GOVERNMENT 2305
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
FALL SEMESTER, 2014
James O. Ellis, Instructor
E-mail: James.Ellis@hccs.edu
HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM
Telephone 713-718-5757 (campus)
281-852-3052 (home)
TEXTBOOK: William T. Bianco and David T. Canon. American Politics Today, Third Essentials Edition. (New
York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2013)
TESTS: Six tests will be given, each of which will be made up of thirty objective questions and a ten point essay.
The final examination is NOT comprehensive.
PROJECT: Each student will also complete a written project in addition to other reading assignments. Additional
information on this project accompanies. The grade for the project counts as one test grade.
GRADE: The course grade is an average of eight items: six tests, total points on quizzes, and the project . The
grading scale for the Houston Community College System is as follows.
A = 90 – 100
D = 60 – 69
B = 80 - 89
F = 0 – 59
C = 70 - 79
ATTENDANCE: Students are expected to attend class regularly. Students are responsible for material covered
during their absences, and it is the student’s responsibility to consult with instructors for makeup work. Class
attendance will be checked at every meeting. It is the responsibility of the student to drop a course for
nonattendance before Friday, October 31.
INDIVIDUAL HELP: Please feel free to ask me for extra help outside of class. I am available before and
after class and otherwise by appointment. You are encouraged to e-mail me or to call me at any of the numbers
listed and leave a message if I am not there.
STUDENT DISCIPLINE: Adult behavior is expected. Disruptive behavior or activities which interfere
with teaching or learning may result in an administrative withdrawal without refund. This includes following the
electronics policy posted in the classroom. All cellphones and other electronic devices must be turned off unless I
specifically approve them.
DISABILITIES: Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision,
hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Service Office
(713-718-5422) at the beginning of each semester. Faculty members are authorized to provide only the
accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office.
EVALUATION FOR GREATER LEARNING STUDENT SURVEY SYSTEM
At Houston Community College, instructors believe that thoughtful student feedback is necessary to improve
teaching and learning. During a designated time, you will be asked to answer a short online survey of researchbased questions related to instruction. The anonymous results of the survey will be made available to you
instructors and division chairs for continual improvement of instruction. Look for the survey as part of the Houston
Community College Student system online near the end of the term.
GOVERNMENT 2305 COURSE CALENDAR
CRN 29276 - TTh 12:30 – 2:00
Unit I
Explain the origin and development of constitutional democracy in the United States.
Demonstrate knowledge of the federal system.
Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice.
Thursday, August 28
QUIZ, chapter 1
Thursday, September 4
QUIZ, chapter 2
Tuesday, September 9
QUIZ, chapter 3
Thursday, September 11
TEST I
Unit II
Evaluate the role of public opinion and interest groups in the political system.
Thursday, September 18
QUIZ, chapter 5
Thursday, September 25
QUIZ, chapter 8
Tuesday, September 30
TEST II
Tuesday, October 7
Tuesday, October 14
Thursday, October 16
Unit III
Evaluate the role of political parties in the political system.
Analyze the election process.
QUIZ, chapter 6
QUIZ, chapter 7
TEST III
Unit IV
Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative branch of the federal government.
Analyze issues and policies in U. S. politics
Tuesday, October 21
PROJECT DUE
Thursday, October 23
QUIZ, chapter 9
Tuesday, October 28
QUIZ, chapter 14
Tuesday, November 4
TEST IV
Unit V
Demonstrate knowledge of the executive branch of the federal government.
Analyze issues and policies in U. S. politics.
Thursday, November 6
QUIZ, chapter 10
Tuesday, November 11
QUIZ, chapter 11
Thursday, November 13
QUIZ, chapter 15
Thursday, November 20
TEST IV
Unit VI
Demonstrate knowledge of the judicial branch of the federal government.
Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Tuesday, November 25
QUIZ, chapter 12
Tuesday, December 2
QUIZ, chapter 4
Thursday, December 4
QUIZ, chapter 13
Thursday, December 11
TEST VI
BOOK REPORT
1. Choose a book from the following list or another book which interests you. Once you have the book in hand,
come and reserve that title in your name; the first student to bring me a book is the only one who may report on that
one this semester. If you wish to choose a book not on this list, you must clear it with me; I will approve books at
least 250 pages long and having sufficient political content. Look for appropriate books in college libraries, public
libraries, book stores, maybe even at home. Find and reserve your book promptly, in order to get one you want and
to allow time to read it and prepare your report.
