Constitution and Political Behavior of the United States and Texas

Professor: Office Hours :

Dr. Holmes MW 10-11
GR 3.528 & by appointment
jholmes@utdallas.edu 972 883 6843

T.A. Contact Information Office Hours:

jan.kallberg@student.utdallas.edu Please put your office number and
phone

Course / number Day Time Room

GOVT 2301 Sec 002 MWF 1-1:50 CN1.102
Course Description:
This course covers the constitution and political behavior of Texas and the United States. More
than just meeting the state mandated requirement, this course should acquaint you with the basic
structure, function, and process of government in addition to providing you with the necessary
knowledge to make you an active citizen. Topics to be covered include the constitution,
federalism, the separation of powers, civil liberties, civil rights, public opinion, elections, political
parties, interest groups, and the media.

♣ 1st Exam: 30% In class Monday, September 19 th

♣ 2nd Exam: 30% In class Wednesday, October 26 th
♣ 3rd Exam 30% In class Monday, November 28th
♣ Quizzes: 10% Check webct for due dates
♣ Comprehensive Make Up Exam 11:00am Friday, December 2nd
♣ Bring picture identification and an Scantron/Parscore form 1712-PAR-L to each
exam.

This syllabus is tentative and subject to change.

CLASS REQUIREMENTS
• Class attendance is required. You are responsible for any announcements made or
information given during class.
• The exams are based on lecture material and required readings. Some of the lecture material
will not be in the readings. (The professor will not provide copies of class notes).
• Required readings will be approximately 50 pages per week. The students should have
carefully read the material at least once before class.
• Students are expected to be attentive during class and listen respectfully to me and to other
students when speaking. Racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, ageism, and other forms of
bigotry are inappropriate to express in this class.
• Grading will be based on three exams and chapter quizzes

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 EXTRA CREDIT
Every student has the opportunity to gain up to five extra credit points. There are three options.
Only a total of five points extra credit can be earned.
1. [5 points] Five hours volunteer work for a political party or a political campaign. I will
provide contacts for the main political parties. (In order to receive credit, you must
complete and return to me the two following release forms Indemnification Form &
Medical Form available online at http://www.utdallas.edu/~jholmes/courses.htm).
2. Other opportunities for on-campus events may be forthcoming.

OTHER POLICIES
• Exam Schedule Problems. NO MAKE UP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN . Instead, with advance
notice, students may take a comprehensive final exam to replace one exam. If you miss more
than one exam, you will receive a zero for the additional missed exam. There are no
exceptions. THE OPTIONAL COMPREHENSIVE EXAM CANNOT BE MADE UP IF MISSED . Plan
on taking the optional comprehensive exam at your own risk.
• Incompletes. Incompletes are assigned at the discretion of the professor, according to the
policy as stated in the Catalog. To be considered for an incomplete, you must petition with
the appropriate form. Please note that the university requires that you have completed at least
70% of the course material to be eligible for an incomplete. Moreover, the incomplete work
must be finished within one semester from the date of the original granting of the incomplete.
• Scholastic Dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on
assignments or examinations, plagiarizing (misrepresenting as your own work any part of
work done by another), submitting the same assignment, or substantially similar assignments
to meet the requirements of more than one course without the approval of all instructors,
depriving another student of necessary course materials, or interfering with another student's
work. If in doubt about the ethics of your actions, consult the Catalog to see the University's
policy. Violations of this policy will be punished severely and according to the fullest extent
of the policy.
• Cell Phones & Pagers. Due to receiving numerous complaints from students, this policy is
necessary. If you allow your cell phone or beeper to audibly ring or beep in class, you will be
penalized. The first time is a warning, after that you lose points. The penalty starts at two
percentage points and will double every time thereafter. If you answer the phone, no warning
will be granted and you will be immediately assessed the penalty.

ACCESSIBILITY
If you have a condition that requires accommodation in this course, please speak with me after
class or in office hours during the first week of class. I will be happy to make appropriate
accommodations provided timely notice is received and the arrangement is consistent with any
recommendations from Disability Services, when applicable. Disability Services can be reached
at 883-2098. The syllabus and other course materials can be made available in alternative
formats.

