Credit Hours: 3 -- Course Prerequisites: None   
Office Location: Commons 138   
E-mail: shadjiyannis@shawnee.edu   
Tel. #: (740) 351-3445 -- Fax #: (740) 351-3153  

General Education Program (GEP): This course satisfies the Social Science component of the General Education Program. Please refer to your catalog for a full description of the course requirements and the purpose of the GEP (or click here to view online)

For Students with Disabilities: If you have a specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disability and require accommodations, please let me know early in the quarter so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. By law, it is your responsibility to provide documentation of your disability to the Office of Disability Services, located in the Student Success Center , Massie Hall, (Ph) 351-3594, PRIOR to receiving services.

Attendance and Make-Up Policy: Attendance is essential to the student’s understanding of the material upon which they will be examined and rewarded with a better grade. Students have up to two days from the time a missed exam is scheduled to take a make-up exam. An Excused Absence Form obtained from the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs must be provided in order to be able to take the make-up exam. Make-ups may be granted only for documented personal health or other care giver emergencies.  The make-up exam may differ from that given to the rest of the class. 

Warning on Academic Dishonesty: There is no acceptance under any condition for academic dishonesty, whether it is plagiarism or other forms of cheating. Plagiarism is defined, according to Webster’s College Dictionary, as “the unauthorized use of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own.”  To avoid plagiarism it is necessary to place anything that is not yours in quotation marks and provide a citation for its source. Students caught plagiarizing or cheating will receive an F in the course. They will also face disciplinary action which could lead to probation, suspension, or dismissal from the university.  For details on SSU’s academic misconduct policies consult your student handbook at http://www.shawnee.edu/pub/sah/StudentHandbook.pdf

Table of Contents and Links for further research on each chapter's theme

I. THE BASIS OF POLITICS.

1.       A Science of Politics?

2. Theories: Classic and Modern.

3. Nations, States, and Governments.

4. Individuals and Constitutions.


5. A) Democracy

    B) Totalitarianism

    C) Authoritarianism

II. POLITICAL ATTITUDES.

6. Political Ideologies.

7. Political Culture.

8. Public Opinion.

III. POLITICAL INTERACTIONS.

9. Political Communications and the Media .

10. Interest Groups, Political Parties and Party Systems.

11. Voting.

IV. THE INSTITUTIONS OF POLITICS.

12. The Basic Structures of Government.
12. Legislatures.
14. Executives.
15. Administration and Bureaucracy.
16. Legal Systems and the Courts.             

V. WHAT POLITICAL SYSTEMS DO?

17. Political Economy.  “A Glossary of Political Economy Terms”
18. Violence and Revolution.
19. International Relations.
20. The Global System.

Upon completion of this course the student will describe the:

• Definition of politics, the role of government, and the significance for their lives

• Assumptions, programs for action, and the utopian visions of major ideologies

• Processes by which individuals learn a society’s dominant norms, values, and behaviors

• Role of the mass media in shaping and in allowing public opinion to be voiced

• Rules, outcomes, campaigns, and issues of voting behavior and electoral conduct

• Way political parties and interest groups allocate political and economic benefits

• Processes (input and output) of the structures of government and their inter-relationships

• Variety and impact of cross border transactions

The student will:

• Understand the importance of politics to their lives in the community, nationally, and internationally

• Comprehend the divisions among political preferences and stands on issues

• Become more tolerant of diversity 

• Understand the importance of a free media

• Evaluate the rules that govern the conduct of elections and vote more intelligently

• Understand the reasons behind the rise of interest groups and the relative decline of the political party

• Explain how government works

• Understand issues of global peace and war, prosperity or bust

The student will:

• Become more predisposed to participate in politics

• Embrace democracy more meaningfully

• Appreciate liberalism

• Become a more and better informed citizen

• Be able to compare the working of this nation with that of other

• Become less cynical and more embracing of politics

•  Participate more meaningfully in ensuring that politics among nations becomes more orderly

• Achieve global consciousness

Course Outline

Recommended Journals and News Magazines

Recommended Films

In-class Film (optional): The Power Game   (3 hourly parts)

The films listed below may be found and rented at local video stores. The listings will be updated and expanded on a regular basis. At least three film reviews are required to change the grade half a point. For this to happen, the reviews must be acceptable. The guideline for an acceptable review is as follows: following a very brief summary of the entire films you pick a scene or two that you feel contain strong and relevant political messages and then proceed to discuss and evaluate them (Hint: in what sense are those scenes relevant to the course’s content?) 

The Music Box

Missing

Salvador

1900

Z

Born in East L.A.

Betrayed

*Please visit the film society listed below for additional choices.  The films you will choose however require the professor's approval.