SYLLABUS

POLITICAL SCIENCE 2

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

REEDLEY COLLEGE: SCHEDULE 74002	MR SMITH. J.D.

SELMA ADULT SCHOOL; Room 406; Tues. 6:00-9:20 PM	Adjunct Instructor

lawdoc@scccd.org

REQUIRED TEXT: Keeping The Republic, Barbour & Wright

<http://www.ca.gov> <http://www.us.gov>

RECOMMENDED:	Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES: Utilizing the assigned text, papers. additional readings, and other projects, our classroom time will provide discourse for a better understanding of the political/judicial institutions of the United States of America, California. with its counties, cities, and towns, as well as the issues that have not only brought our society to its contemporary political situation, but also those issues that continue to develop domestic, economic, and foreign policies.

GRADING:	I. EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS:	EXAM DATES POINTS

Chapters:	Barbour & Wright

Part One	l, 2, 3, & 4 9/23/08 200

Part Two	5 & 6	10/07/08	200

Part Three	7, 8, 9, 10, & 16	10/28/08	200

Part Four	11, 12, 13, 14, & 15	12/02/08	200

Part Five	17, 18, & 19	12/16/08	200

Final Examination: Text, lectures, and other assignments	12/16/08	400

Examinations will be given as multiple choice and/or in essay form, based upon both text and lectures to date. Be prepared for either or both by having appropriate test materials at all times. Always include your name, date, and SCCCD student identification number on your examination forms and on all other assignments. Points for each of the five parts and the final will be a combination of your multiple choice examination scores, (20% to 25%), and the corresponding assignment scores, (75% to 80%). Make-up examinations may be allowed by prior arrangement between the student and the instructor; however, the instructor reserves the option in each case to offer an alternative examination based on the same subject matter of the scheduled examination, but perhaps in a different form. All writing assignments are to be submitted in 12-point type, double-spaced, annotated as needed, on or before the due dates. Late submissions may not be accepted. Timely submissions that do not comply with the aforementioned form may receive up to a 40% reduction in grade. Plagiarism and/or any other cheating will result in dismissal from the class and subsequent administrative action

II.	ASSIGNED WRITING:	DUE DATES POINTS

Political Issue Paper

1)	Outline	10/07/08	50

2)	Premise (100-word maximum)	10/21/08	50

3)	Paper (1000-1500 words)	11/04/08	200

III.	INSTRUCTOR’S DISCRETION:	POINTS

Based on class participation; including, but not limited to unannounced quizzes, verbal responses to questions asked in class, and specified extra credit assignments.	300

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS:	2,000

GRADING SCALE:	FINAL GRADE POINTS

A	2,000-1,800

B	1,799-1,600

C	1,599-1,400

D	1,399-1.200

F	Below 1,200

ATTENDANCE: Substantial absence(s) from and/or repeated late entry into the classroom may affect your grade and/or your continued admission into the class, at the instructor’s discretion Any examinations or classroom assignments given during a student’s absence will be at the student’s risk of point loss. Cheating on examinations and/or plagiarism of written assignments requiring original work or annotations will result in automatic failure of the course and further administrative disciplinary action. Always carry a Scantron 8 15-E for any unannounced quizzes as well as the Scantron 882-E. Emergency absence may be excused by the instructor, if timely notice is delivered to the instructor’s mailbox prior to class. A pre-approved absence for personal schedule conflict can be obtained, if for a substantive reason, and documentation is provided if and when requested by the instructor Any information, test. or assignment a student misses because of absence is the responsibility of the student to obtain and/or make-up.

EXTRA CREDIT: The instructor may allow extra credit, up to 25 points per additional assignment(s), up to a total of 200 points, within the instructor’s discretionary point allotment.

OFFICE HOURS: The instructor does not have an office on campus, but will attempt to meet at a mutually convenient time and location upon a student’s request. Outside the classroom, contact the instructor by e-mail, lawdoc~scccd.org. or leave a message in my mailbox at the Selma Adult School and/or Reedley College switchboard(s).

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Accommodations will be arranged upon request.