PennState Altoona
Introduction to American National Government (PLSC 1)
Dr. Daniel DiLeo
Office, Hours:
129b Smith, Tuesday, Thursday 11:00am to 11:45am, Wednesday 8:00am to 10:00am
Phone:
949-5284
Final Exams (in this room):
Section 1 (12:30pm class): Wednesday, December 13, 3:10pm to 5:00pm
Section 2 (2:00 pm class): Tueday, December 12, 3:10pm to 5:00pm
If these times conflict with other exams that you must take or if you
have three or more exams beginning within a fifteen hour period, you may
go to the Registrar's office between Monday, October 23 and Friday, November
10 to request a change of exam time.
E-Mail:
dxd22@psu.edu
Purpose of the Course
The goals of this course are to help you develop the ability to appreciate and formulate assertions about American politics that are well-supported and clearly stated and to provide you with an opportunity to develop the capacity for judgment. The assertions that you will examine and make will be ones that account for distinctive features of the American political system, including its attention to individual rights and its stability. Judgment is the ability to choose well when none of the options are entirely desirable, and none of them are entirely undesirable. In this course we will be making judgments about various features of the American political system. If you believe that all choices are equally valid because we are all entitled to our own opinions, then you don’t understand why you need to develop a capacity for judgment, and you should take some other course.
I believe that the goals of this course are worthwhile both because
American politics is an inherently important topic and because the skills
you will develop as you study it will make you a more valuable person.
You will become a more perceptive reader, a better evaluator of data and
the ways it is used, a more articulate speaker, a more careful listener,
a clearer, more polished writer, a more thoughtful person, and a better
manager of your time.
What the Course is not
This course will not get you started in a political career. If you do become a politician, you may find that the course has helped you to be a more capable public servant because the course is designed to help you to evaluate proposals for action and to make your own proposals for action as wise, clear, effective, and well-supported as possible. However, this course will not teach you how to win an election because that depends more on determination and persuasiveness than on any special knowledge or intellectual abilities.
This course is not essential for law school. Good time management, reading,
writing, and analytical skills are essential for lawyers and most other
professionals. Almost any college course can help you to develop these
skills.
Your Responsibilities
You will need to complete all of the written exercises and reading assignments carefully and promptly and submit them when you come to class. I will grant extensions and accept late work only if I am convinced that it is thoroughly justified. You will need to come to class as often as possible. You will have quizzes and some in-class assignments that you will not be able to make up. Please let me know ahead of time and as soon as possible if you will miss class because of varsity athletics or some other officially sanctioned reason.
NEVER come to me after missing a class and ask, "Did we do anything important?" My fervent aspiration is to make good use of every minute of every class. Please be attentive and focused when in class and be sure to be in class on time.
Do not cheat on tests, quizzes, or assignments. Do not allow anyone else to copy your work. Do not plagiarize, or copy anyone else’s work. This university takes cheating and plagiarizing very seriously. I will comply with the university’s policies to the best of my ability, and I expect that you will as well.
Please let me know if the assignments or something that is discussed in class is unclear to you or if there is anything I can do to make the course more fruitful for you. You may do this at the beginning of class, after class, during my office hours, or by appointment. You may also contact me by e-mail or by voice mail.
You will need to take the final exam at the scheduled time unless you
get a schedule conflict form from the registrar and show it to me. Be sure
not to make plans for travel or employment that conflict with the final
exam.
My End of the Bargain
I will plan each class and each assignment so as to make the best possible
use of your time. The comments and questions that you make in class and
when you visit my office will receive my attention and respect. I will
be available to meet with you during my office hours and by appointment.
If you e-mail me or leave a message in my voice-mail, I will respond promptly.
Elements of the Course and Materials to be Used
We will read The Challenge of Democracy by Janda, Berry and Goldman for a concise overview of the principal features of American politics and government. I like this book because it places the essential facts about American government in a context that makes us think about the relative importance of order, equality and liberty. It also challenges us to excercise our powers of judgment in deciding when it is best for government to serve or protect groups or individuals and when it is best for government to follow the wishes of the majority.
I have found that the best way for students to develop the skills of perceptive reading, careful analysis, judgment, time management, and clear writing is through regular practice. You will write five assessments of opposing views of American politics presented in Points of View: Readings in American Govenment and Politics (P.O.V.) by DiClerico and Hammock. Each assessment will be typed, using 10 or 12 point font, one inch margins, three to five pages in length. You will provide a brief summary of each view, and explain why one view is superior to the other. You do not need to do any extra research beyond the readings that you will assess, but I encourage you to use information from The Challenge of Democracy to assess the readings in Points of View. I will not accept these papers if they have more than five errors in spelling, capitalization, word choice, or grammar.You may revise and resubmit each of these assignments to me once. The ability to write standard English is absolutely essential for anyone who aspires to any profession. If you need assistance in meeting the writing standards of this course, I strongly advise you to take advantage of the tutors that the college provides for that purpose. The papers must have a staple in the upper left hand corner. They must not be in any kind of folder. You must indicate the sources of all facts and ideas that you use in the paper, whether or not they are direct quotations. You should use a standard format for indicating sources and listing the works cited. Each of these five assessments will count for seven percent of your grade.
