KEISER UNIVERSITY
Course Control Document
Course Title: ·1 Political Science
Course Number: ·2 POS1041
Prerequisites: ·3 None
Credit Hours: ·4 3.0 semester credit hours
Contact Hours: ·5 48
Lecture hours: ·6 48
Textbook Title: ·7
Government by the People, 21st edition
Publisher’s Name: ·8 Prentice-Hall
Author’s Name: ·9 Burns, et al
ISBN: ·10 0131921592
Instructor
Qualifications: ·11 Earned doctorate or master’s degree in political science or
master’s degree with 18 graduate credit hours in subject taught.
Course Description: ·12 Addresses how America has evolved from an agrarian
to a post-industrial society. Topics include the Constitution and its three
branches of government.
Course Topics: ·13 Democratic and constitutional roots of the United
States
·14 Declaration of Independence
·15 Reasons for separation from
England
·16 Bill of Rights
·17 United States Constitution
·18 Equal
rights under the law
·19 Acquisition and rights of citizenship
·20 Three
branches of U.S. government: legislative, judiciary and the Presidency
Course Objectives: ·21 Upon completion of the course, students are able
to:
1. Describe the democratic and constitutional roots of the United
States
2. Describe the Bill of Rights and various articles of the
Constitution
3. Discuss equal rights under the law guaranteed to all
Americans
4. Describe citizenship, citizenship rights and how American
citizenship is acquired
5. Describe the fundamental workings of Congress, the
Presidency and the judiciary
6. Discuss the role of the United States in
foreign affairs
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The theory, organization, principles and functions of national
government,
stressing relationships of individual to all levels of government
in the political system.
This course includes activities designed to ensure
or enhance competence
in the basic use of computers.
Computer Based Learning Activity
To demonstrate competence with the basic use of computers
the U.S.
Government course is designed
to include a formal 'computer-based' learning
activity. For this
particular course the following assignment(s) assessment
and
percentage of final grade protocols have been established:
Description of assigned computer-based learning activity
Students will be required to download the mid term exam and study
guide
from the internet web site on which it is posted. They will also be
required
to locate one scholarly article from a website to which they are
referred,
and another from professional scholarly journals in political
science located
on Everest library data bases, and to submit via email their
critical reviews of
those articles. Thirdly, students will be required to
prepare a legal brief of
a supreme court decision by accessing the
findlaw.com web site.
Description of impact on percentage of final course
grade
The critical reviews, web projects, and the case brief each constitute 1/6
of the course grade the student earns in this class. The mid term and final are
each also 1/6 of the final grade. Computer based skills thus are involved in
well over half of the total final course grade.
INSTRUCTOR
Ron Ziegler
Political Science
Office Hours: by appointment/available
for consultation
before each class session
RonaldGordonZiegler@yahoo.com321-805-2507
PHILOSOPHY OF THE COURSE
Human beings naturally live in groups. An effective government is
necessary
in organizing and maintaining order in a society of people,
although it's function
is not to control them. There must also be an agent
whose function it is to
maintain smooth market operations as to the
allocation of natural resources.
Government is also important in settling
conflicts and disputes which arise
in society. A citizen of a particular
society must know and understand the operation
of the government; it's
primary function is to safeguard their natural rights as citizens.
U.S.
Government I is a required course designed to acquaint students with
their
political system.
INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE
AMERICAN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
R.
ZIEGLER
SCHEDULE OF WORK
Mon 11/24 Introductions, syllabus, grading criterion,
pre-test
Farhenhype 911
Tues 11/25 ch 1, 15, 16, App A1 theory and
formation of limited government
The Great Global Warming Swindle
Thu
11/27 Thanksgiving Day/No School
Mon 12/1ch 2, 3 App A2, A5, A7 american
system, constitution, federalism
Fiscal Policy
Tues 12/2 ch 4, 5, 17
civil rights and liberties
Boom and Bust
Thu 12/4 ch 6, 7 political
socialization
Keynesianism
Mon 12/8 ch 8, 9, 10 parties and elections,
media (midterm is due on Monday 6/16)
Free To Choose/The Power of Free
Markets
Tue 12/9 ch 11 Congress
The Fed
Thu 12/11 ch 12, 13, App A11
Presidency and bureaucracy
Free to Choose/Velvet Revolution
Mon 12/15 ch
14, 18, 19 judiciary/policy process
CIA part 1
Tue 12/16 ch 20 UN and
IMF/Bretton Woods and Dumbarton Oaks
CIA part 3
Thu 12/18 Final Due/Post
Test (everything must be turned in)
Grading
The grade each student earns in this class will be the average of grades
earned
on several different instruments, each constituting 1/6 of the total
grade:
Mid Term
Final
Critical Review of One Article from ejps and scholarly
journal
Case Brief
Class Participation
Web Projects
Exams
go to
www.ejournalofpoliticalscience.com
and scroll to the Tables of Contents
at the bottom of the page and search out
one of the political science articles
which is interest to you to read,
review, and write a 500 word critical analysis about it.
