Political Science 202, Spring 2020 Dr. Neil H. Cogan
Hoover 003, Tu Th 9:30 am – 10:50 pm Contact: ncogan@whittier.edu
Office: Platner Hall 107 Office Hours: Tu, Th 1:00 - 2:00 pm
PLSC 202, The President and Congress
Course Description:
This course in the Presidency and the Congress studies three parallel topics – what is the constitutional and historical role of the office; how is a person elected to serve; and what are the current functions, particularly since the Reagan Presidency, of the officials who serve.
By the end of the course, you should be familiar with the foregoing topics, and you should be able to write and present two evaluative papers about a significant institutional problem confronting each of the two branches.
Departmental Goals:
In addition to the course’s specific goals, the course seeks to contribute to the following goals and objectives of the major in the Department of Political Science:
Goal 1: Learning about political science: Students should develop a better understanding of and the ability to analyze, synthesize and evaluate, as appropriate, the nature of politics, political behavior, and the political world, including the fundamental issues in the discipline and its sub-fields.
Goal 2: Skill Development: Students should develop fundamental skills in written and oral communication, group collaboration, evaluating information, and discerning cause-effect relationships.
Goal 3: Career preparation. Students should gain sufficient background to pursue graduate work in political science, law, or other disciplines or careers in or related to political science.
Objective 1: Students will develop the capability to conduct independent research projects.
Required Coursebooks and Articles:
Sean M. Theriault and Mickey Edwards, Congress: The First Branch (Oxford, 2020).
Thomas E. Cronin, Michael A. Genovese, and Meena Bose, The Paradoxes of the American Presidency (Oxford, 2018).
Articles to be distributed.
Assignments and Grading:
Your grade for the course will be based on the following:
Quizzes (10) (40%); Class participation and attendance (20%); Analytical Papers (2) (40%)
Grade Scale:
100-93.4 A
93.3 – 90 A-
89.9 – 86.7 B+
86.6 – 83.4 B
83.3 – 80 B-
79.9 – 76.7 C+
76.6 – 73.4 C
73.3 – 70 C-
69.9 – 66.7 D+
66.6 – 63.4 D
63.3 – 60 D-
59.9 – 0 F
Class Laptop/Electronic Device Policy:
I permit the use in class of laptops and other electronic devices if done to enhance the educational goals of the course. This use does not include social emails and texting.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accommodations
In compliance with the ADA, it is the policy of Whittier College to ensure students with disabilities have access to a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. Students desiring accommodations on the basis of physical, learning, or psychological disability for this class should contact Disability Services. Disability Services is located on the ground floor of the Library building and can be reached by calling extension 4825.
Policy on Academic Honesty
The Whittier policy on academic honesty makes it clear that all forms of academic cheating, fraud, and dishonesty are not permitted at this institution. I do not tolerate plagiarism or academic dishonesty of any kind and will pursue plagiarism cases to the full extent allowed by Whittier rules. At the minimum, students I find to have committed a flagrant act of intentional plagiarism or cheating will receive a zero on the assignment and their case will be referred to the appropriate offices for further administrative action. The penalties for repeated or flagrant misconduct can be as severe as suspension from Whittier. Students unclear on what constitutes an act of academic dishonesty or the potential consequences of violations should review https://www.whittier.edu/academics/academichonesty.
Course Schedule:
We will read and discuss about 15 pages per session from the coursebooks. In addition, I will distribute topical articles about the subjects covered in the coursebook. I will notify you, upon the completion of one/two chapters, that at the next class meeting there will be a short quiz about the reading just concluded. There will be ten quizzes. Each quiz is worth a maximum of 4 grade points; hence, the quizzes total a maximum of 40 points.
Attendance and participation in discussion are worth a semester maximum of 20 points.
The analytical papers are due April 23. Presentations of the papers are April 28 and 30. Each paper and presentation is worth a maximum of 20 points, which brings the maximum of both to 40 points.
We meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 to 10:50 am, beginning Thursday, January 30 through Thursday, April 30. However, we will not meet Tuesday, April 14.
