Fall 2024  |  POL 1001 Section 001: American Democracy in a Changing World (18067)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
09/03/2024 - 12/11/2024
Tue, Thu 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Anderson Hall 330
Enrollment Status:
Open (10 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/?POL1001+Fall2024
Class Description:
This course is intended to introduce you to the institutions, policies, and processes that comprise the American political system. There are three basic questions to be addressed: . what are the fundamental characteristics of American political institutions and the people who run them? . how do the rules of the game (institutional rules and norms) affect politics? . what is the relationship between the government and "the people," and does it live up to the ideals of democracy? We will address these questions through a focus primarily on national politics and Washington, D.C., with due attention to historical events (things that have shaped the system) and contemporary political issues (things being debated today). By the end of the class, you should be a more informed citizen, whether you want to be or not (and hopefully you will want to be!).
Grading:
45% Midterm Exam
22% Final Exam
33% Reports/Papers
Exam Format:
Multiple Choice and short answer
Class Format:
90% Lecture
10% Discussion
Workload:
60-80 Pages Reading Per Week
6-8 Pages Writing Per Term
3 Exam(s)
3 Paper(s)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/18067/1249
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
28 February 2008

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