Syllabus+-+GOVT+2301+-+Dual+Credit


 * Government 2301 - Dual Credit**
 * College Component**
 * Instructor: Kevin Jefferies**
 * Alvin Community College**
 * 281-756-3736**
 * kjefferies@alvincollege.edu**
 * class blog: []**

Note: Refer to Mr. Fiedler's syllabus for the basic information about this class.

Use this page for links to supplemental information that will qualify you for college credit. If you click on the links below you will go to pages with powerpoints, text, and external links with information related to the material. These are designed to augment the material you cover with Mr. Fiedler and encourage you to apply and think critically about what he presents to you. You will still be required to write, each week, a 150 answer to a question posed to you. You will see them below, written out each week prior to class. Mr. Fiedler's syllabus will describe how they will be integreated into your final grade. On each of the tests that Mr. Fiedler presents you, expect to see questions based on what we discuss in class. Refer to the material on the power points to prepare.

We will also discuss current events and how they illustrate the points covered in class. Refer to the blog (linked to above) for the relevant information.

Calendar: August 26th: Introduction to GOVT 2301 - Why Study Government? - For this week's assignment (what I want you to do before Friday September 2nd) I want you to access the syllabus and ask me any questions - through the email above - that you might have about it or its structure. For your readings - look through the power points on the link provided and review the material which discusses why this class is required. Be prepared to discuss it on Friday September 2nd.

September 2nd: Introduction to GOVT 2301 - Some Basic Terms //- For this week we will continue reading the slides from the previous week, but this time concentrate on those that focus on the definitions of "government" and "politics," as well the various concepts that go beyond those two terms. After class I want you to prepare a small written assignment addressing the following question: How likely is it that the Middle East countries that have been in rebellion over recent months (the Arab Spring), will turn into democracies? I have posed several stories related to this question on the class blog. I want a typed, legible answer in at least 150 words. This will be due prior to class September 9th.//

September 9th: Natural Rights and the Declaration of Independence - This week I will review the five principles of politics outlined in your Lowi, Ginsberg, Shepsle textbook, and begin a general discussion of the historical and philosophical factors that led to the development of the concept of natural rights and the way that the concept is written into our Constitution. Here is this week's question, remember to write at least 150 words in your answer:

//"The consent of the governed" has always seemed to me to be a tricky standard to use to justify governmental activity. As we will see in this section, however, it is the only standard that can be used in a system where people are considered equal - otherwise no one has any authority over anyone else.// //But there is nothing said regarding how people offer consent, or withhold it. So how do we? I want you to chew over this question? What does "consent of the governed" mean in our contemporary political landscape? How might people offer it, how might people withhold it? Give examples of each. Insightful commentary is encouraged//.

September 16th: Natural Rights and the Declaration of Independence (continued) - This week we review the history leading up to the Declaration of Independence and pour through the document. I want to prepare for the following section on the Constitution by getting used to the idea that there are conflicts over its meaning. Some argue that certain laws or exective actions fall within the scope of the Constitution, and some do not. You may already be familiar with such arguments about health care reform, but since questions have been raised about other - long established - programs I want you to look at one of these, specifically Social Security. Here is the text I've given my college students:

//As we will see, despite the fact that the U.S. Constitution was written, ratified and accepted years back, there were at that time - and still exists - conflict over its meaning. One of the areas of debate - recently revived - has to do with the constitutionality of the various programs associated with the New Deal, especially Social Security. I'll post a few stories on the dispute, but do some research on your own. What is the argument that Social Security is constitutional? What is the argument that it isn't?//

For background you may wish to look [|at this recent post on my blog], but feel free to do your own research.

September 23rd: The United States and Texas Constitutions - This week we take a broad look at the outline of the Constitution and point out why certain groups in the early U.S. wished to substitute it for the Articles of Confederation. Future lectures will be devoted to digging into the specifics of each document. Here we want to get comfortable with the document's layout.

Here's this week's question: //Not everyone in late 18th Century America was in favor of replacing the Arcticles of Confederation with a stronger national system. The commercial classes felt that a stronger central government was necessary to create a "commercial republic" and allow the country to survive, but the agragrian classes disagreed. The Articles, if given the chance, would also allow the country to meet its needs and survive. So here's the question: Would it? How might the United States be different today - if at all - if the Constitution had not been adopted and the Articles of Confederation not been replaced?//

As you have found out - length, depth, and comprehensiveness matter.

September 30th: The United States and Texas Constitutions (Continued) - I want to continue last week's discussion of the Constitution's of the United States and Texas. We will take a more detailed look at the outline of each document and point out areas of similarity and dissimilarity in each.

//For this week's assignment I want you to consider the debate over the interpretation of the commerce clause - which is considered along with the necessary and proper clause to be "elastic" - and how it relates to the debate over the constitutionality of health care reform. As we will discuss in class, loose interpretations of the commerce clause have led to an expansion of the federal government. As the definition of what is commerce expands to include things like manufacturing and labor, the range of things that Congress can pass laws about and the executive can implement expands as well. The current debate over the constitutionality of health care reform hinges largely on how the Supreme Court is likely to interpret it. What are the arguments that it fits within the commerce clause and what are the arguments that it does not?//

October 7th: Separation of Powers - No written assignment this week. We will pour through the argument made in Federalist #51 describing how the system of separated powers would be laid out and maintained. We will see how James Madison describes how human nature is written within the constitutional order.

October 14th: Republicanism (Federalist #10 and the Violence of Factions) - This week we will read through Federalist #10 and attempt to understand why the United States Constitutions establishes an indirect democracy.

//Written Assignment: One of the many points Madison is trying to make in Federalist 10 is that majorities - especially dangerous tyrannical majorities - are more likely to form at the local level more than the state level, and the state level more than the national level. One of the purposes of the national government is in fact to prevent the activities in the states from spreading throughout the nation. But while he makes this claim, he doesn't really prove it, so we may not really know if what he says is true. Review the news and try to determine if there is greater evidence of tyranny of the majority at the local and state levels than the national level of government.// //- This assignment will be due October 21st - in class.//

October 21st: Federalism - I want to finish last week's discussion of Federalist #10 and begin a discussion of the division of the government into two levels - the national and the state.

//Written Assignment: Republicans - at least in recent decades - have argued that the states, not the national government, should be responsible for many public policies Many - if not all - of the current candidates for the Republican nomination make these arguments. I want you to become familiar with one of these arguments - as made by any one of the candidates - and detail it. Depending on the subject matter you choose, what are the arguments for and against national and state control of that policy?//

October 28th: Federalism - Since we didn't really discuss federalism last week, I've postponed the discussion until this week. I want to go throgh the various powers granted to each level of government and the ongoing conflicts between them. The written assignment covers a looming issue.

//Written Assignment: While the U.S. Constitution says nothing about marriage, the national government has passed laws defining marriage as a heterosexual union strictly - the Defense of Marriage Act - and is likely to have to rule on whether one state can refuse to accept a public record (a gay marriage) entered into in another state, even though that seems to be prohibited in Article 6 of the Constitution. Clearly gay marriage has confused what had once been a relatively clear-cut issue of federalism - it was a purely state issue. I want you to review recent events and outline the nature of the dispute between the national government and state governments regarding marriage. Do we have a clear understanding of the role of each level of government in this matter?// //- This assignment will be due November 4th - in class.//

November 4th: Elections - Note: I'm suspending the paper assignments for the rest of the semester.

November 11th: The Presidency

November 18th: The Executive Branch

December 2nd:The Federal Courts

December 9th:The Constitution

December 16th: The Constitution

January 6th: Public Opinion