PSC 1113 Section 007 American Federal Government
Fall, 2011
9:00 – 10:15 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays
George Lynn Cross Hall Room 123
SYLLABUS
Prof. James F. Sheffield, Jr.
Room 228A of Building 4; 325-5532
sheffield@ou.edu
Office Hours: 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Tuesday &
Thursday in Room 247 Bizzell
Library; 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Friday in
Room 228A Building 4; and by
appointment
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Mr. Jeremy Bunyard
Room 228 Building 4; 325-6418
jbunyard@ou.edu
Office Hours: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm Tuesday
1:30 – 3:00 pm Wednesday
10:30 – 11:30 am Thursday
and by appointment
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant
Ms. Annelise Russell
Annelise.Russell-1@ou.edu
Access to the Instructor and Teaching Assistants
The permanent home of the Political Science Department is currently undergoing repair, so we
have been moved to Building 4, which is at 555 Constitution St. between Jenkins Ave. and Classen Blvd.
and next to the OU golf course. I have arranged to hold office hours in Bizzell Library Room 247 at 1:30
– 2:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays for your convenience. That office is near the northeast corner of
the second floor of Bizzell Library (there is a diagram of Bizzell 2nd floor on D2L under the Content tab).
On Fridays I will hold office hours in my Building 4 office (Room 228A). There is shuttle bus service
from the South Oval (Route 40/42, Lloyd Noble Center and Research Campus) with a stop in front of
Building 4; the bus leaves the South Oval at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour, and it returns from Building
4 at 5 and 35 minutes past the hour. Email is always a better means of reaching me than the telephone.
Mr. Bunyard will hold his office hours at the times listed above in his Building 4 office.
Russell will not have scheduled office hours; see her before or after class or email her.
Ms.
Text and Online Supplement
John J. Coleman, Kenneth M. Goldstein, and William G. Howell. Understanding American
Politics and Government 2nd ed. Alternate Edition. Boston, MA: Longman, 2011. [A copy of
this text is on reserve at Bizzell Library in the textbook section.]
Mypoliscilab. Pearson, 2011. [This material is required (see below); it is an online supplement
specifically configured for this section of P SC 1113 and its text. Those who purchased new
copies of the textbook at the university bookstore should have a passkey to Mypoliscilab shrinkwrapped with the text. You must next register with Mypoliscilab; under the “Content” tab of
Desire2Learn you will see listed a Course Document labeled Mypoliscilab Registration
Instructions; follow the instructions there to register. Those who purchased only the textbook or
who purchased a used copy of the text should purchase access to Mypoliscilab online. The
information in Mypoliscilab Registration Instructions will explain how to do this. There will be
quizzes on this material which are administered, completed, and submitted online, so each student
must have a personal subscription or passkey. Your first assignment will be distributed very
early in the semester, and our August 30 class will be devoted to a Mypoliscilab orientation, so
do not delay in purchasing a passkey and getting registered to use Mypoliscilab.]
Course Overview
This class focuses on the American national political system as it undertakes a brief, fairly basic
examination of that system’s important aspects. The material generally divides into four major
components: the foundation of the American political system, citizen involvement in the system,
institutions of governance, and public policy concerns. We will give particular emphasis to the first three
of those topics and use examples from the fourth to illustrate many of the points covered in the other
three. Our pace will be brisk, so be sure to keep up.
There are several central questions we will consider. For example, What are the basic values
underlying this system, and what are the implications of those values? Another question addresses the
very nature of the system: Is this a democracy, or what? In what manner, to what extent, and with what
effects are the citizens of this system involved in its politics and governance? What are the functions of
the various institutions of governance in the United States, what are their structures, by what processes do
they operate, and how well do they work? The objective of this class will be to enable students to answer
these questions with valid factual information and appropriate examples.
Course Requirements
There are several requirements of students in this class: a series of Mypoliscilab assignments, a
set of examinations, a class essay, and regular class attendance. Grades will be based on a point system;
you may earn 0 - 450 points during the semester as you by respond to the various requirements.
Class Assignments. Assignments from Mypoliscilab will be posted periodically on D2L
throughout the semester. Each assignment will involve text, audio, or video materials, or a combination
of those formats, which will be available to you online. Once you have thoughtfully considered the
assigned material, you must respond online to a quiz over that material which will be presented to you at
the same web site. Your answers will be recorded and scored by the system and reported to your
instructor. During the semester these quizzes collectively will present you with more than 75 questions;
your class assignments grade will be the percentage of all questions on these quizzes which you answer
correctly, expressed as a whole number. You may earn 0 – 75 points toward your final course grade by
completing these assignments. For example, if you correctly answer 89% of all quiz questions during the
semester, you will earn 67 points toward your final grade (.89 X 75 = 67).
