School of Arts and Sciences

COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Number POL 320	Course Title The Congress
Fall Semester X	Spring Semester	Summer Semester	Year 2010
Name of Instructor William Miller
Meeting Day, Time, and Room Number Monday, 6:30pm, Gailhac 2012
Final Exam Day, Time, and Room Number Monday, December 13^th, 6:30pm, Gailhac 2012
Office Hours, Location, Phone Mondays, 5:00 to 6:00pm and after class; Tuesdays and Fridays, 1:00 to 2:00 and after class; Wednesdays, 3:00 to 3:30pm and after class; other times by appointment. G223 (Rowley 62A), 703-284-1687. Always email ahead of time!
E-mail & Website wmiller@marymount.edu (Email is the best way to reach me!) www.millerpolitics.info (All announcements and assignments are posted here, not on Blackboard.)

UNIVERSITY STATEMENTS

Academic Integrity

By accepting this syllabus, you pledge to uphold the principles of Academic Integrity expressed by the Marymount University Community. You agree to observe these principles yourself and to defend them against abuse by others.

Special Needs and Accommodations

Please advise the instructor of any special problems or needs at the beginning of the semester. If you seek accommodation based on disabilities, you should provide a Faculty Contact Sheet obtained through Disability Support Services located in Gerard Hall, (703) 284-1615.

Access to Student Work

Copies of your work in this course including copies of any submitted papers and your portfolios may be kept on file for institutional research, assessment and accreditation purposes. All work used for these purposes will be submitted anonymously. 

Student Copyright Authorization

For the benefit of current and future students, work in this course may be used for educational critique, demonstrations, samples, presentations, and verification. Outside of these uses, work shall not be sold, copied, broadcast, or distributed for profit without student consent. 

University Policy on Snow Closings

Snow closings are generally announced on area radio stations. For bulletins concerning Marymount snow or weather closings, call (703) 526-6888. Unless otherwise advised by radio announcement or by official bulletins on the number listed above, students are expected to report for class as near normal time as possible on days when weather conditions are adverse. Decisions as to snow closing or delayed opening are not generally made before 5:00 AM of the working day. Students are expected to attend class if the University is not officially closed.

1. BROAD PURPOSE OF COURSE (Include the catalog description)

A review of the history of Congress and a description of its functions, its structure, and the legislative process. The course examines current and historical issues that relate to the proper role of Congress in the American scheme of government. In light of the elections that will take place in the Fall, this semester of the course will pay particular attention to congressional campaigns and elections, past and present. Prerequisite POL 104 or 205. (3)

2. COURSE OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES (Include all that are appropriate):

Liberal Arts Core Outcomes (general and discipline-specific)

General Learning Outcomes – Skills – Analysis, Critical Reasoning and Problem-Solving

· Students will practice analytical discourse, critical reasoning and problem-

solving through examination of the structure and function of the Congress as they pertain to the resolution of conflict and/or process of policy development available to the lawmaking body.

The outcome will be measured by performance on short and long answers on tests and the research paper.

General Learning Outcomes – Attitudes – Civic Responsibility

· Students will apply their appreciation of the relation among individual choices, social issues and global concern through analysis of the lawmaking function of the United States Congress as exercised by its members.

The outcome will be measured by class participation demonstrating knowledge of the reading and performance on tests.

Course-Specific Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course students will be expected

(1) to demonstrate familiarity with the problems faced by contemporary congressional campaigns and with the techniques used to address and solve those problems;

(2) to demonstrate a general knowledge of the legislative process;

(3) to demonstrate an understanding of the major institutional changes and the development of Congress since 1789;

(4) to demonstrate familiarity with several of the significant issues presently facing the institution and the members of Congress; and

(5) to be able to analyze the structure of discursive writings about Congressional issues and to write and defend a short thesis on a topic relating to Congress.

These outcomes will be measured by class participation and in written papers and exams.

3. TEACHING METHOD (lecture, laboratory, audio-visual, clinical experience, discussion, seminar, tutorial)

Lectures, discussion, and student presentations.

4. GRADING POLICY (i.e., number of graded assignments, weight given to each)

The final grade will be determined by grades on the examinations, on a book review, on class assignments and reports, and on two six-to-eight page research papers to be presented in class and submitted during the last month of the semester.