QUIZZES
You must take quizzes online through WebCT. The quizzes are “open book.” You may refer to
the book and to lecture materials while you take the quizzes. There is a time window during
which you will be able to take the each chapter quiz. It is your responsibility to take the quiz
before it expires and to note the date and time of the expiration. Although the quizzes are open
book and only consist of 10% of your grade, they are essential to your level of success in the
class. Missed quizzes cannot be made up or reviewed for the exam. There will be no review for
the exams. Instead, 75% of the exam material will come from the quizzes. The rest of the
material will come from readings and the lectures.

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WEBCT
WebCT is used in this class for quizzes, review and to check your progress in the class. If you do
not have a computer at home or prefer to work on campus, you may do this at the library or in the
many computer labs on campus.

• If you are unfamiliar with webct, go to the following website for directions:
http://www.utdallas.edu/distancelearning/students/webct_login.htm
• If you need help with a netID or unix password, go here:
http://www.utdallas.edu/distancelearning/students/netid.htm

Webct is a technology based learning aid. Because of this, occasional, brief outages are possible .
If, for whatever reason, you lose your connection during an quiz, do not panic. When you are
able to log on again, continue with the quiz, even if webct states that you have exceeded the time
limit. In these cases, you quiz will still be graded. In general, it is strongly recommended that
you do not wait until the last minute to take your quizzes. According to Murphy’s law, problems
occur when least convenient. Procrastinate at your own risk.

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU SUCCEED.

The university offers assistance to students in many areas. Please do not feel stigmatized by
using these resources. Good students become better students by using them.

• Learning Resource Center offers a variety of programs to help you, ranging from individual
tutoring to review classes for the GRE, GMAT, etc. They are located in MC2.402 and can be
reached at 883-6707.

Please feel free to contact me about any concerns you have about the course.

Required Texts: (available at the campus bookstore and Off Campus Books)

We the People An Introduction to American Politics Fifth Edition – Texas Edition.

Friday August 19 INTRODUCTION

• syllabus

Monday August 22
• Ch 1

Wednesday August 24
• Ch 1

Recommended Reading: available online as well as in print

Dallas Morning News www.dallasnews.com
New York Times www.nytimes.com
Washington Post www.washingtonpost.com

Friday August 26
• Ch 20

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 Recommended Websites:
Texas Politics http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/
Online Handbook of Texas http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/

Monday August 29 FOUNDING AND CONSTITUTION

• Ch 2

Recommended Reading:
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers (New York:
Viking Press, 1987)
Merrill Jensen, The Articles of Federation (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1963)
The Complete Anti-Federalist. Edited by Herbert Storing. (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1981)
Colonial Charters and Related Docs http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/statech.htm
National Constitution Center:
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/

Wednesday August 31
• Ch 2

Friday September 2
• Ch 2

Monday September 5 LABOR DAY NO CLASS

Wednesday September 7
• Declaration of Independence (A3)
• Federalist Paper #10 (A21-A24)

Friday September 9 FEDERALISM

• Ch 3

Recommended Reading:
Thomas Anton, American Federalism and Public (Philadelphia: Temple University Press,
1989)
Daniel Elazar, American Federalism: A View from the States (New York: Harper and Row,
1984)
Paul Peterson, Barry Rabe, and Kenneth Wong, When Federalism Works (Washington D.C.:
Brookings Institution, 1986)

Monday September 12
• Ch 3

Wednesday September 14
• Ch 3

Friday September 16
• Federalist Paper #51 (A24-A25)

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Monday September 19 EXAM ONE

Wednesday September 21 CIVIL RIGHTS

• Ch 5

Recommended Reading:
Henry Abraham, Freedom and the Court: Civil Rights and Liberties in the United States
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)
Anthony Lewis, Gideon’s Trumpet (New York: Random House, 1964)
Gerald Rosenberg, The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change? (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1991)
Digital Archive on Brown vs. Board http://www.lib.umich.edu/exhibits/brownarchive/

Friday September 23
• Ch 5

Monday September 26
• Ch 5

Wednesday September 28 CIVIL LIBERTIES

• Ch 4

Recommended Websites:
Vanderbilt’s First Amendment Center: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/
Friday September 30

Monday October 3
• Ch 4

Wednesday October 5 SECURITY, TERRORISM, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