There is no midterm or final examination.
Hoover 003, Tu Th 9:30 am – 10:50 pm Contact: ncogan@whittier.edu
Office: Platner Hall 107 Office Hours: Tu, Th 1:00 - 2:00 pm
PLSC 202, The President and Congress
Course Description:
This course in the Presidency and the Congress studies three parallel topics – what is the constitutional and historical role of the office; how is a person elected to serve; and what are the current functions, particularly since the Reagan Presidency, of the officials who serve.
By the end of the course, you should be familiar with the foregoing topics, and you should be able to write and present two evaluative papers about a significant institutional problem confronting each of the two branches.
Departmental Goals:
In addition to the course’s specific goals, the course seeks to contribute to the following goals and objectives of the major in the Department of Political Science:
Goal 1: Learning about political science: Students should develop a better understanding of and the ability to analyze, synthesize and evaluate, as appropriate, the nature of politics, political behavior, and the political world, including the fundamental issues in the discipline and its sub-fields.
Goal 2: Skill Development: Students should develop fundamental skills in written and oral communication, group collaboration, evaluating information, and discerning cause-effect relationships.
Goal 3: Career preparation. Students should gain sufficient background to pursue graduate work in political science, law, or other disciplines or careers in or related to political science.
Objective 1: Students will develop the capability to conduct independent research projects.
Required Coursebooks and Articles:
Sean M. Theriault and Mickey Edwards, Congress: The First Branch (Oxford, 2020).
Thomas E. Cronin, Michael A. Genovese, and Meena Bose, The Paradoxes of the American Presidency (Oxford, 2018).
Articles to be distributed.
Assignments and Grading:
Your grade for the course will be based on the following:
Quizzes (10) (40%); Class participation and attendance (20%); Analytical Papers (2) (40%)
Grade Scale:
100-93.4 A
93.3 – 90 A-
89.9 – 86.7 B+
86.6 – 83.4 B
83.3 – 80 B-
79.9 – 76.7 C+
76.6 – 73.4 C
73.3 – 70 C-
69.9 – 66.7 D+
66.6 – 63.4 D
63.3 – 60 D-
59.9 – 0 F
Class Laptop/Electronic Device Policy:
I permit the use in class of laptops and other electronic devices if done to enhance the educational goals of the course. This use does not include social emails and texting.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accommodations
In compliance with the ADA, it is the policy of Whittier College to ensure students with disabilities have access to a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. Students desiring accommodations on the basis of physical, learning, or psychological disability for this class should contact Disability Services. Disability Services is located on the ground floor of the Library building and can be reached by calling extension 4825.
Policy on Academic Honesty
The Whittier policy on academic honesty makes it clear that all forms of academic cheating, fraud, and dishonesty are not permitted at this institution. I do not tolerate plagiarism or academic dishonesty of any kind and will pursue plagiarism cases to the full extent allowed by Whittier rules. At the minimum, students I find to have committed a flagrant act of intentional plagiarism or cheating will receive a zero on the assignment and their case will be referred to the appropriate offices for further administrative action. The penalties for repeated or flagrant misconduct can be as severe as suspension from Whittier. Students unclear on what constitutes an act of academic dishonesty or the potential consequences of violations should review https://www.whittier.edu/academics/academichonesty.
Course Schedule:
We will read and discuss about 15 pages per session from the coursebooks. In addition, I will distribute topical articles about the subjects covered in the coursebook. I will notify you, upon the completion of one/two chapters, that at the next class meeting there will be a short quiz about the reading just concluded. There will be ten quizzes. Each quiz is worth a maximum of 4 grade points; hence, the quizzes total a maximum of 40 points.
Attendance and participation in discussion are worth a semester maximum of 20 points.
The analytical papers are due April 23. Presentations of the papers are April 28 and 30. Each paper and presentation is worth a maximum of 20 points, which brings the maximum of both to 40 points.
We meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 to 10:50 am, beginning Thursday, January 30 through Thursday, April 30. However, we will not meet Tuesday, April 14.
There is no midterm or final examination.
- Teacher: Neil Cogan