You will email this
to the instructor at
RonaldGordonZiegler@yahoo.com
You will do the same thing with one article which you select from Keiser
Library
media bank resources taken from any one of the following
professional journals:
The American Political Science Review
The Journal of
Politics
Political Research Quarterly
Political Science
Quarterly
Polity
American Politics Quarterly
Presidential Studies
Quarterly
Political Theory
Foreign Policy
Foreign Affairs
American
Journal of Political Science
Political Behavior
Legislative Studies
Quarterly
Policy Studies Journal
Policy Studies Review
Case
Brief
Select a Supreme Court decision which is of interest to you from the text
and submit the assignment by the time of the mid term
find the link to US Supreme Court
You will be shown several ways to find cases; try several of them
Or,
you can do a google search on a case you have chosen and find the actual text of
the case to read.
Prepare a paper which includes the following:
1) The name of the case
2) The date it was decided by the Supreme
Court
3) The facts of the case
4) The issue being decided
5) The
decision of the court
6) The legal reasoning behind the case
7) The
justice who wrote the decision
8) The vote
9) The concurring and
dissenting decisions
10) Indicate whether the decision is still law of if it
has been overturned
Web Projects There are four of these. The order you do them in does not
matter, but all four much be submitted. You could do one each week
Project 1) Legislative Branch
Locate the official website of the United
States Congress
Identify each of the following:
Speaker of the House
Majority Leader of the House
Majority Whip of the House
Minority
Leader of the House
Minority Whip of the House
the number of members who
are Republicans
the number of members who are Democrats
the name of the
member of Congress whose district you live in
and the committees that member
serves on in the Congress
(look at the state district map at
http://www.leg.state.fl.us)
President
of the Senate
President pro temp of the Senate
Majority Leader of the
Senate
Minority Leader of the Senate
the Florida members of the U.S.
Senate and their party affiliation
Which Florida House District do you live
in, and what is the name of the Representative
elected from that district?
Which Florida Senate District do you live in, and what is the name of the
Representative
elected from that district? (use
www.myflorida.com to search out this
information)
Project 2) Executive Branch
Go to
www.whitehouse.gov a) click on 'other
offices' or 'your govt' at the bottom of the page
list five of the agencies
of the Executive Office of the President
tell one duty of each
name the
current official serving in that position
b) click on President Bush's
Cabinet
name each department, one duty of each, and the current head of each
c) click on Federal Agencies and Commissions
list five independent
regulatory commissions
five government corporations
five
executive/administrative agencies
(and identify the primary task of each)
Project 3) New Media/
Find each of the following on line:
Newsmax.com
The Drudge Report
World Net Daily
Rush Limbaugh.com
Fox news network
copy and paste the url of each to an email which you send to instructor
Project 4) Elections/FEC
Go to
www.fec.gov what does it tell you about
campaign finance reports and data?
what does it tell you about reporting and
compliance?
Go to
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/
what agency is this webpage?
what kinds of information could you learn
from this webpage?
Class Participation
You will receive a grade based on two factors, your preparation and
participation
in class activities and discussions. This will be primarily
structured around your
attendance at class sessions and your ability to
maintain proper decorum in that
setting. There is a strong statistical
correlation of attendance, preparation,
and participation with grades which
students earn, and this grade is also intended
to reinforce the practicality
of regularly being in class. It is often not possible to make
up work that
is missed in a class built around discussion. While the instructor will
work
with the student who may have to miss a session, that should be avoided
to as
great an extent as possible.
Contacting Instructor
You may contact the instructor through email at
RonaldGordonZiegler@yahoo.comor
by calling at 321-805-2507 (cell). You may leave a voice mail..
If necessary,
I will contact you as necessary. If you have to miss a class,
it is
advisable that you contact the instructor with that information beforehand.
About Your Instructor
Ron Ziegler taught high school in Detroit, Michigan from 1967 until his
retirement
in 1999. During those years, he also taught adult education
classes with the
Cass Outreach program, and Kettering, Hazel Park, and
Monroe/Bedford adult ed programs. Since 1984, he has taught political science,
history, and economics
at Detroit College of Business/Davenport College,
Wayne State University,
Macomb Community College, Monroe Community College,
Florida Metropolitan
University, Keiser University, and Valencia Community
College.
He earned his Bachelors degree in education and political science
from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1968, where he also was awarded a
Masters degree in political science in 1980. He completed work on his PhD in
political science and history there as well. He lives with his three children,
Alexander, 20, Sarah, 18, and Kalani, 15, in Kissimmee, to which they relocated
following his retirement on thirty plus years of teaching with the Detroit Board
of Education and following the passing of his wife, Fayette, in 1998.
Intellectual Honesty and Integrity
It is absolutely essential that each student maintain the highest standards
of scholastic integrity. That does not mean that students should not or
may
not work together on some of their work in this class, but what is
finally submitted
must be your own effort. Anything else is unacceptable. Any
assignment on which
such standards are found to have been breached will be
assigned a failing grade
without recourse of altering that grade. Plagiarism
is unacceptable.
