PSCI 201
Power, Politics, and Democracy in America
Fall 2009
(also offered Spring 2010)
Division II
This is not the current course catalog
Class Details
Begun as an experiment over 200 years ago, the United States has grown into a polity that is simultaneously praised and condemned, critiqued and mythologized, modeled by others and remodeled itself. This course introduces students to the dynamics and tensions that have animated the American political order and that have nurtured these conflicting assessments. Topics include the founding of the American system and the primary documents (the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers), the primary institutions of national government then and now (Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court) and the politics of policy-making in the United States. We study structures, processes, key events, and primary actors that have shaped American political development. In investigating these topics, we explore questions such as these: How is power allocated? What produces political change? Is there is a trade-off between democratic accountability and effective governance? How are tensions between liberty and equality resolved? Do the institutions produce good policies, and how do we define what is good?
The Class:
Format: lecture/discussion
Limit: 35
Expected: 35
Class#: 1148
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Limit: 35
Expected: 35
Class#: 1148
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation:
two papers, one exam, and class participation
Prerequisites:
none; this is an introductory course, open to all, including first-year students
Enrollment Preferences:
first- and second-year students
Distributions:
Division II
Attributes:
LGST Interdepartmental Electives
POEC Required Courses
PSCI American Politics Courses
POEC Required Courses
PSCI American Politics Courses
Class Grid
-
HEADERS
Column header 1
CLASSESColumn header 2DREQColumn header 3INSTRUCTORSColumn header 4TIMESColumn header 5CLASS#
-
PSCI 201 - 01 (F) LEC Power,Politics,Democracy Amer
PSCI 201 - 01 (F) LEC Power,Politics,Democracy AmerDivision IIAlex W. WillinghamMWF 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
Griffin 61148 -
PSCI 201 - 02 (F) LEC Power,Politics,Democracy Amer
PSCI 201 - 02 (F) LEC Power,Politics,Democracy AmerDivision IITF 1:10 pm - 2:25 pm
Griffin 71149
Megamenu Social