Typical State Capitol
Class Meetings: TuTh 10:50 - 12:05. Lib # 115
Office Hours
Monday & Wednesday: 10:30 - 2:00
Tuesday &Thursday: 3:00 -4:00
Friday: By Appointment
Office: Carroll Hall 215
Office Phone: (303) 458-4974
e-mail: jriley@regis.edu
web page -- http://academic.regis.edu/jriley
TEXT: State and Local Government (7th edition) Bowman & Kearney
1. USE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SYLLABUS: This syllabus is a most important guide for you in understanding what it is this course is designed to accomplish and how it is organized to achieve its stated goals. Moreover, specific ground rules, obligations, and responsibilities are described below. By a careful reading of the syllabus, you will obtain a clear idea of what we will be doing in this class throughout the semester. It serves as a series of guideposts enabling us to maintain some clear focus on the subject at hand.
The dates and deadlines contained below will be adhered to, barring unforeseen exigencies requiring modification. Daily assignments will not be given in class inasmuch as a complete semester's assignments is included at the end of this syllabus. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with each day's assignment and to complete it prior to classtime.
2. COURSE PURPOSES: This course shall focus directly upon state and local government and politics. Students will be asked to explore a variety of concerns pertaining to the subject of politics in general. This includes many activities and institutions relevant to but separate from governments themselves. At semester's end it is to be expected that those students who have completed the course successfully will have developed not only an enhanced understanding of state and local politics, but will also be imbued with a desire to know more about this most important American phenomenon.
3. COURSE OBJECTIVES: The specific objective of the course is to achieve knowledge levels within students such that they will be able to perform "satisfactorily" or better in the following areas: (1) examinations -- students will be expected to respond accurately and completely to questions covering course material; (2) out-of-class projects -- students will be expected to complete a research project utilizing concepts presented in class; and (3) in-class-discussions -- students will be expected to participate frequently and positively in class.
The quality of work will be judged in accordance with the degree to which the following criteria are present in written work: accuracy of information, critical thought, clarity of message, organizational coherency, use of the intellectual tools presented in the course, technical precision and correctness (especially in out-of-class papers), sharpness of focus, presence of indicators of thoughtful consideration of issues examined, depth of analysis, and creativity.
4. NOTE TAKING: In order to achieve a desirable grade in this class (presumably reflecting one's level of achievement), it is necessary to take "good" notes of three types: class notes, text notes, and research notes. These should be in the form of full and complete sentences, organized in outline form (major and minor headings being present). Class notes should summarize material presented in class so that you may later recall what was put before you there. Text notes should condense and summarize the material given to you by the author. Research notes serve the purpose of recording that which you have gathered through your out-of-class research.
Generally, the purpose of notes is to store, organize, and make information more readily available so that it can eventually become knowledge. It is utilitarian in nature, that is to say, it is designed to serve some larger purpose. If you find after a few meetings that your notes are not very accurate or helpful in organizing and understanding the material, meet with the instructor at your first opportunity. One final point, you should review notes taken at the previous meeting before going to class on any given day. This five or ten minute review will prove valuable in various ways.
5. CLASS FORMAT: Because the size of this class is relatively small student participation on a daily basis is essential. During the semester each student will periodically be asked to lead the class discussion on various aspects of the subject under consideration. Notification of this assignment will be given in advance of the day such leadership will take place. Details will be given in class. This will constitute a very significant portion of the evaluation given by me for class participation.
6. STUDENT-PROFESSOR CONFERENCES: You are invited and encouraged to come by my office whenever you would like. Although I can be found frequently in my office at times other than during regularly scheduled office hours, those scheduled hours are given above. Occasionally, I may be called out of the office during scheduled office hours, but for the most part I will be there when indicated.
Certainly we should meet if any problems develop with regard to your participation in the course, but this should not be the only reason for getting together. Feel free to drop by for a visit for any reason. If my office hours are not convenient, arrangements can easily be made to meet at another time.
7. GRADING POLICY: I shall make every effort to adhere faithfully to the grading standards set forth in the Regis University Bulletin while relying upon my professional judgment to make the necessary applications of these standards. Grades will be determined by student performance, both in and out of class. The course grade will be based on three equal criteria: (1) Research paper #1; (2) Research Paper #2 and (3) In class participation and presentations..
