Introduction to American Government
Political Science 1101
Spring 2014
Location: MLC 171
Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:25-9:15am
Professor Childers
Office: 303A Baldwin Hall
Email: machilde@uga.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30am-10:30am
Course Description: In this course, we will provide students with a broad
understanding of American government. Throughout the semester we will examine the
origins, development and functions of the executive, judicial and legislative branches of
government. In addition to highlighting how these branches operate independently, we
will also examine how they interact with one another. Finally, we will also discuss the
role that federalism, the media, public opinion, elections, and voting play in the
American political system.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING THIS SYLLABUS AND WHAT IS
REQUIRED OF YOU IN THIS CLASS.
Course Goals: Our primary goal is to give students the tools they need to understand
and critically think about what they read in the news. We hope that everyone walks
away from this course being a critical and informed consumer of news and political
information.
Required Textbooks
Kernell, Samuel, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, and Lynn Vavreck. 2013. The
Logic of American Politics, 6th edition. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.
• You can access plenty of supplemental materials to help you study at
logic.cqpress.com
Bullock, Charles S. and Ronald K. Gaddie. 2013. Georgia Politics in a State of
Change. Longman Publishing, Fourth UGA edition Custom Edition
You may purchase these at the campus bookstore or anywhere else. However, make
sure to purchase the current editions. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING
WHAT IS COVERED IN THE CURRENT EDITIONS, EVEN IF YOU PURCHASE AN
OLD ONE.
You are expected to complete the assigned textbook chapters before lectures that
week. We will also cover current events when they are related to the material we are
studying, so you are also expected to keep up to date with current affairs in national
politics.
Course Website: The course website is on the e-learning commons, ELC New,
https://uga.view.usg.edu. You will be able to find the current version of the course
syllabus, your section’s syllabus, important announcements, and the slides from lectures.
If I need to notify you about cancelling class or something else that is important, I will
send you an email via ELC’s mail system. Make sure you set yourself up to have your
messages forwarded to your school or private email account so you keep yourself up to
date of what is going on.
The political science department provides a copy of the course syllabus on the
department web page, but it may be out of date. Again, ELC will always have the current
edition of the syllabus (in the event the instructor tweaks the reading or exam schedule)
and you are responsible for keeping up to date with such changes.
Course Grade: Your grade in this class be based on:
1) Four Exams (22.5% of the course grade each): There will be four exams that are
worth 22.5% each.
a. January 30th, Logic Chapters 1-3
b. February 27th, Logic Chapters 12, 6, 7
c. April 1st, Logic Chapters 8, 9, 13
d. May 6th (Final Exam, 8-11am), Logic Chapters 10, 11, 14
2) Discussion Section (10% of the final grade): You are required to attend a
discussion section held every Friday. Your TA will lead discussion based on the
Georgia Politics readings and will review material from lectures and touch on
relevant current political events. Discussion sections provide you the
opportunity to ask TAs questions about the material and dig deeper into what
we are covering each week.
Absences: Exam absence policy: Anyone who must miss exams for UGA-sanctioned events
may make up an exam as long as they coordinate with their TA ahead of time. Anyone who
qualifies under this category must give the instructor and your teaching assistant a copy
of a signed letter from your coach or UGA sponsor detailing the dates you will miss
exams at the beginning of the semester.
Otherwise, we will not allow you to make up an exam unless you have a medical
emergency or an illness severe enough to prevent you from taking the exam that day. In
the event that a medical condition or an emergency prevents you from taking the exam,
YOU MUST provide documentation that includes an explanation from your doctor that
your condition prevents you from taking it on the scheduled day. Generic notes
showing a doctor’s visit (like a generic slip from the University Health Center signed by
a nurse), unaccompanied by a doctor’s explanation of your condition as previously
described, are unacceptable and you will receive a zero. The instructor and TAs will
strictly enforce this policy.
Final course grades will be assigned as follows: 100-93 = A, 90-92 = A-, 87-89 = B+, 8386 = B, 80-82 = B-, 77-79 = C+, 73-76 = C, 70-72 = C-, 60-69 = D, and 60-0=F. There
will not be any extra credit assignments.
