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AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

Classes

U. S. National Government

PSC 1010

Metropolitan State College
Auraria Campus
Spring, 2005

Section 007:
In room KC 203
T & Th 11:30-12:45

 

Jonathan Zartman
Jkzartman@msn.com
Jkzartman @yahoo.com
Jzartman@mscd.edu
Office hours: T & TH 1:00-2:15 and by appointment

Syllabus-US Government

Supplemental Readings

In addition to lecture notes summarizing the chapters of the text by Wilson and DiIulio,
a number of articles pulled from the Internet have been posted here solely to stimulate your thinking.
Please do not interpret the presence of any article here as constituting either support or agreement
with the author's ideas.

IFES State and Political Power-Ch-9

IFES Rule of Law-Ch-16

IFES Civil Society-Ch-19

         Famous Quote:

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Sir Winston Churchill, Hansard, November 11, 1947

Week One: Introduction, Overview and Objectives"

Week Two: Chapters 1,W & D: "Power and Democracy;"
                              Chapter 2, W and D: "The Constitution"

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 1-Power +Democracy

Lecture Notes-Chapter 2-The Constitution

First Note on Class Objectives

What Are the Elements of Democracy

An Economic Theory of Democracy , by Anthony Downs (June 1957) Addison-Wesley
Pub Co; ISBN: 0060417501

Lecture Notes-Essential Knowledge Democracy
          Printer Friendly Word Doc. Format-- Lecture Notes-Essential Knowledge Democracy
                            
Quiz--Democracy in two formats | Word Doc format | | Adobe-PDF format |
        I have put the same information into a Power Point format.
        I hope that as you flip through this sequence your total understanding will improve.
        Democracy

Week Three: Chapter 3: W & D "Federalism"

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 3--Federalism

Quiz-Chapter 3-Federalism.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter 3-Federalism

Price of Federalism by Paul E. Peterson (May 1995) Brookings Institute;
ISBN: 0815770235 -- 239 pages (Available used paperback at amazon.com for $16.95)

                   Quiz-Democracy and Federalism.pdf

                   Answers-Democracy and Federalism

Notes to the Class:

Character of the Vote
2004 Presidential Election: Colorado Voters versus National Voters
Comparison of the percentage of the vote received by each candidate
according to income, age and education level

Suggestions for Writing Essays

News articles:

Washington--Made Independence Happen

The Price They Paid

Abolition and Whittier

Jeffersons Letter to Danbury Baptists

Myth of American Federalism

Prospects for Federalism-NYTimes

Ch. 11: Congress

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 11-The Congress

Quiz-Chapter 11-The Congress.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter 11-The Congress

Class Presentations--Power Point:

All of the questions and answers in this presentation are taken directly from the
"Quiz Answers" for this chapter.Congress

News articles:

Congressional Black Caucus

Budget Myths

Ch. 12: The Presidency

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 12-The Presidency

Quiz-Chapter 12-The Presidency.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter 12-The Presidency

Class Presentations--Power Point:

All of the questions and answers in this presentation are taken directly from the
"Quiz Answers" for this chapter.Presidency

News articles:

Ch. 13: The Bureaucracy

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter-13-The Bureaucracy

Quiz-Chapter 13-The Bureaucracy.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter-13-The Bureaucracy

Class Presentations--Power Point:

All of the questions and answers in this presentation are taken directly from the
"Quiz Answers" for this chapter.Bureaucracy

News articles:

Ch. 14: The Judiciary

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 14-The Judiciary

Quiz-Chapter 14-The Judiciary.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter-14-The Judiciary

Class Presentations--Power Point:

All of the questions and answers in this presentation are taken directly from the
"Quiz Answers" for this chapter. The Judiciary

Ch. 10: The Media

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 10-the Media

Quiz-Chapter 10-The Media.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter 10-Media

Class Presentations--Power Point:

All of the questions and answers in this presentation are taken directly from the
"Quiz Answers" for this chapter. The Media

News articles:

Dan Rather

Mid-Term Exam Test Preparation materials

(HTML)  Test Review Outlines
Printer Friendly Word Doc. Format-- Test Review Outlines
(PowerPoint)   Test Review Outlines

Ch. 4: Political Culture (March 17)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 4-Political Culture

Quiz-Chapter 4-Political Culture.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter 4-Political Culture

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation attempts to provide the background for the specific format
of the question as it will appear on the final exam.Political Culture

News articles:

SPRING BREAK

Ch. 5: Public Opinion (March 29)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 5-Public Opinion

Quiz- Chapter 5-Public Opinion.pdf

Quiz Answers-Chapter 5-Public Opinion.htm

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation attempts to provide the background for the specific format
of the question as it will appear on the final exam.Public Opinion

News articles:

Gallup Poll Accuracy Record

Ch. 6: Participation (March 31)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 6-Political Participation

Quiz-Chapter 6-Political Participation.pdf

Quiz Answers-Chapter 6-Political Participation

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation attempts to provide the background for the specific format
of the question as it will appear on the final exam.Political Participation

News articles:

Ch. 7: Political Parties (April 5)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 7-Political Parties

Quiz-Chapter 7-Political Parties.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter 7-Political Parties

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation attempts to provide the background for the specific format
of the question as it will appear on the final exam.Political Parties

News articles:

How Political Parties Die

Electoral Reversals

Ch. 8 Elections and Campaigns (April 7)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 8--Elections

Quiz-chapter 8-Elections.pdf

Quiz Answers-Chapter 8--Elections

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation attempts to provide the background for the specific format
of the question as it will appear on the final exam.Elections and Campaigns

News articles:

Electoral College Does It Better

Electoral College is a Winner

Election 2000

Electoral District Design Factors

Electoral Reversals

Electoral College Fantasies

Ch. 9: Interest groups (April 12)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 9-Interest Groups

Quiz-Chapter 9-Interest Groups.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter 9-Interest Groups

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation attempts to provide the background for the specific format
of the question as it will appear on the final exam.Interest Groups

News articles:

Ch. 15: Civil Liberties (April 19)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 15-Civil Liberties

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation provide a general summary of the topic. Civil Liberties

Ch. 16: Civil Rights (April 19)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 16-Civil Rights

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation provide a general summary of the topic. Civil Rights

Ch. 17: Policy Making (April 14)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 17--Policy Formation

Quiz-Chapter 17-Policy Formation.pdf

Quiz answers-Chapter 17--Policy Formation

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation attempts to provide the background for the specific format
of the question as it will appear on the final exam. Policy Formation

News articles:

Economic Policy (Not in Wilson and DiIulio) (April 21)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Economic Policy

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation attempts to provide a general summary of the topic. It provides enough information to aid you in applying the concepts learned in the foundational sections of the course. Economic Policy Formation

Social Policy (Not in Wilson and DiIulio) (April 26)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Social Policy

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation provide a general summary of the topic. Social Policy

Foreign and Defense Policy (April 28)

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Notes-Chapter 20-Foreign Policy

Dear Class-Foreign Policy Terms and Advice

Class Presentations--Power Point:

The following presentation provides a general summary of the topic. Foreign Policy

News articles:

Origins of McCarthyism

"Why Americans Hate Foreign Policy"

War-Powers

Tuesday, May 3 Foreign and Defense Policy, cont.

Thursday, May 5: Summarizations and Review-- Test Preparation

 Outline Review for Final Exam.htm

Mandatory Final Exam, Thursday, May 12, 11:30 AM-1:30 PM

 

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