GOVT 2301 – 002 Course Syllabus

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General Course Information

Course Title: American Government: Constitutional Foundations and Political Behavior

Term: Spring 2010

Course Meeting Time & Room: TR 10:00AM – 11:15AM @ SOM 2.107

Instructor Name: Curt Childress

Instructor Contact Information

Office Hours: TR 11:30AM – 12:30PM

Office Location: GR 3.314

Office Phone: (972) 883-6416

Instructor Email: cac022000@utdallas.edu

Contacting the Instructor: I would prefer that you contact me using my UT-Dallas email
account rather than my office phone. Receiving messages on my office phone is unreliable, and
you should only try contacting me via the phone if other means of contact have failed. While I
endeavor to answer my email as quickly as possible, please allow 24 to 48 hours for a response.
If I have not sent a reply within 48 hours, please send me another message or talk to me directly.

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

There are no pre-requisites for this course. I recommend taking both HIST 1301 and 1302
before attempting this course. American political debates often reflect historical and current
events, and you may find it more difficult to analyze the American political system without
adequate historical understanding.
Required Textbooks
Barbour, Christine and Gerald C. Wright. (2009) Keeping the Republic: Power and Citizenship
in American Politics. 3rd Brief ed. Washington D.C.: CQ Press. (Hereafter: KTR)

Barbour, Christine and Matthew J. Streb, ed. (2009) Clued in to Politics: A Critical Thinking
Reader in American Government. 3rd Ed. Washington D.C.: CQ Press (Hereafter CP)

Texas Politics Multimedia Online Textbook: http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/

(Hereafter: TPOT)

Course Description

We will be studying two broad themes in this course: (1) US & Texas Constitutional
Foundations and (2) Political Behavior. Our first theme is studying American Constitutional
foundations. Modern society is very different from the colonial society that existed during the
founding era. Today, the federal government, through numerous welfare programs, takes a much
more direct role in governing our modern lives. We will examine how our interpretation of the
US Constitution charges as society adapts our founding document to fit the times as both society
and government change to fit the more complex life of today.

The second broad theme we will be studying this semester is political behavior. Our focus will
be on how individuals and society behave politically? What are individual political acts? How
do voters decide for whom to vote for? What functions do political parties and interest groups
play in our society? We will be examining political behavior to help us understand how
individuals and groups shape our republic.

Throughout the course we will be interspersing discussion of Texas politics. The United States
is a federal system of government and as a result of this; both the federal and state governments
take on major responsibilities. We will therefore be exploring the Texas Constitution and
political culture. What are the main features of the Texas Constitution of 1876? Does the 1876
Constitution have relevance today? We will study how Texas society and political environment
is evolving as we continue into the 21st century.

Course Objectives
1. Understand the difference between politics and government.

2. Examine how the US and Texas Constitutions influence the modern political environment.

3. Analyze how American and Texas political culture affects our present political system.

4. Explain the aspects of individual and group political behavior.

5. Evaluate how the Constitution and political behavior structures current political debates.
6. Introduce US public policy and American government institutions.

7. Use original sources, such as news articles and essays, to analyze the American Government
and politics.

Teaching Philosophy
I will be using a variety of teaching methods throughout the course. A major component of the
course will be course discussion and group activities. Class discussion can help relate current
events to course topics. For example, we might have a discussion on the constitutionality of the
healthcare reform bill currently being debated in Congress. We will also have regular group
activities to illustrate major points. Group activities might include group brainstorming sessions
and group presentations.

Along with discussion and group activities, I will be using lecture to complement group learning
and provide baseline information essential for understanding American government.

Course Calendar

Date(s) Topic Assignment

January 12 Course Introduction None
Unit 1: January 14 & Government & Politics January 14th: KTR p. 1 – 25
19 January 19th: KTR p. 26 – 40, CP 1.1
January 21, 26, & 28 American & Texas January 21st: KTR p. 41 – 50
Political Culture January 26th: CP 2.1, 2.3
January 28th: TLOP Political Culture
(http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/10_1_0.html)
February 2, 4, & 9 US Constitution February 2nd: KTR p. 50 – 70
February 4th: CP 3.5, 3.4
February 9th: CP 3.3
February 11 & 16 Texas Constitution February 11th: TLOP Texas Constitution
(http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/7_1_0.html)
February 18 & 23 Exam Review & Exam Exam Review
February 25 TBD TBD
Unit 2: March 2 & 4 Federalism March 2nd: KTR Ch 3,
First Capstone Paper Due
March 4th: CP 3.1
March 9 Intro Political Behavior March 9th: KTR Ch 10
March 11 & 16 Voting, Elections, Etc March 11th: KTR Ch 12
March 16th: CP 13.1, 13.2, 13.3
March 18 & 23 Political Information March 18th: KTR Ch 13
March 23rd: CP 14.3, 14.4
March 25 & 30 Political Parties March 25th: KTR p. 333 -346
March 30th: CP 11.1,11.3, 11.5
April 1 & 6 Interest Groups April 1st: KTR p. 346 -368
April 6th: CP 12.2, 12.3, 12.4
April 8 & 13 Exam Review & Exam Exam Review
April 15 TBD TBD
Unit 3: April 20, 22, Public Policy & April 20th:TBA,
& 27 Institutions Second Capstone Paper Due
April 22nd: KTR Ch 14
April 27th: CP 15.1, 15.3, 16.1
April 29 & May 4 Exam Review and Exam Review
Exam