Quizzes. There will also be a quiz at the beginning of almost every class unless I announce otherwise ahead of time. The quiz will only be offered at that time; there will be no make-ups, so if your schedule does not permit you to get to class right at 6:30pm on Mondays, we must talk now. If you take the quiz and immediately leave for the rest of the class, I will not grade the quiz or consider that you took it. The quizzes will focus on the assigned readings. I will use the grades of only your best quizzes to calculate your overall quiz grade, so a couple of missed quizzes will not affect your quiz grade. The usual scale of 90-100%=A, 80-89%=B, 70-79%=C, 60-69%=D, and 59% and below=F will be used for all graded work.

20% = Mid-term exam

20% = Final exam

20% = Book review

20% = Quizzes, Participation, and Class Presentations

20% = Research papers

ATTENDANCE POLICY AND MAKE-UP POLICIES

Attendance: We meet only thirteen times this semester. Beginning with the second week of classes, students are allowed one unexcused absence. For each additional unexcused absence, the final grade will be lowered by three points. To be excused, an absence must be explained to and approved by me before it occurs. Note: Occasionally coming to class late—even real late once or twice—is not considered an absence. Coming to class without the textbook or leaving class after taking an announced quiz without the prior permission of the instructor, however, is considered an absence.

Merely informing me ahead of time that you will be absent from class does not mean I excuse the absence, though I appreciate your courtesy. I will not excuse your absence because you are simply not feeling well or because you choose to do something worthwhile other than come to class even if you inform me ahead of time. If you are coughing and sneezing and coming down with a cold or the flu, and you don't want to spread your virus to your classmates, I (and they) salute you! Staying home may be the right thing to do, but it is not an excused absence. You all get one unexcused absences to use as you see fit, and it is your decision to use it to stay home when you don't feel well or want to attend some other event or need to prepare for another class instead of going to my class. Use it for a good reason; that's what it is for.

Excessive excused absences may also be a problem, and you should discuss such situations with me well before the last month of the semester. This is not a distance learning class. Any absence prevents you from participating in the class, but if your job or an illness keeps you away from class for more than a quarter of the semester, it will significantly affect the class participation component of your grade and may be a good reason to drop the course and take it another time. All of us find ourselves in these situations from time to time and have to deal with them appropriately. You also have an obligation to report this to a University office (see page 35 of the 2010-2011 University Catalogue).

When in doubt about any of these policies, please come and talk to me. They have been formulated with our substantial commuter and working student population in mind and are intended to be fair to everyone. You should also review the University's policies on absenteeism on page 35 of the 2010-2011 University Catalogue.

Make-up Exams: The same basic rules about excused absences apply to taking mid-terms (papers are always due on the due date—no exceptions). My policy of giving makeup exams on the same day as the final does NOT mean that you may choose to take the mid-term exam on that day rather than on the regularly scheduled day: it is not an alternative test date. To be eligible for a makeup, you must qualify for an excused absence, and this you should do a reasonable time before the day of the mid-term, if that is at all possible. You may be excused from taking a mid-term if you are certifiably sick or your job prevents you from attending class or you have a serious family or personal emergency on the day of the test. If one of these applies and I am informed in a reasonable time before the exam and you have written documentation to support your request, you may take the exam on the same day as the final exam. If none of these reasons apply, you may not take the exam at another time, and you will get a zero for the exam. If you are late for the exam because of events outside of your control, let me know immediately or as soon as possible that day, and I will let you take the exam later that same evening if possible.

5. CLASS SCHEDULE (List topics to be covered with approximate dates of presentation)

The following topics and dates of discussion are approximate and are subject to change due to cancelled classes, guest speakers, and so on. I shall try to maintain the due dates for papers and exams as they are listed below. Plan on about seventy-five pages of reading a week and a short quiz every class.

WEEK 1 (8/30) Introduction to the course; some basic political history; outline of the legislative process; overview of congressional campaigns and elections.

Campaigns and Elections

WEEK 2 (9/13) Campaigns and Elections; Jacobson, chapter 1, 2, & 6; Fiorina, "Introduction to Part One" and chapter 1; Dodd and Oppenheimer, chapter 4.

WEEK 3 (9/20) Campaigns and Elections; Jacobson, chapters 3 & 4.

WEEK 4 (9/27) Campaigns and Elections; Jacobson, chapter 5, and Mayhew, Congress: the Electoral Connection, excerpt.

WEEK 5 (10/4) Campaigns and Elections: concluded. Fiorina book review due; Jacobson, chapter 7.

The Legislative Process

WEEK 6 (10/18) Legislative Process; Sundquist, "Endemic Weaknesses of the Congress."

WEEK 7 (10/25) Legislative Process in the House.

WEEK 8 (11/1) Legislative Process in the Senate.

WEEK 9 (11/8) Congressional Elections Wrap-up: student papers on individual elections.

