Fall 2005

GOV 310L • American Government

Course Description

Fulfills first half of legislative requirement for 6 hours of American government. This course is an introduction to the United States and Texas governments and politics. The course encompasses a framework for understanding the constitutional basis, processes, institutions, actors, politics, and policies of the United States and Texas governments. Besides fulfilling the the legislative requirement, you will join the ranks of the more informed citizenry after the successful completion of this class. The course's essential theme is to understand broadly democracy's ostensible promise: the conversion of public opinio into public policy through governance.

Grading Policy

Midterm 1: 25% Midterm 2: 30% Final Exam: 35% Attendance: 10%

Texts

Fiorina, Morris P., Paul E. Peterson, Bertram Johnson, and D. Stephen Voss. 2005. The New American Democracy (Fourth or Alternate Fourth Edition). New York: Longman. Cigler, Allan J. and Burdett A. Loomis. 2005. American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Sixth Edition). New York: Houghton Mifflin Texas Politics. Free online source: http://texaspolitics. laits.utexas.edu/ Additional material may be perodically listed on the Blackboard site for our course. The URL is http://courses.utexas.edu/ and you should check it very frequently.

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