• Congressional Research Service USA Patriot Act: A Sketch
http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RS21203.pdf
• Congressional Research Service USA Patriot Act: Reauthorization in Brief
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/51133.pdf
• Congressional Research Service USA Patriot Act Sunset: A Sketch
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/50985.pdf

Recommended Websites:
Bill of Rights Defense Committee http://www.bordc.org/
U.S. Justice Department Patriot Act Website http://www.lifeandliberty.gov/

Friday October 7 TEXAS CONSTITUTION

• Ch 20

Recommended Reading:
V.O. Key, American State Politics (New York: Knopf, 1956)
Texas Journal of Political Studies
Janice May, The Texas State Constitution: A Reference Guide (Greenwood CT: Greenwood
Press, 1996)

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 George D. Braden, Citizen’s Guide to the Texas Constitution (Austin: Texas Advisory
Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, 1972)

Monday October 10
• Ch 20

Wednesday October 12 PUBLIC OPINION

• Ch 6

Recommended Reading:
George Gallup, The Pulse of Democracy (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1940)
Susan Herbst, Numbered Voices: How Opinion Polling has Shaped American Politics
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993)
V.O. Key, The Responsible Electorate (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard, 1966)
V.O. Key Public Opinion and American Democracy (New York: Knopf, 1961)
James Stimson, Public Opinion in America: Moods, Cycles and Swings (Boulder:
Westview Press, 1991)

Friday October 14
• Ch 6

Monday October 17
• Ch 6

Wednesday October 19 POLITICAL PARTICIPATION & VOTING

• Ch 8

Recommended Reading:
Earl Black and Merle Black, The Vital South: How Presidents are Elected (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1992)
Margaret Conway, Political Participation in the United States (Washington D.C.: CQ Press,
1985)

Friday October 21
• Ch 8

Monday October 24
• Ch 8

Wednesday October 26 EXAM TWO

Friday October 28 CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS

• Ch 10

Recommended Reading:
Larry J. Sabato and Glenn Simpson, Dirty Little Secrets: The Persistence of Corruption in
American Politics (New York: Time Books, 1996)
Frank Sorauf, Inside Campaign Finance: Myths and Realities (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1992)

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Monday October 31
• Ch 10

Wednesday November 2
• Ch 10

Friday November 6 POLTICAL PARTIES

• Ch 9

Recommended Reading:
John Aldrich, Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Party Politics in America
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995)
Willam Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1995)
Richard Hofstadler, The Idea of a Party System: The Rise of Legitimate Opposition in the
United States, 1780-1840 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970)
Frank Sorauf, Party Politics in America (Boston: Little, Brown, 1984)
Martin Wattenberg, The Decline of American Political Parties: 1952-1988. (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1990)

Monday November 7
• Ch 9

Wednesday November 9
• 21

Friday November 11 INTEREST GROUPS

• Ch 11

Recommended Reading:
Anne Costain, Inviting Women’s Rebellion: A Political Process Interpretation of the
Women’s Movement (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992)
John Mark Hansen, Gaining Access: Congress and the Farm Lobby, 1919-1981 (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1991)
Terry Moe, The Organization of Interests (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980)
Mancur Olson, The Logic of Collective Action (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971)
Suzanne Staggenborg, The Pro-Choice Movement: Organization and Activism in the
Abortion Conflict (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991)

Monday November 14
• Ch 11

Wednesday November 16
• Ch 22

Friday November 18 MEDIA

• Ch 7

Recommended Reading:
Doris Graber, Mass Media and American Politics (Washington D.C.: C.Q. Press, 1989)

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 Jamieson, Kathleen Hall Dirty Politics: Deception, Distraction, and Democracy. (New York:
Sage, 1992)
Marion Just, Ann Criger, Dean Algier. Crosstalk: Citizens, Candidates, and the Media in a
Presidential Campaign. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996)
Stephen Ansolabeher and Shanto Iyengar. Going Negative: How Attack Ads Shrink and
Polarize the Electorate. (New York: Free Press, 1995)
Annenberg School’s Fact Check: http://www.factcheck.org/

Monday November 21
• Ch 7

Wednesday November 23
• Ch 7

Friday November 25 THANKSGIVING

Monday November 28 EXAM THREE

Friday, December 2 COMPREHENSIVE MAKE UP EXAM 11:00AM (Only for

those who missed an exam)