Houston Community College West Loop
GOVT 2306 Texas Government: Texas Constitution & Topics
Spring 2015
Professor: Amanda Krzyzanowski-Cream
Phone: 281-414-6045
Email: amanda.krzyzanowskicream@hccs.edu
Time: T/Th 3:30-5:30
Office Hours: email to set up
Course Description:
GOVT 2306 is designed to introduce students to the study of the origin and development of the Texas
Constitution, structures and powers of the state and local government, election processes, policy, and
political culture in Texas. This course is fully transferable to all Texas state colleges and universities.
Required Text:
Brown, Lyle C, Joyce A. Langenegger, et al, Practicing Texas Politics (2013-2014 Edition). Boston:
Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014. (Available in HCC bookstore)
In addition students will engage in current events by reading local newspapers and online articles
There will be additional articles to read each week that I will provide.
Learning Outcomes:
At completion of this course students will:
 Explain the origin and development of the Texas constitution
 Identify and describe the institutions of the State of Texas government
 Identify and evaluate information sources for political news, data, and opinion
 Analyze the effects of the historical, social, political, economic, and cultural forces on politics
and government
 Describe state and local political systems and their relationship with the federal government
 Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of Texas government
 Identify separation of powers and checks and balances
 Analyze the state and local election process including the role of public opinion, interest groups
and political parties
 Understand Issues, policies and political culture of Texas
 Recognize the rights and responsibility as a citizen in Texas by learning to think and engaging in
public discourse with proper information gathering of news media
Grade break down:
Midterm and Final exams: Both exams will be short answer and multiple choice. The midterm will be on
March 26th and the final will be may 7th
The midterm exam is 20% of your grade and the final exam is 20% of your grade.
In- class debate: The debate will be march 12th and will be on a political topic of your choosing. The
length will be determined by the number of students in the class.
The debate will be 20% of your grade
Current events and class participation: student will sign up to bring in 2 current events throughout the
semester. A sign-up sheet will be passed around the first or second class. You will summarize the
current event verbally and we will discuss it in class. The events will be relevant to the topic of the
chapter that week. While any current articles are acceptable, local news articles are preferred.
I reserve the right to give a pop quiz at any time I believe the class is not keeping up on the readings or
paying attention in class.
The articles plus your participation in class discussions, current events, as well as any pop quizzes will
be 20% of your grade.
Final Project: This is due April 16th. The final exam requires you to engage in political action. During
the semester you will learn multiple ways to engage politics and topics that you may find you have a
strong interest in. Once you find a way to participate in political action you will write a paper describing
what you choose to do, why, and how it went.
The project will be 20% of your grade
Student Notification Statements:
Final Grade of FX: Students who stop attending class and do not withdraw themselves prior to the
withdrawal deadline may either be dropped by their professor for excessive absences or be assigned the
final grade of "FX" at the end of the semester. Students who stop attending classes will receive a grade
of "FX", compared to an earned grade of "F" which is due to poor performance. Logging into a DE course
without active participation is seen as non-attending. Please note that HCC will not disperse financial aid
funding for students who have never attended class. Students who receive financial aid but fail to attend
class will be reported to the Department of Education and may have to pay back their aid. A grade of
"FX" is treated exactly the same as a grade of "F" in terms of GPA, probation, suspension, and
satisfactory academic progress.
ADA Statement: Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision,
hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Ability Services Office
at the respective college at the beginning of each semester. Faculty is authorized to provide only the
accommodations requested by the Ability Services Office. At Southwest College, students should contact
Dr. Becky Hauri at 713-718-7909. Students who are requesting special testing accommodations must
first contact the appropriate (most convenient) DSS office for assistance
HCC Course Withdrawal Policy: The State of Texas imposes penalties on students who drop courses
excessively. Students are limited to no more than SIX total course withdrawals throughout their
educational career at a Texas public college or university.
HCC SWC TUTORING:
On-line tutoring is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for all. Use your student
ID (the W number) and any email address to register for this service.
Attendance and Classroom Behavior:
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You are expected to attend all classes, arrive on time, and stay for the duration of the class.
The college allows me to drop any student who misses more than 6 hours of class time. You
cannot participate in class if you are not there.
I will not tolerate disruptions of class. This includes but is not limited to, cell phone use,
talking, and napping. I will ask you to leave at my discretion.
Laptops are permitted and encourage, although abuse of them by using them
inappropriately in class will lead to me asking you to leave them at home. Please do not
abuse this right.
Late assignments or exams: In the case of an emergency and you miss an exam or are late on
assignment you may make it up, but you must notify me before or the date of the assignment or exam
in order to set up a make-up day. The make-up work will be altered to ensure it is different than the
exam given. The assignment must be scheduled within a week of the original due date. If the student
does not notify me and reschedule before or on the date of the assignment the student will receive a
zero.
Extra Credit: Extra Credit will be determined based on the class average at the end of the semester.
Dropping the class: I will not drop you from the class. It is your responsibility to do so before the
withdrawl period is over, 4/14
Academic Dishonesty:
There will be no toleration of plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty, by me or
the college. Plagiarism involves using the ideas or words of another person either in whole or in part
without crediting the source. Cheating involves the violation of testing procedures and rules by fraud or
deception. Students who improperly assist other students are just as guilty as those receiving the
assistance. Students engaging in academic dishonesty are subject to expulsion from the course and the
college.
Class Breakdown:
Unit/Module
Unit 1:
Basics of the Texas,
State and local
government
week 1 feb 17, 19
week 2 feb 24, 26
Learning Objectives
Explain the origin and development of the Texas constitution
Identify and describe the institutions of the State of Texas government
Identify and evaluate information sources for political news, data, and
opinion
Understand Issues, policies and political culture of Texas
Readings
Chapter 1 “The
Environment of Texas
Politics”
Unit 2:
What impacts
government? Elections,
interest groups, civil
liberties
Week 3 mar 3, 5
Week 4, mar 10
March 12 debate
Week 5 spring break
Week 6 mar 24
March 26 midterm
Unit 3: week The
relationship between the
Federal and State
governments
Week 7 march 31, apr 2
Week 8 apr 7, 9
Unit 4:
The structure of Texas
and local government,
three branches
Week 9 apr 14,
April 16 final project
Week 10 apr 21, 23
Week 11 apr 28, 30
Unit 5: Review for the
final exam
Week 12 may 5
May 7 final exam
Analyze the effects of the historical, social, political, economic, and
cultural forces on politics and government
Analyze the state and local election process including the role of public
opinion, interest groups and political parties
Recognize the rights and responsibility as a citizen in Texas by
learning to think and engaging in public discourse with proper
information gathering of news media
Chapter 4 “Political
Parties”
Describe state and local political systems and their relationship with
the federal government
Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive and judicial
branches of Texas government
Identify separation of powers and checks and balances
Chapter 3 “Local
Governments”
Chapter 5 “Campaigns
and Elections”
Chapter 6 “The Politics of
Interest Groups”
Chapter 9 “Public Policy
and Administration”
Chapter 2 “Federalism
and the Texas
Constitution”
Chapter 11 “Finance and
Fiscal Policy”
Chapter 7 “The
Legislature”
Chapter 8 “The
Executive”
Chapter 10 “Laws,
Courts, and Justice”
Demonstrate an understanding of the semesters content through
examination
Review topics that were challenging throughout the semester
Evaluate your understanding of the learning objectives
Devise proper studying habits
Evaluate yourself throughout the semester
Score the best grade you can make in the class