (of the first four regular tests) will count; the lowest one will be dropped. The chapters
covered on each test are available on the calendar section below and in eCampus.
Total value for the tests is 300 points.
-QUIZZES:
Quizzing will be done in class. You must be in class when the quiz is given to get credit any credit for the quiz.
There is expected to be 20 points of quizzes given in between the tests. Some quizzes will be announced, others
will not. Some quizzes may be worth more than others, some quizzes may be for extra credit.
There will be 100 points worth of quizzes total.
-WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:
You will be assigned two short assignments to write, each worth 50 points. This is worth 100 points.
The actual assignments will be given in a “dropbox” assignment tool in eCampus. It will be available for the
duration of the semester and must be completed by the date shown on the calendar. Late essays are not
accepted. As this is a face-to-face (F2F) class, you may submit a typed written assignment to me in class.
While this is *not* an English class, I expect you to follow all the directions for writing and formatting these essays.
There are substantial penalties for not following the basic directions.
-HOMEWORK POSTS:
These are done using the Discussion tool in eCampus. There will be about one homework “discussion posts” per
week. Each homework assignment is worth 10 points each. The highest 10 of the 12 will count for this category.
The total for the homework category is 100 points.
You will have a week to post to the discussion topic. Each topic has the full directions of what is required, but
basically you will take a position and post your answer. Some of these topics will be based on “boxed features”
in the textbook, others may be based on a linked or posted article, and some may be based on videos or other
multimedia resource. It is possible that some or all of a homework assignment will be done in class.
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While spelling is not strictly enforced, it will lower your grade if there are several spelling errors.
CALENDAR OF MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMS:
January 18:
February 8:
March 8:
March 31:
April 15:
April 19:
April 22:
May 3:
May 5:
First day of classes
Test 1- Chapters 1-4
Test 2- Chapters 5-9 and First Written Assignment Due @ 11:55 PM
Test 3- Chapters 10, 16, 17
Last day for a “W”
Test 4- Chapters 11, 12, 18
Holiday- no class (It’s a Friday…)
Second Written Assignment @ 11:55 PM
Final Exam: 10:15-12:15 in A-113
CRITERIA FOR GRADING:
Your grade will be calculated as follows: I will total the points earned on all the assignments and compare them
to the table below- there is a maximum of 750 points available (excluding bonuses):
675 points and over600-674 points525-599 points450-524 points449 and below-
grade of "A" and four (4) grade points.
grade of "B" and three (3) grade points
grade of "C" and two (2) grade points.
grade of "D" and one (1) grade point.
grade of "F" and zero (0) grade points.
If there are extenuating, documented circumstances, a grade of "I" may be assigned, following current Blinn
policies. If a student withdraws (drops) from class a grade of "W", "WP", or "WF" will be given, depending on the
date of the student's withdrawal and their current grade. Note: There may be occasions when points will be
added to a student's grade to reward actions above expectations. Points will never be taken away.
OTHER POLICIES:
1. No food or drinks in the classroom.
2. Blinn College does not tolerate cheating, plagiarism or collusion. Procedures for dealing with these
acts are outlined in the Scholastic Dishonesty Policy.
3. The right and responsibility to determine the appropriateness of the dress of a particular student lies
with the classroom instructor or when the student is outside the classroom, with the immediate
supervisor of the building or grounds the student is utilizing. An instructor may require specific,
appropriate dress when students are to give classroom presentations or speeches of any type or
when representing the College outside the classroom. When an instructor or supervisor informs a
student that the clothing s/he is wearing is not appropriate, the student must leave the classroom or
other facility until the student changes the clothing or agrees not to wear such clothing again, as
the instructor or supervisor directs.
4. All the functions of personal electronic devices designed for communication and/or entertainment
(cell phones, pagers, beepers, iPods, and similar devices) must be turned off and kept out of sight in
all Blinn College classrooms and associated laboratories. Any noncompliance with this policy will be
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addressed in accordance with the Blinn College civility policy (Administrative Policy). Additionally,
any communication understood by the instructor to be in the nature of cheating will have
consequences in accordance with this Blinn College policy section regarding academic dishonesty
[FLB (Local)]. Students exempted from this policy section include, active members of firefighting
organizations, emergency medical services organizations, commissioned police officers, on-call
employees of any political subdivision of the state of Texas, or agencies of the federal government.
Exempted students are expected to set the emergency-use devices on silent or vibrate mode only.
ATTENDANCE POLICY:
The College District believes that class attendance is essential for student success; therefore, students are
required to promptly and regularly attend all their classes. Each class meeting builds the foundation for
subsequent class meetings. Without full participation and regular class attendance, students shall find
themselves at a severe disadvantage for achieving success in college. Class participation shall constitute at
least ten percent of the final course grade. It is the responsibility of each faculty member, in consultation with
the division chair, to determine how participation is achieved in his or her class. Faculty will require students to
regularly attend class and will keep a record of attendance from the first day of class and/or the first day the
student’s name appears on the roster through final examinations. If a student has one week’s worth of
absences during the semester, he/she will be sent an e-mail by the College requiring the student to contact
his/her instructor and schedule a conference immediately to discuss his/her attendance issues. If the student
accumulates two weeks worth of absences, he/she will be administratively withdrawn from class.
Absences in this class are counted as follows:
This class meets two times per week, and each missed class counts as 1/2 a week. So when you miss any
2 classes, that is one week’s worth of absences and you will be reported to Blinn. If you miss any 2
additional classes, you will again be reported to Blinn to be dropped from the class.
Please note, it is NOT enough to just sit in class, substantive work must be completed or submitted for
you to be counted as attending class. In most classes, there will be some activity to demonstrate your
attendance.
In short, Blinn College is “employing” you in the job of education. As in real life, if you do not show up for
work, you can be dismissed for cause. This Blinn College policy allows me to “fire” you when you do not
show up for class.
ADA STATEMENT:
Information regarding procedures for documenting disabilities can be obtained from the Counseling Office.
Reasonable accommodations will be made for documented disabilities. Students must present documentation
as soon as possible for the instructor to arrange accommodation.
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