POS 110 – AMERICAN POLITICS

Summer Session II 2003

Dr. Glenn A. Phelps – Instructor

Mr. Kurt Fenske – Assistant Instructor

Office: SBS 215

Phone: 523-6531

OBJECTIVES: What should you “learn” about American politics in the next 7 weeks? As is true in most survey courses, the amount of information available to you can seem so encyclopedic as to be a bit overwhelming; so sorting the more important from the less important is no easy task. I suggest that each of you should focus on three fundamental questions.

First, how does American politics really operate? You should sift through the abundance of information and seek to develop a satisfying explanation of “what” American politics is and “why” it is what it is. The task is not easy. Not only are there many facts to sort through, but you will soon learn that not everyone agrees on what the “facts” are or what those facts mean. But you should work toward making some judgments about how American politics works and toward developing well-reasoned arguments to support your judgments.

Second, we should ask whether or not one’s view of American politics is shaded by particular experiences that are not universally shared. How have women contributed to American politics and does their perspective differ from others? Do Native Americans see American politics in the same way as Anglos? How has the immigrant experience affected American political development then and now? In short, to what extent do our different cultural and historical experiences affect our understanding of American politics? Is there more than one “American politics”?

Third, how well does American politics work? What should American politics be like? Here you should be concerned not just with description (the “what is”), but also with evaluation (the “what ought to be”). You should try to develop your political values, or understand those you already have. In the end, you should be able to make reasoned judgments about the merits of American political practices.