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Week |
Subject |
Related Preparation |
| 1) |
The American Experiment - Exploration of what America means in terms of governance, social beliefs and constructs, behaviors, and traditions. |
Reading: Singh, Chapter 1 |
| 2) |
Why Revolution? - Study of the political, social, economic, and cultural reasons leading to revolution. Examination of the justifications for revolution and independence from England. |
Reading: Boyer, Chapter 2 |
| 3) |
The First Attempt: The Articles of Confederation - Examination of the first effort to establish a government in the United States after the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. Exploration of the successes and failures of the Articles of Confederation and the issues which led to the search for a new form of government. |
Reading: The Articles of Confederation; Federalist 1, 6, 10, & 14 |
| 4) |
The Second Attempt: The Constitution - Study of the document which acts as the foundation for currently the longest continuous democratic government in the world. Examination of its features and characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, and positive and negative aspects, as well as the system of governance it established. |
Reading: Singh, Chapter 2; Fruchtman, Chapter 1; The Constitution |
| 5) |
Practical Implementation - A look at the application of the Constitution in the life of America. |
Reading: Fruchtman, Chapter 2; TBD |
| 6) |
The Party System and Elections - Examination of the often misconstrued, misunderstood, and misrepresentative of US party system. Study of how political parties function during election cycles. |
Stonecash, all chapters; Singh, Chapters 3 & 4 |
| 7) |
Midterm |
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| 8) |
The Presidency - Study of what has often been called the most powerful job in the world, the Presidency of the United States has undergone many functional changes since the office was established in 1789 |
Singh, Chapters 5 & 6; Leuchtenburg, Prologue |
| 9) |
The Congress - Exploration of the second of three branches of US government and arguably the most powerful (on paper). Understanding the scope of duties, responsibilities, and obligations, and how these have evolved over 200 years. |
Reading: Singh, Chapter 7; Connelly, all chapters |
| 10) |
The Courts - Examination of the third branch of government, with the Supreme Court at its top. Study of the development of the courts system at both the state and federal level. |
Reading: Singh, Chapter 8; TBD |
| 11) |
Governance in the 19th Century - Consideration of how the US was governed during the first 100 years of its existence, the challenges faced as the country developed and expanded, and the solutions (or lack thereof) to problems which manifested. |
Reading: Boyer, Chapter 3; Fruchtman, Part 2; Campbell, Chapters 1, 2 & 3 |
| 12) |
Governance in the 20th Century - Examination of how the governing of the US differed in the second 100 years of its existence, the challenges of contemporary times, and changes in society, political ideals, and prespectives. |
Reading: Boyer, Chapters 6 & 7; Fruchtman, Part 4; Campbell, Chapters 5 & 7 |
| 13) |
Barak H. Obama and Donald J. Trump: two unprecedented Presidents - Comparison of the two most recent US presidents, and how they came to occupy the office, and how they governed. |
Reading: Campbell, Chapter 11; Hollar, Chapters 3 & 4; Carser, Chapters 7, 8, & 9 |
| 14) |
2020 and Beyond: which direction will American government go - Discussion of where, politically speaking, the US is headed in the near and medium term, and what this means both domestically and internationally. |
Reading: TBD |
| Course Notes: |
American Constitutional History: A Brief Introduction, Jack Fruchtman (Wiley Blackwell, 2016)
American Government and Politics: A Concise Introduction, Robert Singh (Sage Publications: 2003)
The Growth of American Government: Governance from the Cleveland Era to the Present, Ballard C. Campbell (Indiana University Press: 2015)
American History: A Very Short Introduction, Paul S: Boyer (Oxford University Press, 2012)
The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton, William E. Leuchtenburg (Oxford University Press: 2015)
Understanding American Political Parties: Democratic Ideals, Political Uncertainty, and Strategic Positioning, Jeffrey M. Stonecash (Routledge, 2013)
Is Congress Broken?: The Virtues and Defects of Partisanship and Gridlock, William F. Connelly, Jr., John Pitney, Jr., and Gary Schmitt (Brookings Institution Press: 2017)
Barak Obama, Sherman Hollar, ed. (Britannica Educational Publishing, 2013)
Donald Trump: 45th US President, A.R. Carser (ABDO Publishing, 2016)
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| References: |
The United States Declaration of Independence (https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript)
The United States Constitution (https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript)
The United States Bill of Rights (https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript)
The United States Articles of Confederation (https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=3&page=transcript9
The Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison; Michael A. Genovese, ed. (Palgrave MacMillan, 2009)
Dictionary of American Government and Politics, Duncan Watts (Edinburgh University Press: 2010)
Supplemental readings and other media will be assigned on a weekly basis, and can be found via ItsLearning.
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Program Outcomes |
Level of Contribution |
| 1) |
Grasp basic theoretical and conceptual knowledge about the field and relations between them at the level of practice. |
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| 2) |
Possess basic knowledge about the causes and effects of political transformations in societies. |
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| 3) |
Possess knowledge about quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods in social and behavioral sciences. |
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| 4) |
Recognize historical patterns while evaluating contemporary political and social developments. |
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| 5) |
Demonstrate interdisciplinary and critical approach while analyzing, synthesizing and forecasting domestic and foreign policy. |
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| 6) |
Conduct studies in the field professionally, both independently or as a team member. |
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| 7) |
Possess consciousness about lifelong learning based on Research & Development. |
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| 8) |
Communicate with peers both orally and in writing, by using a foreign language at least at a level of European Language Portfolio B1 General Level and the necessary informatics and communication technologies. |
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| 9) |
Apply field-related knowledge and competences into career advancement, projects for sustainable development goals, and social responsibility initiatives. |
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| 10) |
Possess the habit to monitor domestic and foreign policy agenda as well as international developments. |
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| 11) |
Possess competence to interpret the new political actors, theories and concepts in a global era. |
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| 12) |
Evaluate the legal and ethical implications of advanced technologies on politics. |
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