COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The purpose of this course is to give you an overview of the American political system and how it operates. When you have successfully completed this course, you will have a better understanding of what politics is and how this country governs itself. Your textbook for this course will be: Government by the People, national version; 22nd edition, by Magleby, et al. It is available at both the Patriot Bookstore and University Books.

If you need help...

My office is Founder's Hall, room 128, and if you need help, I will be available there at the hours specified in the table above. If these times not convenient, please see me after class and we will make an appointment for a mutually convenient time. My office telephone is 661-1615.

Attendance:

Attendance is extremely important if you expect to pass this course.   Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes and to take all exams at their scheduled times.   Those who attend all of the classes normally do significantly better than those who miss two or three classes. Much of the material covered in the lecture is not available anywhere else; it is your responsibility to make up any material in any class that you have missed.

Grading:

Your grade will be computed in the following manner. There will be four major exams given in this course, all of which will be equal in weight. There will be four exams in this course; students who take all four exams may drop their lowest grade. The average of your three highest exams will be your grade for the course. The fourth exam will be held during the regularly scheduled final exam period. I will use the following grading scale:

There will be no extra credit, no make-ups, no do-overs, and no excuses will be accepted.

Appropriate Behavior

All students are expected to behave in a responsible manner.  This includes, but is not limited to, the following.  You are expected to be in your assigned seats with your notebooks open, ready to start taking notes when class begins.  You are expected to listen alertly to the lecture, take notes, and ask questions about things that you don't understand.  Reading newspapers, talking to your friends, text messaging, doing homework or studying for other courses in class is not acceptable behavior.

I expect every student to be on time for every class.  I will close the door when class starts; students may not enter the classroom is the door is closed.  Students who leave in the middle of the lecture without permission may not return to class during that period.

Exam Schedule

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