Political Science 200: AmericanPolitics
Fall 2008
T, F & Alternative W, 11:10-12:20
Instructor: Tom Burke
Office: 234 Pendleton East
Phone: 283-2441
Email: tburke@wellesley.edu
Drop-In Hours: Wednesdays 2-4, Fridays 1:30-2:30 and by appointment
Political Science 200: AmericanPolitics
Fall 2008
T, F & Alternative W, 11:10-12:20
Instructor: Tom Burke
Office: 234 Pendleton East
Phone: 283-2441
Email: tburke@wellesley.edu
Drop-In Hours: Wednesdays 2-4, Fridays 1:30-2:30 and by appointment
Across the nation every year thousands of political scientists teach millions of students about American politics. How is this course different from the average American politics course?
Current issues and events are emphasized. The primary goal of this course is for you is to become a more critical, sophisticated observer of American politics. All the wonderful works of political science and political theory we read in this course will mean nothing to you unless you learn to apply them to real-world events. That is a major task in the exams and papers, and you can't excel in this task if you don't have a working knowledge of current events. To ensure a working knowledge of current events, the members of this class will jointly produce a course blog on American politics. Also, some students will make in-class presentations in which they analyze current events.
Comparisons are important. Far from being the model for the world, American government is in many respects quite different from most of the world's democracies. In nearly every section of the course we will consider these differences. It is important to understand them, particularly in evaluating the effectiveness of American political institutions.
Democracy is the central theme. During much of the course the main question will be this: How do people participate in government? We often evaluate governments by determining whether they are "democratic," but it's not at all clear what that means. By the end of the course you should have a better understanding of the many ways in which people use "the d-word" and be ready to apply the concept to evaluate American government. Beyond that, we will cast a critical eye on the changing ways in which Americans participate in politics, a topic of great interest lately to social scientists.
Tocquevillemania. Because I love Alexis de Tocqueville, and think he has more to teach you about American politics than any of my contemporaries in political science, we will be reading from his masterpiece, Democracy in America. If you take one thing from this course, I hope you will learn to appreciate this 19th Century French aristocrat who, despite his own prejudices and limitations, wrote the book on American politics, a masterpiece that still influences both scholars and practictioners of politics.
Beyond the basics. This course is an introduction to the institutions and processes of American politics. It does not, however, stick to "the basics." Those students who have taken a good civics course in high school should have no trouble handling the material, but for those who have not had much experience with American politics, I have recommended a textbook that should help you with the fundamentals. (See the "Readings" section).
Requirements
This course has an unusual feature: you get to choose what work you will do in the class and how you will be graded. You have two options:
Track II probably involves more work than the exam option, but some students appreciate the opportunity to conduct research, write papers, and make presentations rather than simply answering exam questions.
And the exams aren't easy. For each exam a list of questions and identifications will be handed out in advance. As you will see, they cover just about everything in the course. Except for current events questions, all exam items will be drawn from this list.I will provide some sources to help you keep up on current events, but your primary source for this will be the course blog. Read it!
For Track II there are detailed paper assignments (available on a link from the course home page as "Track II Assignments") and students will attend special sessions on research techniques and resources that you will need for the papers. Students will be required to work on their presentation with special presentation tutors before unleashing them on the class.
Students will be asked to pick between the Exam andTrack II options after completion of the first midterm, on October 9.
Once the course blog becomes active, students in both tracks will be required to contribute at least an item every other week. Each student will be assigned a particular policy area, a particular journal, or a particular political movement, and will be asked to cover them in the blog--but you are free to range widely and submit items from outside your area of coverage. Submitted item should call attention to an important development or issue in the news; most items will include a link or links that you introduce and provide background about. Your blog contributions will be graded on their originality, significance and connection to the course--and as is often the case with blogs, the quality of the link often matters more than what you write about it! (Remember: brevity is the soul of wit. Shorter, punchier items can be more effective than long ones.)
Grading Policies
I adhere to Wellesley's official grading policy , which is that A's are reserved for "students who meet with conspicuous excellence every demand that can fairly be made by the course." In practice this means that to receive an A or A- you must not merely meet all my expectations for satisfactory performance but exceed them. Satisfactory completion of all required elements of an assignment will entitle you to a B+. Needless to say this is not necessarily the policy of all professors so if you are worried most about preserving a high grade point average you may want to consider other courses.
For those in Track II, I am happy to read drafts of your papers and presentations, but please submit your drafts at least five days in advance of the due date; otherwise I cannot guarantee that I will have time to read them.
Late assignments will be penalized by one-third grade per day (for instance from a B+ to a B), except in the case of dire emergency. Extensions may, however, be granted if requested reasonably in advance of the due date. (Yes, "reasonable" is a fudge word, but it only goes so far: there is no situation I can conceive of aside from an emergency in which 48 hours would be "reasonable". So feel free to ask for an extension if you need it, but be sure to ask well in advance of the deadline.)
Failure to contribute a blog item by the end of the week (Sunday at midnight) will reduce your blog grade by one-third.
Readings
Just two books are required for the course: Raymond Smith,The American Anomaly, and Ann Serow and Everett Ladd, Lanahan Readings in the American Polity (4th edition). The rest of the readings will be on electronic reserve or in the "required readings" folder on the course conference. If a reading is not listed as in one of the books or in the "required readings" folder than it should be on e-reserves, where you should be able to find it by searching by title. If you have trouble finding a reading, post a note on the "ask each other" subconference.
For those who wish additional background on the course, a short, well-written textbook is available from the bookstore and on reserve: James Q. Wilson's American Government: Brief Version (8th edition). This is particularly recommended for those students who have no background in American government.
Drop-In Hours and Electronic Communication
Drop-in hours are normally held at my office (234 Pendleton) Wednesdays 2-4 and Fridays 1:30-2:30. If these times are not convenient I will often be available for meetings after class, and I am happy to make appointments. The drop-in hours are your chance to ask questions, talk about your ideas and plans, and explore class material in greater depth. Don't feel shy about usingthem, this is time I've reserved for you. Also, if you show up and I'm babbling with another student, please knock on the door and tell me you're there--it's not rude, it's useful for me because I may otherwise consume the whole hour with the student in front of me.
I also answer questions via email, and I try to be reasonably quick to respond. Keep in mind, though, that I occasionally sever the electronic umbilical cord--over weekends andholidays I'm often out of email range. (Not a bad strategy, by the way, if you want to retain your sanity.)
The course has a FirstClass conference, on which I will post course-related material, answer questions, and lead discussions about any topic you wish--though I hope we will have most of our discussions on the course blog. The conference features an "Ask the Professor" subconference and I prefer that you ask course-related questions on this medium rather than by an email to me, since the questions you ask (and the answers I provide) will likely be of interest to the other students in the course.