Course Goals:
1) for the students to better understand the governing institutions; 2) for the students to better understand how the governing institutions impact their lives; 3) for the students to engage and actively participate in discussions regarding the issues in American Government and Globally; 4) for students to develop the skills necessary to effectively write at the college level based on course content.
Required Materials:
- A Very Short Introduction to Politics (Kenneth Minogue)
- United States Constitution
- Bill of Rights
- Declaration of Independence
- Theory of Self in a Constitutional Democracy F 2014 Leggett
- Historical Awareness of Economics F 2014 Leggett
Baseline Response to Course Inquiry Question:
Please conduct a basic Google Search and find different perspectives to the following inquiry question for our course: how much money will you allocate to contribute to a collaborative project to solve a civic challenge?
Please turn in a typed reflection letter summarizing your findings and opinions sometime before the end of the course term.
Structured Learning Opportunities:
* Each assignment is worth ten points.
- United States Constitution Reading assignment
- Reading Template
- Extra Credit Political Resume Assignment
- Theory of Self Alice in Wonderland Riddle Group Assignment
- Historical Awareness In Class Comprehension and Motivation Survey
- RSA Changing Paradigms of Education Video Free-Write Response
- Social Change Organization Political Effectiveness Final Assignment
- Critical Judgment Youtube Search Brief Reflection
- Extra Credit Community Mapping Assignment
- Extra Credit Bridging Cultures Photo-Essay
Assessment (grading):
Course Goals Letter: Typed, Printed, and Due at Final Exam
U.S. Citizenship Exam (Random 20 questions)
Social Change Organization Political Effectiveness Analysis
Resources:
Thomas Congressional Bill Search
Constitutions, Federalism and Civil Liberties Slideshow Lecture
Course Outline:
*It is a consistent expectation that learners will have read the materials listed before the class meeting to be considered present.
Meeting One: What is American Government? What is an American Citizen!
Politics is the (violent or non-violent) struggle for power. In order to understand this statement in its complexity we must analyze what is and isn’t politics, what politics should be, and who should decide.
Opening Diagnostics: 10 random citizenship exam questions, critical judgment, and primary source surveys.
Discussion: Introduction & Overview: Politics – War and Violence – Does democratic thinking (tolerance, logical reasoning, and deliberation) require non-violence?
Assignment: Complete the United States Constitution Assignment and Pedagogy Questions
Meeting Two: Political Identity
Unfortunately we tend to reduce politics to simple phrasings like compromise, argument or debate, or worse still – unsupported opinion. This reduction makes it very difficult to locate your own political identity and really serves very little purpose. Using a political issue that is important to you we will try to determine our own identity.
Discussion: What are your academic and career goals and what power will you need to accomplish these goals?
Assignment: Read the first 2 chapters of A Very Short Introduction to Politics and complete the reading template for both chapters, print, and bring to class. You should continue reading on your own – one chapter – per class session. For example, you should read chapter 3 for next class, chapter 4 for the class after, and so on.
Meeting Three: Theory of Self in a Constitutional Democracy
In short, the system of government that most Americans experience can be reduced to two fundamental questions: 1) Why would I give up my personal unlimited freedom to join the collective? and 2) how are our shared resources to be distributed? How you answer these two questions deeply influence your belief in a rule of law as well as make progress toward documenting your political identity.
Discussion: What factions are you apart of and how do these affect your mental model for understanding governance issues and free will?
Assignment: Read the Theory of Self in a Constitutional Democracy and conduct the Alice in Wonderland Riddle Group Assignment.
Meeting Four: Political Agency
A colleague and Bridging Cultures grant manager here at KCC, Helen Margaret Nasser, often states, “Democracy is not a spectator sport.” From the so called Arab Spring to the Occupy and Fergusen resistance movements we see humans organizing against authority across the globe. However, fewer people participate in the governance systems in our democratic republic than at any other time despite extending the franchise (the right to vote) over the last 200 plus years.
Discussion: What is needed under a theory of political autonomy to exercise political agency in the 21st century?
Extra Credit Political Resume Assignment: Please review the model given above and submit your political resume for extra credit. If you want, underline your email address on the resume and I can help you edit and format for Linkedin or your social networking app of choice.
Meeting Five: Historical Awareness of Economics
One element of political science involves sharp disagreement over the role of history in the progress or oppression of human beings. Beginning with the Greek concept of Oikos (economics – as efficient arrangement and management of property) this reveals a gap in this dichotomous quasi-philosophical argument. If a Hegelian history is marching on toward an end in which a particular ordering of politics will reduce conflict and increase liberty how do we confront the Marxist theories documenting the controlling nature of these same historical institutions? From a post-ideological point of view we must construct a rational, reasonable narrative that explains how these institutions developed over time.