You will have a few days to complete each assignment and its associated quiz after it is posted.
The assignment will specify a deadline for completion, and your quiz scores will be time-stamped by the
system. Students who finish a quiz after the deadline for that assignment will receive no credit/no
points for the assignment. Since these assignments do not require your presence in class, no extensions
in the deadlines will be allowed. Please note that during “dead week” there will be an assignment due
during this last week of classes.
Examinations. There will be three examinations administered during the semester and a
comprehensive final examination given during finals week. Only your two highest scores from the first
three tests will be used in computing your grade in the course; the other score will be dropped from
consideration (you may NOT drop your final examination score). Each of your two highest examination
scores will allow you to earn up to 75 points toward your final grade in the class. You must complete
tests within the time frame of the class period. Students who are late for a test will have only the time
remaining in the period after their arrival to complete the examination; however, no tardy student will be
permitted to take the test if a classmate has completed and submitted the test and left the classroom.
Be prepared to take those tests as scheduled; no make-up examinations will be offered. If you
are absent from a test for ANY reason, that will be your dropped test score; if you are absent from two or
more tests, your first absence will provide your dropped score, and you will be given a zero on any other
tests you miss.
Plan to take all three tests; if you so plan and then you fall ill when a test is
scheduled, or otherwise have to be absent from a particular test, that absence will provide your
dropped test score. The TENTATIVE dates of the examinations are included in the class schedule;
necessary changes will be announced as soon as they are known. NOTE THAT THE THIRD TEST IS
PLANNED FOR TUESDAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING; MAKE HOLIDAY PLANS ACCORDINGLY.
Final Examination. The final examination will allow you to earn up to 125 points toward your
final grade. This test will be cumulative—it will cover the lecture and textbook material of the entire
semester. It will be administered during finals week according to the University’s final examination
schedule. Plan to take it at that time (see the schedule below).
Student ID Card Required. Students must present their OU ID cards to take each examination.
Class Attendance. You are expected to be in class and in your seat when the class period begins.
Attendance records will be kept using a seating chart. You may earn 0 – 50 points for attending class.
Students with 0 – 2 absences during the semester will be awarded all 50 attendance points. Those with
3 – 4 absences will earn 35 points. Those who are absent 5 – 6 times will earn 15 points. Those who are
absent more than six times will earn zero (0) points. I do not distinguish between “excused” and
“unexcused” absences; you are either in class, or you are absent. You will be recorded as absent if
you are not in your assigned seat when the class roll is taken for that day; if you leave class early,
you may also be recorded as absent. You may monitor your record of absences on D2L, which will be
updated weekly; promptly inquire about corrections if you perceive an error there.
Students who miss class to take part in an official University function will not be penalized for
such absences if the number of those absences is reasonable in my view and if the students give me IN
ADVANCE a document on university letterhead which details the dates of and reasons for their absences,
dated and signed by an appropriate university official. Similarly, students who are absent due to
observance of religious holidays of their faiths will not be penalized for those absences if they consult me
IN ADVANCE regarding these circumstances and I agree to such absences without penalty.
Class Essay. You will be given a writing assignment approximately halfway through the
semester, and it will allow you an opportunity to earn 0 – 50 points toward your final grade in the course.
Further details concerning this assignment will be provided later.
Summary. There will be a series of class assignments throughout the semester which will allow
you to earn 0 – 75 points toward your final course grade. There will be three examinations (75 points
each) during the semester; your lowest score on these tests will be dropped, so you may earn 0 – 150
points for tests administered during the semester. You may earn 0 –50 points for class attendance. You
may earn 0 – 50 points on a class essay. The cumulative final examination will permit you to earn 0 –
125 points. You may earn up to 450 points during the semester.