Exam Dates: February 23, April 13, and May 4

Capstone Paper Dates: March 2, and April 20

Course Policies
Grading Criteria

Group Activities, Assignments, and Participation (10%): I will periodically give

the class mini-assignments and activities to help you enrich your learning. Such assignments
might include short group presentations, short reading quizzes, and short writing prompts.

Reading Reflections (10%): To help supplement the main textbook, I am also assigning a
reader that includes original essays and articles on American political life. Students have found
these readings to be much more difficult to decipher than the textbook. To help you with these
readings, I will ask you to fill out a reading reflections worksheet for the first two readings. I
will post the reading reflections worksheet format on eLearning. This worksheet will integrate
the theme of your reader (CLUES method) with some additional questions to help focus your
attention to the main points of each reading.

Unit Capstone Paper (10%): To reflect upon the first two units, you will write a short
paper relating to each unit’s theme. These papers will be due on March 2 & April 20. Two or
three weeks prior to the paper due date, I will provide you with the writing prompt and additional
instructions. You will write a 2 -5 page (12pt Times New Roman, 1” margins) paper in response
to the prompt.

Exams (70%): There will be three unit exams during the semester. The exam dates will be
February 23, April 13, and May 4. These exams will be non-comprehensive and will test your
knowledge of unit material. Before the first exam, I will provide you will more guidance on test
format and expectations. You will not have a comprehensive final exam.

Optional Paper: There will be an optional paper due on May 6th at 5:00PM. This optional
paper will replace one exam grade. The paper should be 8-10 double-spaced pages in length
(12pt Times New Roman, 1” margins), and include a bibliography at the end. Students will
select and report on a current political event. More details about the optional paper will be
forthcoming as the semester progresses. If you wish to write the optional paper, you must clear
the topic with me by April 6th. Late optional papers will not be accepted.

First Unit Capstone Paper 5%

Second Unit Capstone Paper 5%
First Reading Reflections 5%
Second Reading Reflections 5%
Assignments & Participation 10%
Exam 1 20%
Exam 2 25%
Exam 3 25%
100%

Grading Scale

A+: 100 – 97 A: 96 - 93 A-: 92 – 90

B+: 89 – 87 B: 86 - 83 B-: 82 – 80
C+: 79 – 77 C: 76 - 73 C-: 72 – 70
D+: 69 – 67 D: 66 - 63 D-: 62 – 60
F: 59 – 0

General Grade Policies:

Contacting Me About Grades: Federal privacy law prohibits me from discussing grades
over the phone or through email. To discuss your grades with me, please contact me in person
during my office hours.

General Notice about Assignments and Exams: Please write your work in a legible
and neat manner. If an assignment is illegible, I may reduce your grade by at least 5%. If your
assignment is unreadable, I will return it ungraded.

Challenging Grades
1. Submit a letter stating the reasons why you are challenging your grade. You should declare
which question or part of the assignment or exam you are challenging and include evidence such
as a quote from the textbook or other relevant material to support your arguments. Please attach
the original copy of the assignment or exam to the letter. I would prefer that you hand the letter
and other materials to me in person.

2. I will examine the letter and other materials, and I will make an initial assessment on whether
to sustain the challenge or not.

3. I will meet with you to discuss the assignment or exam and my initial assessment. At the end
of the meeting, I will make a final decision on whether to sustain the challenge or not.

4. Please do not challenge a grade until 48 hours after the return of an assignment. I will accept
grade challenges for up to two weeks after an assignment or exam has been returned.

Re-Grades
1. If you are still unsatisfied after challenging a grade, you may request that I re-grade the entire
assignment or exam. I will honor such requests, but I may either raise or lower your score upon
re-grading your assignment.