Discussion: What is the most difficult thing about understanding historical events, processes, and the influence over your present day behaviors, whether you realize that influence or not?
Assignment: in-class slide show comprehension and motivation survey.
Meeting Six: Political Economy
Once at the margins of political science and culture the study of economics now dominates. From Major League Baseball (moneyball) to American Idol (ratings) and even in our understanding of political events (media cycles) this school of thought is now a pre-requisite to the study of culture, institutions, and even technology, entertainment and design (ted talks). A fundamental principle of economic theory, so called rational choice theory and maximizing behavior, has been severely proven to be false or questionable at best. Using neuroscience we now know that humans exercise bounded rationality at best.
Discussion: How do you make important decisions in your own life and if you knew the systems you used to make these decisions were based on old, out of date theories, how would you begin the process of replacing or updating them?
Assignment: Review this RSA Changing Paradigms video and free-write for 15 minutes in response – consider using this assignment as practice for your final course goals letter.
Meeting Seven: Law and Society: Politics through written agreement
If we accept the goal of political economics is to ensure stability in an otherwise chaotic environment we next need to critically analyze whether this system ensures stability for all or for some? One goal of the science of politics is not to simply document historical events or provide evidence for value based judgments but also to predict the probability of desired outcomes within a set of choices. The so called separation of power (singular) or checks and balances is a very simplified observation of the architectural design in the United States and individual state constitutions. Dr. King re-articulated philosophical observations of the past that democracy does not exist without meaningful choice and participation of all of its members. Aristotle argued there are three forms of governance. If we analyze how these three operate within our larger socio-economic systems we should identify predictable patterns of human and institutional behavior.
Discussion: Which system of government do you prefer and what are you willing to give up to ensure this system of decision making continues to exist?
Assignment: Social Change Organization Political Effectiveness Final Assignment – identify a local organization that has a stated goal or mission of social change. Using one of the following tools discuss why the social organization would benefit and be sure to apply your political analysis to your comments. This document should be as long as necessary to convey your point and feel free to link to video or audio or embed pictures. The tools are: 1) Dissent Blog; 2) Organizational Awareness Campaign; 3) Direct Democracy; 4) Policy Proposal.
Meeting Eight: Political Analysis of the Rule of Law – Critical Ideology
The Rule of Law assumes participation in the decision making process of an indirect (republic) or direct (democracy) manner. As a college level civics course it is an important learning outcome that your are able to competently and proficiently manage the U.S. political system.
Discussion: How do we document the differences among a rule of law, a rule by law, and a lack of rule of law entirely in order to effectively analyze the politics of these systems?
Assignment: Using Youtube, find three different points of view about the role of ISIL in Syria and Iraq and their threat to neighboring countries. Please type a brief reflection telling us what you found out.
Meeting Nine: Decision Making in the Global 21st [Digital] Century
Contemporary philosopher Slavoj Zizek writes,”Communism is today not the name of a solution but the name of a problem: the problem of the commons in all its dimensions- the commons of nature as the substance of our life, the problem of our biogenetic commons, the problem of our cultural commons (“intellectual property”), and, last but not least, the problem of the commons as that universal space of humanity from which no one should be excluded.” The problems of global climate change, so called terrorism, and population conflicts over resources, seem to be almost too much for nation-states to handle. Organizations like the United Nations were designed to promote peace but conflicts seem to be everywhere. I am reminded of James Madison’s theory, the basis of the federalist argument for a national government, that if all men were angels no government would be needed. In Federalist 51 he argues that each department of government must have a will of its own. It worries me then when I ask Americans about politics and they most often refer to a singular government out of sync with their values and beliefs.
Discussion: How should New Yorkers make decisions in the global, digital, 21st century?
Extra Credit Community Mapping Assignment: Draw your ideal city neighborhood and be sure to include how people will manage resources and how they will make decisions.
Meeting Ten: Political Advocacy
Political communications theorists found that although thousands if not millions of political opinions flood Congressman and decision-makers’ inboxes – those issues that respond to a focusing event, that build a coalition of support, and that propose a solution easily identified across a large section of voters who understand the problem, tend to be those that get through this window of opportunity and become laws. Although large corporations and lobbyists often have greater access to decision makers around these issues they also tend to play a disproportionate part in the creation of what is and what is not a problem. They also employ so called think tanks and policy analysts to have solutions ready that best project their interests and wills. New organizations and social groups are emerging everyday in this digital world of advocacy.
Discussion: How can we identify allies, form coalitions, and utilize technology to influence decision makers ourselves?
Extra Credit Assignment: write a photo-essay discussing an opinion you have about what the rule of law means to you and your life story for our Bridging Cultures civic learning and democratic engagement in the classroom e-portfolio.
Meeting Eleven: Climate Change and International Relations
Review and Reflections – final preparation and rule of law decision-making hypothetical.
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