WEEK 10 (11/15) Exam on Legislative Process.

Contemporary Issues in and about Congress

WEEK 11 (11/22) Dodd and Oppenheimer selections.

WEEK 12 (11/29) Dodd and Oppenheimer selections.

WEEK 13 (12/6) Dodd and Oppenheimer selections.

The mid-term and the final exam will be given only at the regularly scheduled times. If you cannot take the mid-term at the regularly scheduled time, you may take it on the day of the final exam. The final exam is scheduled for Monday, December 13, at 6:30pm. Please make your travel plans accordingly.

6. REQUIRED TEXTS

Dodd, Lawrence, and Bruce Oppenheimer. Congress Reconsidered. 9th ed. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press.

Fiorina, Morris. Congress: Keystone of the Washington Establishment. 2d ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.

Jacobson, Gary. The Politics of Congressional Elections. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 2009. Contains excellent bibliographical references.

7. REQUIRED OR SUGGESTED READINGS OR AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS

Sundquist, "Endemic Weaknesses of Congress" in Decline and Resurgence of Congress (Washington, D.C.: Brookings, 1981).(On Reserve)

Ornstein, Norman, Thomas Mann, and Michael Malbin. Vital Statistics on Congress. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, (latest edition).

In addition to the required texts listed above, I shall also hand out several articles to be assigned throughout the course.

Our library has several excellent books on Congress with call numbers of approximately JK 1060. In addition, there are several painless—enjoyable, actually—case histories of legislation that serve as excellent introductions to the congressional process:

.

Birnbaum, Jeffrey H. and Murray, Alan S. Showdown at Gucci Gulch. New York: Random House, 1987. KF6289 B619 1987

Cohen, Richard E. Washington at Work: Back Rooms and Clean Air. New York: Macmillan, 1992.

Light, Paul C. Forging Legislation. New York: Norton, 1992.

Martin, Janet M. Lessons from the Hill: The Legislative Journey of an Education Program. New York: St. Martin's, 1994.

Other books on Congress (many of which are now old but are excellent for comparison with contemporary accounts):

Bolling, Richard. House Out of Order. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1966.

Dodd, Lawrence C., and Bruce I. Oppenheimer. Congress Reconsidered. 1st ed. New York: Praeger, 1977; 2d to 9th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press,1981-2008. Excellent research source of essays and articles on different aspects of Congress.

Fiorina, Morris. Divided Government. 2d ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1996.

Kettl, Donald F. Deficit Politics: The Search for Balance in American Politics. 2d ed. New York: Longman, 2002.

Mayhew, David. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974.

________. Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-1990. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.

Oleszek, Walter. Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process. 8^th ed. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2011. The best source of information on congressional procedures and practices.

Schick, Allen. The Federal Budget: Politics, Policy, Process. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2000.

Sinclair, Barbara. Unorthodox Lawmaking. 3d ed. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, , 2007.

Sundquist, James L. Decline and Resurgence of Congress. Washington, D.C.: Brookings, 1981.

Wildavsky, Aaron, and Naomi Caiden. The New Politics of the Budgetary Process. 5th ed. New York: Longman, 2003.

On the Internet:

An excellent source of information about Congress is the website of the Library of Congress, http://Thomas.loc.gov . This source makes available the texts and status of legislative measures for the past several congresses as well as the daily text of the Congressional Record.

Congressional Elections, 1900-2008.

For material on the congressional incumbency advantage, see Incumbency Re-election Rates (Thirty-Thousand Org.), Incumbency Re-election Rates (Center for Responsive Politics)

Cook Political Reports

Gallup Polls

Rasmussen Political Polling Reports

A FEW FURTHER RULES

For the benefit of the class and your classmates, the following rules regarding electronic devices also apply to this course:

1. Turn your cell phones off during the class. If you are expecting an important call, put your phone on “Vibrate,” sit near the door, and, when the call comes, answer it outside the classroom.

2. It follows from the foregoing rule, but it must be separately stated: no talking and no texting on cell phones during class. If you do not follow this rule, I will publicly ask you to leave the room for the remainder of the class and will do my best to have you removed from the course for the rest of the semester.

3. No open lap-top or other computers are allowed in class. Since most all of the readings in the course are not available for download to Kindles, Kobos, and the like, those devices are also not permitted. You must bring hard copies of the readings to class so that you can mark them up and take notes.

These rules are necessary to foster a suitable learning environment in the classroom during class. There are enough distractions with lawnmowers, air conditioners, and other outside forces to combat during lectures and discussions without these controllable distractions within the room.