PCC/ CCOG / PS

Course Content and Outcome Guide for PS 202

Date:
06-DEC-2011
Posted by:
Curriculum Office
Course Number:
PS 202
Course Title:
US Govt:Institution & Policies
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture hours:
40
Lecture/Lab hours:
0
Lab hours:
0
Special Fee:
 

Course Description

Examines the national institutions of United States politics including the Legislative, Executive, Judicial, and Bureaucratic. Include national policies, foreign policy, taxation, spending priorities, government regulations and entitlements. PS 201, 202, and 203 need not be taken in sequence. Prerequisites: WR 115, RD 115 and MTH 20 or equivalent placement test scores. Audit available.

Addendum to Course Description

Credits from this course qualify for general education purposes at Portland Community College and may be applied toward satisfying Associates Degrees at Portland Community College.
Courses with three digit numbers may be transferable to four year colleges and universities. Students should consult with a PCC Academic Advisor and/or other institutions regarding transferability and application of credit to other institutions.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon successful completion students should be able to:

1. Apply an understanding of diversity of human experience and culture in relationship to how we think and interact with others with regards to
conflicts associated with formulating national public policy such as taxation and spending policies.
2. Employ different methods of inquiry and analytical skills to conceptually organize experiences and discern meaning from ongoing study of national
institutions of U.S. politics including the branches of government and policies associated with them.
3. Analyze the roles of individuals and political institutions as these relate to contemporary controversies regarding both domestic and foreign policy issues in the U.S.
4. Use the ability to reason quantitatively and qualitatively using analytical skills to address national problems with U.S. political institutions
and policies.
5. Develop and articulate personal value judgments, respecting points of view, while practicing ethical and social requirements of responsible citizenship
by participating in the shaping of national political priorities and policies.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

The SACC assumes that faculty will assess student learning using some combination of the following assessment strategies:

 

  1. Exams consisting of essay or other method that integrates and requires application of concepts, themes and issues in the course
  2. Written assignments such as papers, reviews, journals and other writing assignments that demonstrate understanding of content knowledge and appropriate application by students of content to clarification of their own views on political issues
  3. Oral presentations, discussions, debates, or role-playing that articulate views and values incorporating a comprehensive knowledge of appropriate concepts and issues
  4. Projects where students can identify resources that provide political information and can utilize these resources to evaluate the political process and identify participatory strategies.
  5. Review and critique of political material from different media.
  6. Use of standard research techniques and acceptable formats in written work and oral presentations

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

Themes, Concepts, and Issues
 

  1. Congress, including committee structure and the process of how a bill becomes a law
  2. the powers of the President and how they have developed over time
  3. the Supreme Court and federal judicial system- including how both systems operate and the powers of the Supreme Court
  4. the federal bureaucracy and how it impacts our lives
  5. basic economic theories that influence the US economy, including monetarism, Keynesian economics, and supply-side economics
  6. social policies, including national government involvement in health care, welfare education, and crime
  7. US foreign relations and the role of the military in achieving US objectives


Competencies and Skills

Students should develop the following skills:

 

  1. Support generalizations/arguments with examples or evidence
  2. Accurately articulates ideas in written and oral presentation
  3. Articulates original applications and synthesis of academic theories/frameworks, supporting them by citing valid sources.
  4. Demonstrates knowledge of political system in written and oral work
  5. Critiques own assumptions and those of others, validating them with substantial thinking and application of appropriate arguments.
  6. Use of standard research techniques and acceptable formats in written work and oral presentations


Approved Texts:

Choice of texts is at the discretion of each course instructor. However, successful past offerings of this course and a desire to have some continuity of pedagogy among the faculty has encouraged the adoption of the following textÜthereby encouraging students to complete the entire PS 201, 202, 203 sequence using the same textbook.

Government By the People, (latest edition) Burns, Peltason, Cronin, Magleby, (Prentice Hall)