Introduction to American Government and Politics

Below are the blog post threads for each of your four blog posts. The blog posts are due by 11:59pm on the following days:

Blog post 1: 3/10

Blog post 2: 4/7

Blog post 3: 4/14

Blog post 4: 4/28

Thursday 2/3:

• Logic: Chapter 1 ("The Logic of American Politics")
• Principles: Olson, "The Logic of Collective Action" (1-1)

• Logic: Chapter 2 (“The Constitution”)
  
• Principles: Madison, “Federalist 10 and 51,” (2-1 and 2-2)
  
• Brutus, “Anti-Federalist 3”

• Logic: Chapter 3 (“Federalism”)

Tuesday 2/15:

• Principles: Kettl, “Federalism: Sorting Out Who Does What,” (3-1)
  
• Feldman, Noah. 2021. "Federalism shows its age fighting COVID-19, climate change," Milford Daily News.*

Thursday 2/17:

Tuesday 2/24, for class preparation activity, read this article in addition to Chapter 5 of the text (we'll watch the video in class): 

Secret Cameras Record Baltimore's Every Move From Above

Thursday 2/24, in addition, the reading from Principles, listen to the following Radio Lab:

Eye in the Sky

Read Chapter 4 of Logic for Tuesday.

Read Principles 4-2 and the following for Thursday:

"The Color of Law," The New Yorker

Tuesday 3/8: Congress Pt. I

• Logic: Chapter 6 (“Congress”)
  

Thursday 3/10: Congress Pt. II

• Principles: Smith, “Congress, the Troubled Institution,” (6-1)
• Binder, “Legislating in Polarized Times,” (6-2) 

Thursday 3/15: Congress Pt. III

• Review Chapter 6 of Logic, and the Smith and Binder readings from Principles.

Mid-Term Exam

The mid-term exam is available from 7:45am to 9:30am on Thursday, March 17th. Once you start you must continue. You may not stop and return later. You will have one-hour and twenty-minutes (1 hour, 20 minutes) to complete the exam. At the end of 1 hour and 20 minutes, please submit the exam whether or not you are finished. You must have submitted your attempt by 9:30am on March 17th. That means you should not start the exam any later than 8:10am if you want full time to complete the exam.

The first section is comprised of 25 multiple-choice questions. Each multiple-choice question is worth 2-points. Together, the 25 multiple choice questions are worth 50-points. The second section is identifications. You must respond to five of the ten identifications in the essay box at the bottom of the exam. Each identification you complete is worth 10 points. Together, the five identifications are worth 50-points.

Step by step test-taking instructions:

1. On the left-hand side of Moodle, click on the "Mid-Term Exam" folder. 

2. Click on "Mid-Term Exam"

3. When you are ready to begin, click on "Start Attempt." A timer will launch counting down your time and the test will appear. You must finish within 80-minutes.

4. Respond to the multiple-choice questions.

5. Respond to five of the ten identifications in the essay box provided below the Identifications prompt.

6. Ensure your answers to both the multiple-choice and identifications are to your liking, then click "Finish" to submit your test. This will take you to an overview of your answers. Look over these one more time to ensure they are what you wish to submit. If you want to make changes to any of your responses, click on "Return to attempt" near the bottom of the page.

7. After reviewing your answers, if you are ready to submit your mid-term exam, click on "Submit all and finish." You will be asked to confirm that you wish to "Submit all and finish." Click on "Submit all and finish" to submit the exam. At this time your answers will be submitted, the timer will stop, and you will be finished taking the exam.

• Read Chapter 7 of Logic.
  
• Principles: Neustadt, “From Presidential Power,” (7-1); Kernell, “Going Public,” (7-2)

Tuesday 4/5:

• Principles: Hamilton, “Federalist 78,” (9-3)
  
• Yee (2017): “Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Withhold Money From Sanctuary Cities,” New York Times.
  

Campaigns and Elections, Part 1:

Campaigns and Elections, Part II:

Tuesday 4/12:

• Logic: Chapter 12 (“Political Parties”)

 Thursday 4/14:

• Principles: Fiorina, “Parties as Problem-Solvers,” (12-3)
  
• Masket (2016): “Why Parties Never Die,” Politico.*
  

Tuesday 4/19:

• Logic: Chapter 13 (“Interest Groups”)

Tuesday 4/26:

• Logic: Chapter 14 (“The News Media”)

Tuesday 5/3:

• Logic: Chapter 10 (“Public Opinion”)

For Class Prep 10 - Using and Understanding Polls:

First, watch this video:

and then complete this.

Final Exam

The final exam will be available during our scheduled final exam period: from 1pm on Wednesday, May 11th until 4pm on Wednesday, May 11th You have the full three hours to complete the exam, assuming you start it at 1pm. Once you start you must continue. You may not stop and return later. At the end of your 3 hours please submit the exam whether or not you are finished. You must have submitted your attempt by 4pm on May 11th or it will close automatically. This means you should not start the exam any later than 1pm on May 11th if you want full time to complete the exam.

The first section is comprised of 25 multiple-choice questions. Each multiple-choice question is worth 2-points. Together, the 25 multiple choice questions are worth 50-points. The second section is an essay. You will be given two essay options from the three essay topics I mentioned during the review. You should pick one of the essay prompts to write an essay about.

The final exam is closed note, closed book. That is, you should take it on your own, with no assistance from any course materials, the internet, or anything else.

Step by step test-taking instructions:

1. On the left-hand side of Moodle, click on the "Final Exam" folder. 

2. Click on "Final Exam"

3. When you are ready to begin, click on "Start Attempt." A timer will launch counting down your time and the test will appear. You must finish within 180-minutes.

4. Respond to the multiple-choice questions.

5. Respond to one of the two essay prompts in the essay box provided below.

6. Ensure your answers to both the multiple-choice and essay are to your liking, then click "Finish" to submit your test. This will take you to an overview of your answers. Look over these one more time to ensure they are what you wish to submit. If you want to make changes to any of your responses, click on "Return to attempt" near the bottom of the page.

7. After reviewing your answers, if you are ready to submit your final exam, click on "Submit all and finish." You will be asked to confirm that you wish to "Submit all and finish." Click on "Submit all and finish" to submit the exam. At this time your answers will be submitted, the timer will stop, and you will be finished taking the exam.