8. EXAMINATIONS: There will be no examinations in this class.
9. CLASS ATTENDANCE AND DECORUM POLICY: Because this class is of a seminar size class attendance is extraordinarily important. Any unexcujsed absence will have an adverse effect on a student's grade. This is particularly so if the student is scheduled to lead or make a presentation and is absent instead.
I also ask that students remove their hats while in class as well as refraining from eating. Bringing a drink to class is acceptable although there is always the risk of a spill.
10. STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES: It is essential that each member of the class read the assigned material prior to class time. A reading of the material must be accompanied by the taking of written notes on what has been read. These text notes will be supplemented with notes taken in class. Thus, it is necessary that students attend class regularly (see the attached policy regarding class absences).
You should also keep abreast of political events in the United States and the rest of the world. This means reading a newspaper daily, watching the news on TV (especially the Lehrer New Hour on PBS TV), listening to NPR News at 1340 on the AM dial, and reading a weekly news magazine such as Time, Newsweek, or U.S. News and World Report. Finally, in addition to READING, TAKING NOTES, AND ATTENDING CLASS, students are expected to study and think about the material to which they are exposed and to be prepared to write on and discuss the subject examined.
There is an on-line "magazine" that each student needs to subscribe to. No cost is associated with this subscription. Go to Governing: State and Local Governments for information on how to subscribe. This "publication" should be read each time notification (by e-mail) comes indicating a new edition is available.
Each member of the class shall lead the in-class discussion on two subjects set forth in the class schedule. Assignments for the topics will be made early in the semester. These presentations should be tailored to generate discussion, raise questions and seek answers, present information and generally serve to explore the subject under discussion. Students are not expected to deliver a "lecture." The quality of these presentations will constitute a very significant portion of the grade for in-class participation (which is 1/3 of the course grade).
11. OUT-OF-CLASS RESEARCH PROJECT: Each student must complete two substantial research projects. I offer the following as suggestions and/or examples of topics that might be used:
(1) A comparative analysis of four state constitutional provisions dealing with the same subject:. Possible subjects include but are not limited to: (1) legislative, executive, or judicial powers and organization; (2) rights of accused criminals; (3) municipal incorporation provisions; (4) county government organization. All state constitutions are readily available on the internet. The constitutions chosen should be from widely separate areas of the nation (e.g., Maine, Louisiana, Minnesota; Idaho).
The primary goal of this project is to learn about different constitutional approaches to common issues faced in the states. Moreover, it is hoped that regional variations in constitutional provisions may be tied to differing political cultures.
The prospectus for this project shall consist of a tentative title, a brief narrative description of the subject of the comparison, a tentative table of contents, a listing of the chosen states along with an explanation of why the particular subject and states were chosen and the naming of four sources of information that will likely be used.
(2) A detailed review of one scholarly article: The article chosen must be no less than ten pages in length. The article is to be summarized and analyzed separately. The prospectus for this paper shall consist of two (2) full bibliographical citations of articles selected by the student. One of these will be recommended by the instructor as most desirable. (Note that news magazines, newspapers or other "popular publications" are not to be considered scholarly in nature.) An excellent place to start searching for an acceptable article is the reference appendix in the text. There are endnotes here that contain useful and rich sources of information. Only one of the projects may utilize this scholarly analysis approach.
The final paper shall consist of a separate summary and analysis (delineated by headings) for the article read. A copy of the article used must be attached to the final paper as well as the original approval of the article(s). Grades for this project will be based in large measure on the presence of an insightful critique of the article: its content, style, methodology, "readability," and persuasiveness.
Any student wishing to devise his or her own project should meet with me to discuss the idea prior to the presentation of a prospectus.
Paper Requirements: For each of the projects the following requirements shall apply. The project should result in a typewritten or computer printed paper of no less than 2,500 words (about 10 pages). In addition to the body of the paper, there must be a title page, a table of contents, headings within the body of the paper, footnotes or end notes, and a complete bibliography of all sources used. No less that eight separate sources must be used in the completion of the research paper. Moreover, no less than four sources shall be derived from locations other than the internet.
Deadlines: A one-page typed or computer printed prospectus for the first paper is due in class on September 13. This will be returned to each student and must be attached to the final paper which is due in class on October 9. You need to bring to class one copy of your paper for each member of the class. I will read, evaluate and then grade these papers. They will be returned by November 6. If you wish to revise and resubmit that paper you may do so no later than November 13. I will then re-evaluate and re-grade that paper substituting the second grade for the initial one. The second paper will not have this option. Late papers will be heavily penalized.
