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SYLLABUS |
| And
so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name
of right and honor and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create
a race that can understand.
--George Bernard Shaw |
To
assert the existence of order, meaning, and value, |
This is an introductory course in politics.
My colleagues in the political science department typically introduce
students to politics by reading and discussing some of the classic works in
political philosophy—Plato, Machiavelli, Locke, and Mill, for example.
HOWEVER, in this course, while we will read about some of the great political
thinkers, we will focus mainly on politics as a phenomenon in its own right.
Specifically, we shall explore politics as the practical use of power
and influence in human affairs.
Here are a few more compass points to get you
oriented:
1.
POLITICS
IS NOT THE SAME THING AS “THE GOVERNMENT.”
As we all know, politics is everywhere, in families, private businesses,
churches, Colorado College, fraternities and sororities, sports teams, and so on
and on. We will spend some time on
government near the end of this block, but do not confuse politics with
government.
2.
POLITICS
IS NOT ECONOMICS. It is very useful
to understand economics—the trading of goods and services—as an individual
and voluntary activity where people choose what they want for themselves and
then trade freely with others so that both sides improve their position.
Politics, on the other hand, describes how people use power and influence
to try to get other people to do things that they would not choose voluntarily
to trade for. Politics is about forcing people to pay taxes, or persuading
them (perhaps dishonestly) to join one group rather than another.
The popular TV show, SURVIVOR, was primarily about politics, not
economics.
Thus
this course will answer questions like these:
--What
are the components of political power? What
resources make some people more politically powerful than others?
--What
are the basic forms of political rule and political dominance?
--What
are the differences between political power and political influence?
--What
criteria can we use to distinguish “good” politics from “bad” politics?
William
K. Muir: Police: Streetcorner
Politicians (paper)
J.
S. Mill, On Liberty
One
other book TBA
You must subscribe to The New York Times for
this block if you don’t already have a subscription. Get subscription forms from Georgia or me or the Worner desk on
the first day of class.
Also, each of you will, by the middle of the Block,
obtain a book of your choice related to themes of the course.
You will read it carefully and report on it, orally and in writing, near
the end of the block. I will distribute a list of possible books for you to choose
from. You don’t need to adopt one
of these books, but the list may help. I
will discuss your choice with you individually in the first ten days of the
block. You may have to purchase
your book through Amazon. I
understand that the CC Bookstore can arrange to have books delivered in three
days.
I will, at no expense to you, occasionally distribute
photocopied materials to you. You
will be tested on these handouts just as you will be tested on the all other
materials in this course.
Class will begin at 9:15 each morning. I will get you out of class by 11:45 at the latest. In addition, we will have a mandatory afternoon video session the first and second Monday afternoon of the block. Both sessions start at 1:30 in the downstairs video room of Tutt library. On Tuesday, September 11, you will take report to Tutt library at 1:00 for an introduction to the library and its resources. AND, we’ll have a dinner session at my house on the evening of September 18, starting around 6:00. If you hold a job, plan to get permission to miss work on these occasions. Remember, the first of these required sessions is the afternoon of the first day of class, September 3.
I don’t want to lock us into a rigid daily program.
This class will operate more like a cooperative effort to put together
a large jigsaw puzzle, except that we won’t have the luxury of working from
a picture of what the assembled puzzle will look like until we are close to
done. You have one general, ongoing, assignment:
General
Assignment: Read the NEW YORK TIMES
every day you get one, starting with the first day of class.
Read it carefully. It should take you at least an hour every day.
Read every story that strikes you as being about politics, power, and
influence. Some will be in the
International section, some in the National section, some in the sports or the
business section. We will discuss
the news in class on most days, and you will be tested on this material.
Since the FYE is a new and experimental program at
CC, assignments may change without too much advance notice.
However, the assignments for the first week are:
reading assigned for
this day.
Class visit from Bonnie Stapleton to discuss oral expression and communication.
5. Over the weekend for class Monday, read Muir through page 147.
We
will improvise daily assignments for the rest of the course.
You will have the quiz, mentioned above on Friday, 9/7, a midterm exam on
Friday, 9/14, and a comprehensive final exam on Wednesday, 9/26.
All quizzes/exams will be closed-book.
You will need to memorize material to do well in this class.
You will be tested on ALL material that we have covered in class.
This includes the news stories, the videos we watch together, any extra
hand-out material, materials that I deliver to you only in lecture form, and of
course Muir and Mill. You will not
be responsible for any news stories that do not come up in class discussion.
This is one of those classes where, for the sake of your grade, you must
not miss any class session unless you are VERY sick.
Much of what you must master will only become clear as we discuss it in
class. Again, you will get some
very important course material ONLY from me in lectures.
Early in this course you will choose a book, mentioned above, that you will read and about which you will report, orally and in writing, during the last week of the Block. Your book must deal with major themes in this course, and your job, in your written and oral report, is to describe the argument in the book and point out all the major connections and similarities between your book and the materials in the course. Your written essay should be a minimum of 10 pages long. It will be due in class Monday morning, September 24.
I’ll grade you on the basis of how well you have mastered material covered
in this course. Because this is
an introductory course, you’ll be graded primarily on how well you know the
material, not on your critical opinion of it.
Your quiz will be worth 25 points.
You book essay will be worth 75 points.
The mid-term will be worth 50 points and the final exam will be worth
100 points. This makes a total
of 250 possible points for the course.
Your point total for the course will determine your course letter grade. The A range is 200-250 points.
B range is 150 to 199. C
is 100-149. D is 50-99.
Below 50 is NC. I do, by the way, give C, D, and NC grades.
I’ll grade everything except your book essay anonymously.
You will put only your student ID number on your quiz and exam answers,
so please memorize your student ID number.
You will sign the CC Honor Code pledge with your number.
I take the Honor Code very seriously.
All your graded work must be entirely our own.
Anyone caught not doing his or her own work, anyone for example, who
copies from other students or plagiarizes from other written sources, will get
a grade of NC for the course. Also,
there will be no make-ups on quizzes and exams except for those of you who provide
written documentation that you were too ill to take the exam on time.
No extra credit work allowed in this course.
Feel
free to see me any time my door, 27 Palmer, is open, but I recommend that you
call first, 389-6788. I’m in the office most of every day when I’m not teaching.
Home phone is 685-5625.
Cassie Hilpman, the FYE mentor, is also eager to help you throughout the semester. Her phone number for this semester is 389-7146 (an on-campus number).