Disabilities: If you have a disability of any kind, please notify the instructor, your TA,
and the Disability Resource Center at the beginning of the semester so we can make
any accommodations that you require.
General Expectations/Course Behavior: I expect you to be prepared for each
lecture and that means keeping on top of what is going on in the news and reading the
assigned chapters on time. Lectures will not be a substitute for the readings.
Sometimes they will provide a lot of supplementary material to the book and that will
be fair game for exams.
I also expect you to behave professionally in lecture and in discussion section. Texting,
taking phone calls, talking during lecture, or generally any disruptive behavior in class or
section is unacceptable and you will be asked to leave. If this occurs in section, you
will be counted as absent. You are all adults and we will treat you accordingly.
If you miss class, YOU ARE STILL RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT WAS COVERED.
Neither the TAs nor I will send you our notes if you are absent.
Cheating and Plagiarism: will not be tolerated at all in this course. In the event that
you are caught doing so, we will report you to the university as per the university’s
policies. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the school’s academic honesty policies
here: http://honesty.uga.edu. You will not be able to claim ignorance of the policy as an
excuse.
Withdrawals: The deadline to drop the class without getting a grade is January 10th.
The deadline to withdraw from the course and be eligible for a WP is March 20th. If you
are passing the class, I will grant you a WP if you withdraw after the January 10th deadline.
Keep in mind that your grade on the exams will not be the only factor I’ll consider in
giving you a WP or WF. I will also discuss your progress in the course with your TA. If
you are not on track to passing when you withdraw, you will receive a WF. If you drop
the class after March 20th, you automatically with get a WF.
Course reading and exam schedule are on the next page.
Tentative Course Schedule*
Class #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Date
1/7
1/9
Topic
Introduction/Syllabus
Logic of Collective Action
Reading
-----Logic Ch. 1, Georgia
Politics Chs. 1-2
January 10th is the deadline to withdraw without penalties!
1/14
Logic of Collective Action
Logic Ch. 1, Georgia
Politics Chs. 1-2
1/16
Constitution
Logic Ch. 2, Georgia
Politics Chs. 4
1/21
Constitution
Logic Ch. 2, Georgia
Politics Chs. 4
1/23
Federalism
Logic Ch. 3, Georgia
Politics Ch. 8
1/28
Federalism
Logic Ch. 3, Georgia
Politics Ch. 8
1/30
Exam #1
2/4
Political Parties
Logic Ch. 12, Georgia
Politics Chs. 3, 11
2/6
Political Parties
Logic Ch. 12, Georgia
Politics Chs. 3, 11
2/11
Congress
Logic Ch. 6, Georgia
Politics Ch. 5
2/13
Congress
Logic Ch. 6, Georgia
Politics Ch. 5
2/18
Presidency
Logic Ch. 7, Georgia
Politics Ch. 6
2/20
Presidency
Logic Ch. 7, Georgia
Politics Ch. 6
2/25
Presidential and
---Congressional Relations
2/27
Exam #2
---3/4
Bureaucracy
Logic Ch. 8
3/6
Bureaucracy
Logic Ch. 8
3/10-3/14 Spring Break, No Classes
3/18
Interest Groups
Logic Ch. 13, Georgia
Politics Ch. 12
3/20
Interest Groups
Logic Ch. 13, Georgia
Politics Ch. 12
Deadline to Withdraw
With a WP
3/25
Judiciary
Logic Ch. 9, Georgia
Politics Ch. 7
22
3/27
Judiciary
Logic Ch. 9, Georgia
Politics Ch. 7
23
4/1
Exam #3
---4/3
No Class: Midwest Political Science Conference
24
4/8
Public Opinion
Logic Ch. 10, Georgia
Politics Ch. 13
25
4/10
Public Opinion
Logic Ch. 10, Georgia
Politics Ch. 13
26
4/15
Voting, Campaigns,
Logic Ch. 11, Georgia
Elections
Politics Ch. 9
27
4/17
Voting, Campaigns,
Logic Ch. 11, Georgia
Elections
Politics Ch. 9
28
4/22
The Media
Logic Ch. 14
29
4/24
The Media
Logic Ch. 14
Final Exam is Tuesday, May 6th, from 8-11am. In MLC 171
*The instructor reserves the right to tweak this as we go along.