Course Info

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Course Info for POLS - 102 - 02, Spring 2023
Class number: 1790 Title: American Natl Govt Department: Political Science
Career: Undergraduate Component: Lecture Session: Regular
Instructor's Permission Required: No Grading Basis: Regular Units: 1.00
Enrollment limited to 29 Current enrollment: 24 Available seats: 5
Start date: Wednesday, January 25, 2023 End date: Friday, May 12, 2023 Mode of Instruction: In Person
Schedule: MW: 2:55PM-4:10PM, LSC - 134 Instructor(s): Laws, Serena
Prerequisite(s): This course is not open to seniors.
Distribution Requirement: Meets Social Sciences Requirement
Note: 20 seats reserved for first year students, 5 seats for sophomores, and 4 seats for juniors who have declared a POLS major. No seniors unless by Instructor Permission.
Note: This course is Methodologically Focused.
Course Description:
How do the institutions of American national government shape our politics and policies? This introductory course examines the nation’s founding documents (including the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Federalist Papers), the goals they sought to achieve, and the institutional framework they established (including Congress, the Presidency, and the courts). It then evaluates the extent to which these institutions achieve their intended aims of representing interests and producing public goods, taking into account the role of parties, interests groups, and the media. Throughout the course, we will attend to the relevance of race, class, religion, and gender. We will draw on the example of the 2012 presidential election and other current events to illustrate the functioning of American government and politics.