POLS 114 • Introduction to American Government • Fall 2014 Tuesdays & Thursdays 1 - 1:50 p.m. • Lawson Hall, Room 171 Dr. Charlie Leonard Office Hours: Office: 127 Forestry Bldg. TR 9 – 11 a.m., and by appointment (Paul Simon Public Policy Institute) [email protected](618) 453-4005 Discussion Section Instructors: Philip Garee [email protected]Faner 3164 - TWR 11 - noon; Christopher Klingeman [email protected]Faner 3170 - T, 2-4; R, 11-1 David Searcy [email protected]Faner 3174 – M, 11 - 2 Introduction The United States is the longest-running, continuing, constitutional democracy in the world. An understanding of the historical background of our Constitution is essential to understanding how it continues to work today—in a modern world far removed from the rural, colonial existence of the American states of the 1790s. The US Constitution, in addition to creating the institutions that run the federal government, provides the framework through which the American people act politically. Introductory political science helps to make you familiar with the social sciences—that is, the use of the scientific method and rigorous standards of evidence applied to the study of social phenomena. Through the deductive reasoning process, case studies, and statistical hypothesis testing, political scientists try to make sense of the world of politics, citizen action, and the government response—expressed as public policy. More specifically, it introduces you to the exciting (yes, “exciting”) study of political science. Our discipline studies the political behavior of individuals and groups, the workings of institutions, differences among governing systems, and many other important fields of inquiry. In fact, for each chapter of your text, there is a subfield of political science to correspond with it. There is political history, political theory, the study of the presidency, the study of Congress, of media and politics, of the bureaucracy, of the courts, and, of course, elections and voting behavior. This course is an introduction to American politics and institutions, though many political scientists, including some here at SIU, are doing interesting work on the politics of other nations. Your discussion section instructors and I will do our best to keep the subject matter current, relevant, and interesting. Texts Cal Jillson's American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change is our required text. We are using the 7th Edition. Older editions may not have exactly the same information in the same order, but would probably suffice. In any event, it is important that you have regular access to the book. Jillson’s and Robertson’s Perspectives on American Government (the “Reader”) is required for the discussion sections. Both books should be available at University Bookstore, 710 Bookstore, and online. I have placed one copy of each on reserve for your use in Morris Library. Discussion Sections Once a week you will meet in discussion section. You are fortunate to have either Mr. Garee, Mr. Klingeman, or Mr. Searcy, all of whom hold advanced degrees and are pursuing PhDs in political science. The discussion section is a real class-within-a-class, with a separate text and small class size. During each meeting, you will discuss brief readings from Perspectives on American Government, which introduces you to excerpts from classic works in academic political science. It is a great place to clarify anything from the lecture that might have been confusing, and to find out what parts of the text are most important to study (since these instructors will write the first draft of the midterms and final exam). Attendance and Participation Attendance in lecture is strongly encouraged, and will be monitored using randomly occurring “attendance quizzes,” which cover current events and basics from the texts. Quiz scores will be calculated into your participation score, which accounts for one-tenth of the available
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POLS 114 • Introduction to American Government • …...POLS 114 • Introduction to American Government • Fall Semester 2014 • Professor Leonard 4 ï S ou the rn Illinois U
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POLS 114 • Introduction to American Government • Fall 2014 Tuesdays & Thursdays 1 - 1:50 p.m. • Lawson Hall, Room 171
Dr. Charlie Leonard
Office Hours: Office: 127 Forestry Bldg. TR 9 – 11 a.m., and by appointment (Paul Simon Public Policy Institute)