Acheson Present at the Creation
Barber The Presidential Character
Beard An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States
Bolton Surrender Is Not an Option
Breyer Active Liberty - Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution
Bush Decision Points
Bush and Scowcroft A World Transformed
Caro Master of the Senate
Caro The Passage of Power
Carter Keeping Faith
Charen Do-Gooders
Charen Useful Idiots
Cheney In My Time
Chernow Alexander Hamilton
Clinton My Life
Courtois The Black Book of Communism
Crile Charlie Wilson’s War
Crowley Nixon Off the Record
Drury Advise and Consent
Drury A Shade of Difference
Drury Capable of Honor
Drury Preserve and Protect
Drury Come Nineveh, Come Tyre
Drury The Promise of Joy
Ellis Founding Brothers
Ellis His Excellency
Elazar American Federalism - A View from the States
Fiorina Culture War: The Myth of a Polarized America
Ford A Time to Heal
Friedman Capitalism and Freedom
Ginsburg Supreme Court Decisions and Women’s Rights
Goldberg Liberal Fascism
Goodwin Team of Rivals
Hamilton How Congress Works
Hastert Speaker
Hayek The Road to Serfdom
Horowitz Radical Son
Isaacson Benjamin Franklin - An American Life
Johnson The Vantage Point
Lewis Gideon’s Trumpet
Meacham American Lion
McCullough John Adams
McCullough Truman
Morris Dutch
Murray Losing Ground - American Social Policy 1950-1980
Neustadt Presidential Power
Nixon RN - The Memoirs of Richard Nixon
Nixon Real Peace
Noonan What I Saw at the Revolution
Novak The Prince of Darkness
Obama Dreams from My Father
Obama The Audacity of Hope
Olasky The Tragedy of American Compassion
O’Connor The Last Hurrah
O’Sullivan The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister
Podhoretz World War IV
Powell My American Journey
Putnam Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
Reagan An American Life
Rehnquist Grand Inquests
Rehnquist The Supreme Court
Rice No Higher Honor
Rossiter 1787 - Grand Convention
Rumsfeld Known and Unknown
Shlaes The Forgotten Man
Shultz Turmoil and Triumph
Schweizer Architects of Ruin
Sowell Black Rednecks and White Liberals
Sowell The Economics and Politics of Race
Sowell The Vision of the Anointed
Stossel Give Me a Break
Stossel Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity
Thatcher Statecraft
Thernstrom America in Black and White
Tocqueville Democracy in America
Toobin The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
Warren All the King’s Men
Washington Up From Slavery
White The Making of the President, 1960
White The Making of the President, 1964
White The Making of the President, 1968
White The Making of the President, 1972
White America in Search of Itself - The Making of the President 1956-1980
Wilson Congressional Government
Zinn A People’s History of the United States
2. Prepare a written report of 1,000 to 1,500 words (approximately four to six pages), including the following
elements:
a. Bibliographical information: author, title, city of publication, publisher, copyright date.
b. Some background on the author: career, previous writings, and the like.
c. A summary of the content: generally a paragraph per chapter unless the book contains really long or really
short chapters.
d. Your critical evaluation of the book.
SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY includes, but is not limited to cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion.
Cheating on a test includes copying from another student’s test paper; using, during a test, materials not authorized
by the person giving the test; collaborating with another student during a test without authority; knowingly using,
buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in whole or part the contests of an unadministered test; or bribing
another person to obtain a test that is to be administered. “Plagiarism” means the appropriation of another’s work
and the unacknowledged incorporation of that work in one’s own written work for credit. “Collusion” means the
unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work offered for credit.
CORE OBJECTIVES
The Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) mandates that the core curriculum must ensure that students
will develop the essential knowledge and skills they need to be successful in college, in a career, in their
communities, and in life. Through the Texas Core Curriculum, student will gain a foundation of knowledge of
human cultures and the physical and natural world, develop principles of personal and social responsibility for living
in a diverse world, and advance intellectual and practical skills that are essential for all learning.
Students enrolled in GOVT 2305/2306 core curriculum courses will complete assessments designed to measure the
following core objectives:
Critical Thinking Skills – to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation, and synthesis
of information.
Communication Skills – to include effective development, interpretation, and expression of ideas through written,
oral, and visual communication.
Personal Responsibility – to include the ability to connect choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decisionmaking.
Social Responsibility – to include the ability to connect choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decisionmaking.
Student assessment of proficiencies mandated by the THECB may include testing, projects, or assignments.