reading and lecture schedule | essay information | bulletin board
print version PS 157 Course Syllabus
reading and lecture
schedule | essay information |
bulletin board
print version
Political Science 157 Professor John Woolley
Technicalities. This course is open only to sophomores, juniors and seniors who have completed PS 12 or PS 100, and PS 104 (or equivalent). Content. The course will examine the development of the U.S. presidency from the origins of the office until the present day. The emphasis is on contrasting accounts that emphasize the role of the president as an individual strategic actor; accounts that emphasize the importance of institutions, and accounts that emphasize the importance of change external to government—for example, in technology and the economy. As the George W. Bush administration draws toward a close we will especially look back over his presidency. In light of the ongoing “war on terror,” we will place special emphasis on the president’s leadership in military and foreign affairs and on related controversial claims that he has grounds for broad assertions of executive power. Requirements. The course requirements include the following: 1. Attending lectures and taking notes. The first of our textbooks is organized historically. The second is organized thematically with a focus on the Bush presidency. The lectures in the first half of the class are organized both around historical developments and important themes. There will be material in the lectures that will be new and that will not be covered in the readings. If you miss the lecture you will miss that material and will find it hard to prepare for related tests. In preparing exams, I will assume that you are familiar with material from lectures and from assigned readings. 2. Exams. There are two exams in this course. The mid-term will be in class on Monday May 5, and will be worth 25% of the course grade. The final exam will be comprehensive and worth 30% of the course grade. The final exam is Monday June 9, 4:00-7:00pm 3. Original analysis: Each student must complete an original analysis of a topic related to the development of presidential power. The assignments will be distributed and discussed in class no later than Wednesday April 30. The analysis is worth 30% of the course grade and will be due no later than 12:00 noon, Friday, May 30, 2008. You may be asked to submit both an electronic and paper copy of your work. You will be graded off for poor writing (including nonstandard grammar, disorganization, rambling sentences, and misspelling). You will receive further instructions about how to document your work. Good work will be clearly written and well-researched. 4. Readings. The reading volume is reasonable if you do not fall behind. The weekly discussions will help with the task of organizing the historical material in a thematic way. After you do the readings, check your own comprehension by seeing if you can compose a brief summary of the main points and supporting evidence in the assigned material. If you do this regularly you will be well-equipped to earn an excellent grade in the class; you will get more out of the class; and you will be in a position to participate more effectively. I reserve the option of giving unannounced in-class quizzes if I feel students are not keeping up with the readings. No make-ups of these quizzes will be permitted 5. Participation. The remaining 15% of the course grade will reflect your participation. Participation involves attending and contributing to discussion section, contributing to the online course "forum," any in class quiz scores you may receive (see below). To participate you must be present and prepared. You must register and participate in the class forum by posting at least twice during the quarter. One of your posts must be before the midterm exam and the other after the midterm but before the final exam. One of your posts must be a direct response to a post by one of your classmates. Together your posts must exceed 800 words. 6. Learn the Presidents. Students are expected to know names, parties, years in office, nature of separation from office for all presidents from Lincoln through GWBush. A worksheet can be downloaded HERE. Office Hours: I am available for office hours on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. I also respond to e-mail, and I will participate in the course “forum.” Grades. As indicated above, your course grade will be determined on the basis of the following weights to be applied to each separate performance: Analysis: .30; Final exam: .30; Midterm .25, Participation, .15. Late work. Plan your schedule now so that you can submit your work on time and be prepared for the final. Any assignment turned in late will be penalized one full letter grade for each 24 hour period it is late. Anyone missing the exam without a prior excuse will not be permitted to make up the exam without evidence of a real emergency beyond his/her control. Students requesting alternative exam times, for whatever reason, must expect exams that are more difficult and that have a different format. Here are some of the many reasons for makeup exams that I will not accept: Your parents are coming into town for a non-emergency visit. There is a really cool concert in LA the night before. You have decided to take two classes scheduled at the same time. You decide to purchase a non-refundable airline ticket for the day before the exam. Academic Integrity. In all work, students are expected to maintain the highest levels of academic integrity. The University General Catalog states: "It is expected that students understand and subscribe to the ideal of academic integrity and be willing to bear individual responsibility for their work. Materials submitted to fulfill academic requirements must represent a student's own efforts. Any act of academic dishonesty, such as plagiarism or other forms of cheating, is unacceptable and will be met with disciplinary action." Also see information at the Student Affairs Web Page. In the case of exams, this means that you must not cheat. In the case of written assignments, it means that you must do original work and properly document your work. When you copy from another work, enclose the copied information in quotation marks and indicate the source of the copied information. When you closely paraphrase the work of another person, indicate the source with a reference. When you draw your ideas substantially from the work of another, indicate that with a reference as well. When you report facts or statistics that are not common knowledge, indicate with a reference the source of the fact or statistic. If your misbehavior is serious, your work will be referred to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action. Required for purchase at the bookstore are two core texts. Milkis and Nelson should be on reserve soon at the RBR.
There is additional required reading. All of it is available online through links on the online course "schedule." To access these readings you need to have a login and password that are available only in class. If you do not want to read online or print your own copy, I can loan you a printed copy of the readings that you can have reproduced at the copy shop of your choice. ONLINE : A web site with many resources for this course is available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu or alternatively, you can (usually) reach it simply by typing: www.americanpresidency.org In order to participate fully in the assignments for this class, it is extremely important that you have access to this web site. Please let me know immediately if for any reason you are unable to access this resource. UPDATES AND NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS WILL BE POSTED ONLINE AND ANNOUNCED IN CLASS. |
|
|