The second paper prospectus is due on November 1 with the final paper due on November 29 at which time a copy shall be given to each member of the class. No revisions to this paper will be allowed.
Note that on October 2 each student will bring to the class a ten minute presentation on a selected state governor. This profile has as its purpose the goal of informing members of the class about selected aspects of the chosen Governor that the presenter finds most significant and interesting
12. PROCEDURAL QUALITY REQUIREMENTS: Any papers produced out-of-class as part of an assignment will be heavily penalized if certain error characteristics are present. As a general rule, technical errors (i.e. typographical mistakes, misspellings, sloppy erasures, sentence fragments, etc.) totaling in number an amount greater than the number of pages in the paper, will result in grade penalties that become more severe as their frequency increases. Moreover, papers which deviate significantly from acceptable form (i.e., incorrect or missing footnotes, incorrect or missing bibliography, incorrect or missing table of contents, etc.) will likewise be penalized. Proper form may be gleaned from a careful review and use of Kate Turbian's A Manual For Writers of Term Papers, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, or other commonly used form guide.
13. CONTENT QUALITY REQUIREMENTS: Regardless of the option chosen each out-of-class project must contain information that indicates thoughtful consideration of the subject under examination. Well organized structure, focused discussion, clarity of message and reasoned evaluations will all enhance the paper's value.
14. USE OF THE INTERNET: In addition to standard library material, students are encouraged to use the Internet to locate and access material suitable for the out-of-class assignment. A useful place to start is my web-page. It contains numerous links to useful web sites of a political nature. The web site for the text is also very useful. It may be accessed by going to: Text Web Site. I also encourage you to locate any new web sites that other students of politics might fine helpful and interesting. When appropriate I will add them to my web page with proper acknowledgment
15. E-MAIL UTILIZATION: I will communicate by e-mail frequently with individual members of the class as well as the class as a whole. To this end each member of the class needs to provide me with his or her e-mail addresses. Every student should have a functioning e-mail account no later than August 30. I will gather e-mail addresses in class.
It is expected that each member of the class will check his or her e-mail messages daily.
Date Topic, Reading & Presenter
8/28 Course Introduction (none) -- Riley
8/30 Recent Developments (Preface & Ch. 1) -- Riley
9/4 & 9/6 Federalism (Ch. 2 & Federalism Revitalized article) -- Riley
9/11 State Constitutions (Ch. 3) -- Stephanie F.
9/13 Citizen Participation in State Politics & Prospectus Submission (Ch. 4) -- Pearl S.
9/18 Local Government Structures (Ch. 10) -- Riley
9/20 No Class -- Mass of the Holy Spirit
9/25 & 9/27 Legislators and Legislatures (Ch. 6) - Gabbie L. (9/25). & Riley (9/27)
10/2 Governors (Ch. 7) Bobby M.
10/4 Student Profile of Selected Governors (10 minute presentation each)
10/9 Public Administration - Budgeting Exercise (Ch. 8) -- Riley (submission and distribution of research paper #1)
10/11 Courts (Ch. 9) - Bill D.
10/18 Class Discussion of Research Paper #1 (Research Papers shall have been read in advance) -- Riley
10/23 Class Cancelled due to Power Outage
10/25 Finish Class Discussion of Research Paper #1 -- Riley on Courts
10/30 Parties, Campaign and Interest Groups (Ch. 5) -- Sophie G.
11/1 TBD (prospectus due for research paper #2 due on 11/1))
11/6 Local Leadership and Governance (Ch. 11) -- Liz B.
11/8 Intergovernmental Relations (Ch. 12) -- Gabbie L.
11/13 No Class (individual meetings between students and me as needed)
11/15 State and Local Government Finance (Ch. 13) -- Bobby M.
11/20 Economic Development (Ch. 14) - Pearl S.
11/27 Education (Ch. 15) -- Liz B.
11/29 Criminal Justice (Ch. 16) -- Sophie G. & Social Welfare (Ch. 17) - Stephanie F. (submission and distribution of research paper #2)
12/4 Environment -- Bill D.
12/6 Class Discussion of Research Paper #2 (Research Papers shall have been read in advance) -- Riley