Makeup Exam Policy

First Two Exams: If you are unable to be present for an exam, you should contact me as
soon as possible and before the exam day. If I have not heard from you by 5:00PM on an
exam day, I will assign a grade of zero unless you provide me with a compelling reason for why
you were not able to contact me before the exam was given. I will allow a makeup exam if you
provides a reasonable excuse for missing an exam. Reasonable excuses could include medical
illnesses, religious holidays, car trouble on exam day, and unavoidable business travel. Being
unprepared for the exam is not a valid excuse! I may request supporting documentation in
order to determine the validity of an absence.

Makeups for the third exam will only be given if there is an extraordinary reason why you
must miss the third exam.

Extra Credit

I may offer extra credit activities and assignments throughout the semester.

Late Work

Late assignments, other than group activities, will be accepted for grading. To encourage you to
turn assignments in on the due date, I will accept late assignments with a ten percent (10%)
penalty per day. Late work will not be accepted after five days after the due date. Turning in
late assignments due to illnesses or other reasonable excuses will be accepted without penalty
subject to the discretion of the instructor. The optional paper will not be accepted late.
Special Assignments
None
Classroom Attendance and Citizenship
1. Class participation is strongly encouraged and will be rewarded!

2. Class begins promptly at 10:00AM. Please make plans to be in class on time as being late is
disruptive to the classroom environment.

3. Please show respect to other students and the instructor in class. Classroom environments can
become polluted if students do not respect each other and their opinions.

4. Expect regular reading assignments. Please read the assigned reading by the due date.
Prompt reading will lead to a better understanding of the material as we cover these topics in
class. Use the weekend to read ahead if you have commitments during the week that would
hinder your ability to read your assignments by the due date.

5. I will be facilitating classroom discussion frequently. Towards this end, I intend to question
students frequently during class. My intention is not to make you uncomfortable, but instead to
help you to learn. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact me directly.

6. I require students to keep current with political events by reading internet news sources
(CNN, Fox News, etc), watching TV, or by reading newspapers. Much of our classroom
discussion will be much more enriching if you keep current with national political events.

7. I would prefer if you type all outside assignments. Typed assignments are easier for me to
read and grade. If you do not have regular access to the computer, please talk to me so that
alternative arrangements can be made.

8. eLearning will be heavily utilized during the semester to communicate class related notices,
post extra notes, and hold chat-based review sessions before each exam. I expect all of you to
check eLearning regularly for class notices. If you cannot check eLearning regularly, please
inform me early so that alternative arrangements can be made.

9. Laptops and other electronic devices will not be permitted, unless approved by the instructor.
You must meet with me in person and discuss your needs for a laptop or other electronic devices.
Laptops or other electronic devices will be approved only if you intend to use the device for
note-taking purposes. I may withdraw my permission for your classroom use of an electronic
device at my discretion.

9. Please contact me if you are having any trouble with the course material. I will help any
student having difficulty in this course. I would rather help resolve problems than have students
drop from the course.
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Technical Support

If you experience any problems with your UTD account you may send an email to: assist@utdallas.edu or
call the UTD Computer Helpdesk at 972-883-2911.

Field Trip Policies

Off-campus Instruction and Course Activities

Off-campus, out-of-state, and foreign instruction and activities are subject to state law and University
policies and procedures regarding travel and risk-related activities. Information regarding these rules and
regulations may be found at the website address
http://www.utdallas.edu/BusinessAffairs/Travel_Risk_Activities.htm. Additional information is available
from the office of the school dean. Below is a description of any travel and/or risk-related activity
associated with this course.

Student Conduct & Discipline

The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas have rules and regulations for the
orderly and efficient conduct of their business. It is the responsibility of each student and each student
organization to be knowledgeable about the rules and regulations which govern student conduct and
activities. General information on student conduct and discipline is contained in the UTD printed
publication, A to Z Guide, which is provided to all registered students each academic year.

The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the procedures of recognized and
established due process. Procedures are defined and described in the Rules and Regulations, Series 50000,
Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services and Activities
of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of these rules and regulations are available
to students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff members are available to assist students in
interpreting the rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-6391) and online at
http://www.utdallas.edu/judicialaffairs/UTDJudicialAffairs-HOPV.html

A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities of citizenship. He or she
is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well as the Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and
administrative rules. Students are subject to discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether such
conduct takes place on or off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are also imposed for such
conduct.

Academic Integrity

The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic honesty. Because the
value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute integrity of the work done by the student for that
degree, it is imperative that a student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her
scholastic work.
 Scholastic Dishonesty, any student who commits an act of scholastic dishonesty is subject to discipline.
Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for
credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an
examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to
commit such acts.

Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and from any other source is
unacceptable and will be dealt with under the university’s policy on plagiarism (see general catalog for
details). This course will use the resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism
and is over 90% effective.

Copyright Notice

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or
other reproductions of copyrighted materials, including music and software. Copying, displaying,
reproducing, or distributing copyrighted works may infringe the copyright owner’s rights and such
infringement is subject to appropriate disciplinary action as well as criminal penalties provided by federal
law. Usage of such material is only appropriate when that usage constitutes “fair use” under the Copyright
Act. As a UT Dallas student, you are required to follow the institution’s copyright policy (Policy
Memorandum 84-I.3-46). For more information about the fair use exemption, see
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm

Email Use

The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of communication between
faculty/staff and students through electronic mail. At the same time, email raises some issues concerning
security and the identity of each individual in an email exchange. The university encourages all official
student email correspondence be sent only to a student’s U.T. Dallas email address and that faculty and
staff consider email from students official only if it originates from a UTD student account. This allows the
university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the identity of all individual corresponding and the
security of the transmitted information. UTD furnishes each student with a free email account that is to be
used in all communication with university personnel. The Department of Information Resources at U.T.
Dallas provides a method for students to have their U.T. Dallas mail forwarded to other accounts.

Withdrawal from Class

The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any college-level courses. These
dates and times are published in that semester's course catalog. Administration procedures must be
followed. It is the student's responsibility to handle withdrawal requirements from any class. In other
words, I cannot drop or withdraw any student. You must do the proper paperwork to ensure that you will
not receive a final grade of "F" in a course if you choose not to attend the class once you are enrolled.

Student Grievance Procedures

Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on Student Services and Activities, of the
university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures.

In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades, evaluations, or other fulfillments of
academic responsibility, it is the obligation of the student first to make a serious effort to resolve the matter
with the instructor, supervisor, administrator, or committee with whom the grievance originates (hereafter
called “the respondent”). Individual faculty members retain primary responsibility for assigning grades and
evaluations. If the matter cannot be resolved at that level, the grievance must be submitted in writing to the
respondent with a copy of the respondent’s School Dean. If the matter is not resolved by the written
 response provided by the respondent, the student may submit a written appeal to the School Dean. If the
grievance is not resolved by the School Dean’s decision, the student may make a written appeal to the Dean
of Graduate or Undergraduate Education, and the deal will appoint and convene an Academic Appeals
Panel. The decision of the Academic Appeals Panel is final. The results of the academic appeals process
will be distributed to all involved parties.

Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where
staff members are available to assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations.

Incomplete Grade Policy

As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work unavoidably missed at the
semester’s end and only if 70% of the course work has been completed. An incomplete grade must be
resolved within eight (8) weeks from the first day of the subsequent long semester. If the required work to
complete the course and to remove the incomplete grade is not submitted by the specified deadline, the
incomplete grade is changed automatically to a grade of F.

Disability Services
The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities equal educational opportunities.
Disability Services provides students with a documented letter to present to the faculty members to verify
that the student has a disability and needs accommodations. This letter should be presented to the instructor
in each course at the beginning of the semester and accommodations needed should be discussed at that
time. It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for accommodation. If
accommodations are granted for testing accommodations, the student should remind the instructor five days
before the exam of any testing accommodations that will be needed. Disability Services is located in Room
1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are Monday – Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Friday 8:30
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You may reach Disability Services at (972) 883-2098.

Guidelines for documentation are located on the Disability Services website at

http://www.utdallas.edu/disability/documentation/index.html

Religious Holy Days

The University of Texas at Dallas will excuse a student from class or other required activities for the travel
to and observance of a religious holy day for a religion whose places of worship are exempt from property
tax under Section 11.20, Tax Code, Texas Code Annotated.

The student is encouraged to notify the instructor or activity sponsor as soon as possible regarding the
absence, preferably in advance of the assignment. The student, so excused, will be allowed to take the
exam or complete the assignment within a reasonable time after the absence: a period equal to the length of
the absence, up to a maximum of one week. A student who notifies the instructor and completes any missed
exam or assignment may not be penalized for the absence. A student who fails to complete the exam or
assignment within the prescribed period may receive a failing grade for that exam or assignment.

If a student or an instructor disagrees about the nature of the absence [i.e., for the purpose of observing a
religious holy day] or if there is similar disagreement about whether the student has been given a
reasonable time to complete any missed assignments or examinations, either the student or the instructor
may request a ruling from the chief executive officer of the institution, or his or her designee. The chief
executive officer or designee must take into account the legislative intent of TEC 51.911(b), and the student
and instructor will abide by the decision of the chief executive officer or designee.

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.