Riverside Community College District
Integrated Course Outline of Record
Political Science 1H
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COURSE DESCRIPTION
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1H Honors American Politics
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Units: 3.00
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Prerequisite(s): None.
Advisory: Qualification for ENG-1A.
Limitation on Enrollment:
Enrollment in the Honors Program.
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The principles and critical issues of American politics, with emphasis on the national government. Course topics include: philosophic and ideological sources of political system and culture, political parties and elections, interest groups, mass movements, public policy, media, judicial system, and California state and local government. Students may not receive credit for both POL-1 and POL-1H. 54 hours lecture.
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SHORT DESCRIPTION FOR CLASS SCHEDULE
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Offers students in the Honors program an enriched introduction to Phe principles, institutions, and issues of American politics.
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ADVISORY ENTRY SKILLS
None.
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STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
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1. Describe, analyze, and evaluate American political institutions and
processes.
2. Objectively explain critical issues in American politics and be able to
use theories and debates to argue convincingly in defense of a
position, selecting examples to illustrate their points and
organizing these appropriately.
3. Use research tools including scholarly journals and texts, current
media and the Internet to analyze and evaluate institutions in
American government.
4. Demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and academic skills
through effective essay writing for research assignments of 2-4
pages and examinations.
5. Demonstrate critical thinking ability including the analysis and
evaluation of data, and an understanding of alternative
explanations and the forming of conclusions from data presented.
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COURSE CONTENT
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TOPICS
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- American political philosophy and competing ideologies
- Political Parties, interest groups, social movements, the media, political socialization, the electoral system, pros and cons of federalism
- Structure of government: the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, and bureaucracy
- Public policy: Economic and environmental, welfare and education, foreign and defense
- California state government
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METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
Methods of instruction used to achieve student learning outcomes may include, but are not limited to:
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- Class lectures/discussions/demonstrations
- Video/films/slides/audio tapes
- Pair and small group activities/discussions
- Class exercises
- Reports and papers
- Handouts
- Cooperative learning tasks/simulations
- Individual conferences
- Guest lectures
- Online instruction
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METHODS OF EVALUATION
Students will be evaluated for progress in and/or mastery of learning outcomes by methods of evaluation which may include, but are not limited to:
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- Oral reports/presentations/online discussion
- Quizzes/essay examinations/book reviews
- Class, group and individual projects
- Participation and regular attendance
- Presenting of work in progress
- Internet assignments
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ASSIGNMENTS
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Required Reading Assignments
Required Writing Assignments
Other Outside-of-Class Assignments
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COURSE MATERIALS
All materials used in this course will be periodically reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for college level instruction. Possible texts include:
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- General American Government texts:
· McKenna, George and Feingold, Stanley, Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Political Issues (Connecticut: MaGraw-Hill, 2004)
· Levine, Herbert, Point-Counterpoint: Readings in American Government 7th Edition (California: Wadsworth/Thomson, 2004)
· Welch, Susan, et.al., American Government. 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning Inc., 2004.
· Greenburg, Edward and Page, Benjamin, The Struggle for Democracy. 6th ed. New York: Longman, 2003.
· Parenti, Michael, Democracy for the Few. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins Press, 2002.
· Sohner, Charles P., California Government and Politics Today. New York: Longman, 1999.
Additional materials may include professional, instructor-or student-prepared audio/visual tapes, computer media/software, and instructor-prepared handouts.
- Primary texts may include, but not limited to:
· U.S. Constitution
· The Federalist Papers
· Washington's Farewell Address
· Martin Luther King speeches Letters from a Birmingham jail, and I have a dream.
- · Wood, Ellen Meiksins, The Retreat from Class, London: Verso, 1986.
· Weber, MNax, Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, New York: Scribner’s, 1958.
· Poulantzas, Nicos, Political Power and Social Classes, London: New Left Books, 1973.
· Miliband, Ralph, The State in Capitalist Society, New York: Basic Books, 1969.
· Kennedy, Paul, Rise and Fall of Great Powers, New York: Random House, 1987.
· Marx, Karl, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, New York: International Publishers, 1967.
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