Grade Scale. The following scale will be used for grades:
Class
Assignment
Points
A = 90–100%
67-75
B = 80-89%
60-66
C = 70–79%
52-59
D = 60–69%
45-51
F = 0-59%
0-44
Test 1
Points
67-75
60-66
52-59
45-51
0-44
Test 2
Points
67-75
60-66
52-59
45-51
0-44
Essay
Points
45-50
40-44
35-39
30-34
0-29
Attendance
Points
45-50
40-44
35-39
30-34
0-29
Final
Exam
Points
112-125
100-111
88-99
75-87
0-74
Total
Points
400-450
360-399
315-359
270-314
0-269
Classroom Protocol
Class time will be given to presentation and discussion of course material. Activities that disrupt
the class or infringe on a student’s opportunity to learn or the instructor’s opportunity to teach are not
appropriate and will not be tolerated. Any activity not relevant to the course, such as use of cell phones,
text messaging, playing computer games, engaging in email correspondence, surfing the web,
consulting Facebook pages, conversing with classmates, reading material unrelated to our class,
solving puzzles, doing homework for any class, listening to MP3 players, taking naps, etc., are
distractions to you, to the instructor, and/or to your classmates and are therefore inappropriate; DO
NOT do them in the classroom. Come to class on time, pay attention, and stay until the class is over.
Take care of personal business before class begins. If you must leave the classroom, take your
belongings and do not return (note: you may be counted absent when this occurs).
To facilitate your attention to this class and its activities and materials, only textbooks for
this class, note paper (or notebooks or computers used for note-taking), and a writing instrument
should be on your desk. Cell phones, other computers, MP3 players, newspapers and magazines,
books for other classes, purses, backpacks, etc., should be put away during class sessions.
Academic Integrity
All work which is submitted for grading in this course must be accompanied by a statement that
the student has not received nor given inappropriate assistance in conjunction with the assignment (“On
my honor I affirm that I have neither given nor received inappropriate aid in the completion of this
exercise.”); the statement must be signed and dated by the student. Cheating and plagiarism will not be
tolerated, and students who engage in those practices will be sanctioned according to university policy.
Go to www.ou.edu/provost/integrity to see the University’s expectations regarding academic integrity. If
they choose to do so, students who are admonished for less egregious academic misconduct may appeal
an admonition; to learn to how to pursue such an appeal consult www.ou.edu/provost/integrity-rights.
Accommodation of Students with Disabilities
The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students
with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accommodations in this course should speak with
the instructor immediately after the term begins so that we can discuss the accommodations necessary for
you to participate fully in the class and to otherwise facilitate your educational opportunities. Students
with disabilities must be registered with the Office of Disability Services prior to receiving
accommodations in this course. The Office of Disability Services is located in Goddard Health Center,
Suite 166; telephone 405/325-3852 or TDD only 405/325-4173.
Desire2Learn (D2L)
We will use D2L for course management and support operations in this class. Access to this
system is at http://learn.ou.edu. Course documents, assignments, class announcements, absence totals,
and grades will be posted there. Note, however, that attendance records and grades found there are
unofficial; official records and grades are those that the instructor keeps. Every effort will be made to
post grades correctly, but the instructor reserves the right to correct clerical errors. You are expected to
monitor this site regularly for class assignments, announcements, attendance records, and test grades;
immediately inquire about any discrepancies in your attendance and grades that you believe to exist.
You MUST respond appropriately to any assignment or announcement posted on D2L or made in
class; failure to do so may cause you loss of grade points, personal inconvenience, or both.
CLASS SCHEDULE
[Note: This schedule is subject to changes which may be required by unforeseen circumstances; be attentive
throughout the semester to announcements in class and to those posted on D2L which modify this schedule.]
Tentative
Dates
Topic
Aug 23-25, Sep 1
Aug 30
Sep 6-8
Sep 13-15
Sep 20
Sep 22-29
Oct 4-6
Oct 11-13
Oct 18-20
Oct 25
Oct 27 – Nov 3
Nov 8 - 10
Nov 15 - 17
Nov 22
Nov 24
Nov 29 – Dec 1
Dec 8 - 10
Introduction
Syllabus; Ch. 1, 2
Mypoliscilab Orientation
The American Constitution
Ch. 3 and the Annotated Constitution
Federalism
Ch. 4
FIRST EXAMINATION (covers topics in Ch. 1 – 4)
Civil Liberties
Ch. 5
Civil Rights
Ch. 6
Public Opinion and Political Participation Ch. 7, 8
Voting and Elections
Ch. 9
SECOND EXAMINATION (covers topics in Ch. 5 - 9)
Political Parties and Interest Groups
Ch. 11, 12
Congress
Ch. 13
The Presidency
Ch. 14
THIRD EXAMINATION (covers topics in Ch. 11 - 14)
Turkey Day!
The Bureaucracies
Ch. 16
The Courts
Ch. 15
Assigned Reading in Your Text
Wednesday, December 14 at 8:00 – 10:00 am; FINAL EXAMINATION (covers all topics and chapters)