9/1/26- American National Government: Introduction to Political Behavior and American Government Course Overview

Course Architecture and Administrative Policies

• Course Structure and Schedule:

  • Course meetings occur every Tuesday and Thursday in the designated classroom setting across a $15$ to $16$ week semester.

  • The curriculum focuses on political behavior in both theory and practice, covering foundational elements, architectural design, and practical applications of the American national government.

  • Civic engagement is evaluated across local, state, and national levels to analyze how civilized societies establish operational rules and expectations.

• Required Materials and Learning Management System (LMS):

  • The course requires a designated textbook that directly supports assigned readings, coursework, and lectures.

  • Brightspace serves as the required LMS for accessing all syllabus copies, assignment descriptions, pre-lecture materials, and grade tracking.

  • All coursework and extra credit assignments must be submitted digitally through Brightspace. Handwritten submissions are strictly unaccepted ($0\%$ acceptance).

• Coursework Deadlines and Instructor Communication Policy:

  • Assignment submissions are tracked digitally via Brightspace.

  • Late submissions are strictly prohibited with zero exceptions ($0\%$ accepted).

  • All assignments and guidance are provided at the start of the semester, allowing students to ask clarifying questions early, mid-semester, or well before due dates.

  • Assistance policy: Students seeking review or help must contact the instructor at least $1$ week ($7$ days) prior to a deadline. Assistance is not provided $24$ hours, $1$ hour, or the night before an assignment is due.

Overview of Course Assignments

• Primary Source Assignment:

  • Examines foundational historical political writings and arguments dating back to the $1700\text{s}$.

  • Evaluates the competing arguments and perspectives of the historical figures who designed the original framework of the American government.

• Research Proposal Assignment:

  • Requires each student to select and submit a unique research topic for formal instructor approval.

  • Designed to ensure topic diversity across the class cohort of $17$ or more students.

• Article Review Assignment:

  • Requires students to select and analyze a current, relevant political science article published within the last $1$ to $3$ years.

  • Synthesizes key arguments succinctly into a strict $2$-page maximum format.

• Annotated Bibliography:

  • Serves as the second preliminary component supporting the final research paper.

  • Must adhere to specific citation and formatting guidelines provided on Brightspace, with institutional library assistance available.

• Constitution in Action Assignment:

  • Requires students to answer specific analytical questions regarding constitutional governance and application.

  • Prepares students for an in-class round-robin discussion.

• Media Bias Assignment (Media Analysis):

  • Involves selecting and evaluating $2$ distinct media outlets.

  • Requires students to compare and contrast reporting perspectives to identify institutional media bias.

• Data Analysis Assignment:

  • Involves analyzing empirical political data, voter enrollment statistics, and voter turnout demographics.

  • Incorporates basic mathematical operations and polling analysis used by political commentators to project election outcomes.

• Final Research Paper:

  • Carries the largest percentage weight toward the final overall course grade.

  • Integrates the cumulative research developed through the prior research proposal and annotated bibliography.

Student Cohort Profiles and Baseline Perspectives

• Phoebe:

  • Academic status: First-year student at Monroe Community College (MCC).

  • Academic major: Criminal Justice.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Seeks to learn more about politics after possessing minimal exposure growing up.

• Nikki:

  • Academic status: First-year student.

  • Academic major: Criminal Justice.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Engages with politics casually out of boredom, specifically judging political figures, highlighting foolish behavior, or noting major achievements.

• George:

  • Academic status: First-year student.

  • Academic major: Criminal Justice.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Neutral stance with no initial specific expectations.

• Ali:

  • Academic status: First-year student.

  • Academic major: Undecided.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Views political processes as inherently confusing.

• Acacia:

  • Academic status: First-year student at Finger Lakes Community College (FCC).

  • Academic major: Criminal Justice.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Finds politics to be complexly confusing.

• Aliyah:

  • Academic status: First-year student with a military background.

  • Academic major: Criminal Justice.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Possesses minimal initial background knowledge entering the course.

• Natalie:

  • Academic status: First-year, second-semester student.

  • Academic major: Criminal Justice.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Finds politics somewhat confusing, but expresses enthusiasm to learn.

• Serene:

  • Academic status: First-year student.

  • Academic major: Criminal Justice.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Views political perspectives as unique to each individual, shaped by upbringing, location, and life experiences.

• Evan:

  • Academic status: Final-semester graduating student.

  • Academic major: Liberal Arts.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Defines politics as competing opinions used to elongate decision-making processes; notes that centralized decision-making by a single individual defines a dictatorship.

• Mel:

  • Academic status: First-year student.

  • Academic major: General Studies.

  • Baseline perspective on politics: Does not actively track or inspect political topics.

Interactive Four-Corners Debates and Theoretical Applications

• Debate Activity 1: Mandatory Voting Policy:

  • Proposition: Voting should be mandatory for all citizens.

  • Class response distribution: $1$ student strongly agreed, a majority agreed, a minority disagreed, and zero students strongly disagreed.

  • Disagree position argument: Forcing mandatory voting could result in uneducated voters being easily swayed, distorting legitimate election outcomes.

  • Agree / Strongly Agree position argument: Mandating voting encourages citizens to research alternative third parties. Furthermore, it forces educational institutions to formally teach civics rather than relying on passive family influence, yielding better informed voters and leaders.

• Debate Activity 2: Government Regulation of Social Media Platforms:

  • Proposition: Social media companies should be regulated by the government.

  • Strongly Agree position argument: Social media platforms generate $99\%$ of modern societal issues through misinformation. Regulation protects minors from harmful content and unsafe interactions, while preventing unverified viral claims from escalating nationally.

  • Disagree / Strongly Disagree position argument: Government regulation grants state authorities power to censor content, filter information, and restrict what citizens are allowed to view.

  • Theoretical framework: Connects to foundational political theories regarding human nature—specifically whether individuals are inherently good and capable of self-governance without heavy administrative oversight.

• Debate Activity 3: Personal Respect Across Political Disagreements:

  • Proposition: It is possible to disagree politically with someone and still respect that person.

  • Affirmative position argument: Respect should be maintained by acknowledging diverse backgrounds and separating personal character from political views.

  • Negative / Boundary position argument: Mutual respect cannot be maintained when political stances violate core moral and safety boundaries. For instance, advocating for severe physical violence against children under the defense of parental rights creates an ethical breach that warrants severing personal relationships.