Grading Scale
A final grade is determined using the following
grading scale
90-100% ·46 A
80-89.99% ·47 B
70-79.99% ·48 C
60-69.99% ·49 D
Less than 60% ·50 F
Methods of Course Delivery: The subject matter in this course is presented
in various forms which may include lectures, class discussion, demonstrations,
collaborative activities, computer assignments, student projects and
presentations, on-line research, guest speakers or field trips.
Course
Policies:
Attendance:
Because attendance is directly related to students’ overall
success and you need to maximize your learning experience to get the most for
your financial investment in your education, the following attendance standards
have been implemented in this class.
Students are required to attend a
minimum of 90% of classtime. Anyone missing more than three classes or a total
of 900 minutes (late arrivals, extended or student-initiated breaks, and early
departures will be rounded up to the nearest hour).
•1 Students are to arrive
promptly and be seated in class by 9:00 a.m. each class day. Please arrange for
friends and family to be delivered to their respective work or school places
before this time so that you can get the education you have paid for. This is
your time to learn and prepare for your future; don’t let others try to take it
from you.
•2 Students who have more than the 900 minutes or three class
absences will not be allowed to take the final exam.
•3 Students who
recognize their responsibility as students to attend each class from the
beginning until the end and to return on time from breaks will be acknowledged
with some significant form of positive reinforcement (to be decided by the
instructor).
Attire: Since Keiser College values the professional appearance
of its students and teachers, all students are expected to adhere to the dress
code explained in the catalog. This regulation includes attire for the final
exam day.
Gentlemen will wear dress casual slacks, dress shirts, dress
shoes, and ties (properly tied). Gentlemen are required to keep shirts tucked in
and ties properly tied at all times on campus, including hallways, break room,
and outside the building.
Ladies will wear blouses or dresses with sleeves,
dresses or skirts of an acceptable length, and covered toe shoes. No denim jeans
are allowed for either gender, and ladies cannot wear denim skirts or dresses.
This policy for ladies is in effect for every minute that you are anywhere on
campus.
This policy is your only warning. Failure to dress according to the
above manner will result in your being dismissed from class and the building
until you can return with proper attire.
Breaks: Breaks are 10:00-10,
11:00-11:10, 11:50- 12:10 and are to be followed by each class and each student.
Please be certain that you know what time your watch has when you go on break so
that you will be back in class by the time your either one of your 10 or your
20-minute break is up. Also, please take care of any cell phone calls (outside
of the school, not in the hallways) or pit stops before class, during breaks,
and after class.
Sleeping: Students are not allowed to sleep in class. If
you are found sleeping in class you will be asked to leave.
Cell Phones/Text Messengers: A noisy, ringing, clanging, or chiming,
etc. cell phone distracts both you and your classmates and teacher. All phone
calls or text messages should be handled before class, on breaks or after class.
Cell phones are to be used only outside of the building and not in the hallways,
lounge, library, etc. Either keep the phone turned off during class, or leave it
home. Do not get out your phone or text messengers during class.
Under no
circumstances is it allowed to go off or are you to answer it during class or
leave class to answer it. If you leave class to answer your phone or are found
to be on the phone during class time, you will receive 0 for participation and
be asked to leave for the day.
Please be certain to give the school phone
number to those extremely few persons (such as your children’s school or
daycare) who need it for an extreme emergency. The only way should receive
emergency messages should be through the front desk staff and not your cell
phone. Our front desk receptionists will make certain that you get emergency
information from these sources – and have already relayed such messages in the
past.
Demeanor: By enrolling in Keiser College, you have expressed a desire
to obtain a successful career and future. When you enter the college door, you
may sometimes have to do one of your toughest acting jobs (just as you will in
the job world). You must remind yourself that the pain and outside frustrations
of the world need to be left outside the door and you need to try your best to
mentally turn off these distractions so that you can and your peers can have a
good day and learn what is taught that day.
For you and your peers to
achieve this goal, adult behavior is expected at all times in the classrooms,
halls, break room, restrooms, and outside areas.
•1 Students are expected to
have sufficient vocabulary and maturity that four-letter words are not heard in
any of the above-mentioned facilities.
•2 A spirit of cooperation and
willingness to collaborate on projects are expected at all times in the
classroom and provide you experiences that will prepare you for the kinds of
interpersonal relationships you will experience in the work world.
Deviations from acceptable demeanor are grounds for dismissal from the class
until the time that the student can enter into all class activities as a mature
adult.
Missed Assignments: Since you are expected to attend each class,
missed assignments will not be made up unless a near-death experience prevented
your class attendance. Such experience must be documented by a doctor’s excuse
or a death certificate. You are responsible for obtaining copies of the notes
and other information missed during any absence. If you opt to miss even a few
minutes of class, you miss information you will later regret not having; you may
also miss quizzes you will not be allowed to make up.