At its most fundamental level, politics is about people interacting with other people in order to get what they want. Therefore, it is impossible to understand a political system without knowing about the kinds of people who play the most important roles in a system and the ways they interact with others as they pursue their goals. Therefore, I have assigned Inside the Oval Office by William Doyle. The book consists of transcripts of taped conversations in which American presidents, starting with Franklin Roosevelt, spoke with aides, foreign leaders, cabinet members, members of Congress, and others. The people with whom the presidents spoke generally were not aware that they were being taped. In some of the conversations, the presidents seem to be very aware of the tape recorder. In others, it seems that they have forgotten about it. The book will help us to learn about the personalities of people who become president and the people with whom they converse.
You will write a paper on this book. This paper will be three to four pages. It must meet the same standards as the papers assessing the arguments in Points of View. In this paper, you will describe and compare the methods that two of the presidents used to gather information that they used for making important decisions. You will assess the quantity of the information, its reliability, and its usefulness to the president for making key decisions.
You will have eight unannounced multiple choice quizzes that will be based on all aspects of the course, including readings, lectures, guest speakers, and remarks made by other students. You will have twenty in-class assigments, most of which will be group essays. The essays will be graded for grammar, spelling and clarity, as well as your ability to answer a question by stating a proposition and supporting it with appropriate arguments and facts. Six of the in-class assignments will count for extra credit.
During the course of the semester, you should be reading The New
York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal,
or The Washington Times at least twice a week, and you should watch
C-SPAN for at least one hour a week. From time to time, I will ask you
to participate in an e-mail discussion group called a Listserv
by commenting on some current issue, and relating it to some basic, underlying
feature of American politics. Your comments should be thoughtful and grammatical.
They will count for 10% of your grade.
Note:
This syllabus is posted on the web. You can access it through the following pathway:
PSU Altoona > faculty > Professor DiLeo > courses > PLSC 1
I may make some changes in the syllabus. If I do, I will announce the changes in class, and post the changes on the web.
Grading
Extra Credit
Various in-class assignments 6%
Schedule of Assignments
In the schedule of assignments, I refer to The Challenge of Democracyas
"Janda." I refer to Points of View: Readings in American Government
and Politics as "P.O.V." I refer to Inside the Oval Office
as "Doyle."
August
24. Janda, chapter 1(Late Registration and Drop Add Period
is January 10 - 19)
29. Locke, 2nd Treatise, chapter 4, Locke, 2nd Treatise, chapter 5 (on reserve at Eiche)
(Whether you use the reserve copy in the library or use the links to access the documents from the web, be sure to make a printed coy that you can take to class)
31. Janda, chapter 2
September
5. Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution (appendices
in Janda)
7. Federalist #10 , Federalist #51 (on reserve at Eiche)
(Whether you use the reserve copy in the library or use the links to access the documents from the web, be sure to make a printed coy that you can take to class)
12. P.O.V. assessment #1, on chapter 2
14. Janda, chapter 3
19. P.O.V. assessment #2, on chapter 3
21. Janda, chapter 4
26. Janda, chapter 5
28. Janda, chapter 6
October
3. Janda, chapter 7
5. Janda, chapter 8
12. Janda, chapter 9; first listserv assignment
17. P.O.V. assessment #3, on chapter 11, Taft (on reserve at Eiche)
19. Janda, chapter 10 (Final Exam Conflict Filing Period October 23 through November 10)
24. Doyle, from prologue through Eisenhower; second listserv assingment: respond to one of the initial listserv messages.
26. Doyle, from Kennedy through Carter
31. Doyle, from Reagan through epilogue
November
2. Janda, chapter 11
7. P.O.V., assessment #4, on chapter 14, part one, "The Supreme Court"
9. Papers on Doyle are due.
14. Janda, chapter 12 (November 15 is Late Drop Deadline)
16. third listserv assignment
21. P.O.V., assessment #5, pick one of the pairs of arguments in chapter 15 or chapter 16
28. Janda, chapter 13
30. fourth listserv assignment, a response to what someone posted for the third listserv assignment
December
5. no assignment
7. no assignment (withdrawal deadline in April 28)
I may make some changes in the course during the semester. If so, I will notify you in class. In addition, you are advised to check this syllabus from time to time on the web. It is listed under the "online course materials" link of the Penn State Altoona home page.
For additional, current information on topics covered
in the course, see the Challenge
of Democracy Website