Spring 2022  |  POL 1001 Section 001: American Democracy in a Changing World (53838)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Freshman Full Year Registration
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/18/2022 - 05/02/2022
Mon, Wed 08:15AM - 09:30AM
UMTC, West Bank
Anderson Hall 250
Enrollment Status:
Open (53 of 85 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
This course is intended to introduce students to the expressed hopes of the American people for their government and to the institutions and processes that have been created and recreated to achieve these hopes. The course is designed to help students understand what liberal education is by engaging in the study of American politics as a fundamentally critical and creative enterprise, and by grappling with the most complex and challenging problems of political life, such as the sources of political equality and inequality, and the tension between individual aspirations and political control. Questions of power and choice, opportunity and discrimination, freedom and restrictions on freedom are fundamental to the historical development of and current controversies within the American political system, and we will attend to all of these. We will explore topics including the ideas underlying the nation's founding and its constitutional foundations; civil rights and civil liberties; the role of the United States in an increasingly globalized world; the structure and function of American political institutions; and the behavior of American citizens in the political process. In addition, we will learn to think and communicate like political scientists. We will read primary documents, such as the Federalist papers, engage with scholarly arguments about the way the American political system works, and critically evaluate critiques of the American political system that have been offered from a variety of perspectives. By the end of the semester students should have a basic understanding of the structure and function of American government as well as an increased ability to critically reflect on the degree to which our institutions, processes, and citizens live up to the expectations placed on them. Students will be able to identify, define, and solve problems and to locate and critically evaluate information. Students will have mastered a body of knowledge and a mod
Class Notes:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?abernath+POL1001+Spring2022
Class Description:
This course is intended to introduce students to the expressed hopes of the American people for their government and to the institutions and processes that have been created and recreated to achieve these hopes. What do we mean by good government? Have we achieved it? How do we build it? Through an examination of the roles of American political institutions and the behavior of American citizens, we will be able to critically reflect on issues such as political and economic inequality in the U.S., the role of American political and economic power in the world, and the possibility for an American public policy that lives up to the ideals of the founders. By the end of the semester students should have a basic understanding of the structure and function of American government as well as an increased ability to critically reflect on the degree to which our institutions, processes, and citizens live up to the expectations placed on them.
Who Should Take This Class?:
Students who want a basic introduction to American government in a way that connects the core material to current events
Grading:
80% each/ three non-cumulative tests
20% in-class assignments
Exam Format:
short answer
essay
Class Format:
60% Lecture
20% Discussion
20% Small Group Activities
Workload:
100 Pages Reading Per Week
3 tests
Periodic in-class assignments (for credit only, not graded)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/53838/1223
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
19 October 2021

ClassInfo Links - Spring 2022 Political Science Classes

To link directly to this ClassInfo page from your website or to save it as a bookmark, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=1001&term=1223
To see a URL-only list for use in the Faculty Center URL fields, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=1001&term=1223&url=1
To see this page output as XML, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=1001&term=1223&xml=1
To see this page output as JSON, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=1001&term=1223&json=1
To see this page output as CSV, use:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/?subject=POL&catalog_nbr=1001&term=1223&csv=1
Schedule Viewer
8 am
9 am
10 am
11 am
12 pm
1 pm
2 pm
3 pm
4 pm
5 pm
6 pm
7 pm
8 pm
9 pm
10 pm
s
m
t
w
t
f
s
?
Class Title