PSCI 344
PSCI
344 / State & Local Government Syllabus
PSCI
344 / Summer II, 2012 (June 25 - July 27)
M-Th
11:30 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. / Location: LA 337
Professor:
Jeffrey Greene
TEXTS
Primary: State and Local Government: The Essentials,
5/e (Ann Bowman and Richard Kearney)
Students can use any edition (full
or essentials) of the Bowman and Kearney text. The latest full edition is the
8/e. The syllabus is set for The Essentials edition.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
State Government is one of the most
exciting areas in political science. This course examines the evolution and
development that has taken place in the states since the founding period. It
focuses on the basic institutions as well as a broad spectrum of public policy
issues that affect governing in the states. The theme of this course is built
on one primary question: Has there been a resurgence of the states? That
is, have states increased their capacity to govern, manage change, and
innovate in various areas of public policy?
The primary objective of the course
is to acquaint students with the complexities of state government and state
politics. Local government is not covered in the summer version of the class.
Upon successful completion of the course students should acquire considerable
knowledge about comparative state government and politics in the states.
Assessment is based on students' performance on two exams. Additional learning
objectives are provided at PSCI 344
Learning Objectives on the online syllabus (see the bottom of the syllabus
for the URL).
GRADE WEIGHTS
Midterm Exam ...........50% (July 12,
Thursday)
Final Exam .................50%
(July 25, Wednesday)
There is not a paper or presentation
required in the summer version of PSCI 344.
PROFESSOR: Jeffrey D. Greene
OFFICE: LA 356
Telephone: 243-6181
E-mail: jeffrey.greene@umontana.edu
Office Hours: 1:30 - 2 p.m. (Monday, Tuesday, or by appointment)
The University of Montana now
uses a version of the Plus/Minus grading system
and a Credit/No Credit system (the CR/NCR replaces the Pass/Fail system
used in the past). General education courses must be taken using the
traditional letter grade to count toward one's general education requirements.
To accommodate the Plus/Minus system
the grading scale shown below will be used. In PSCI 344 grades will be
assigned based on the following grading scale. This scale and system is more
complex than the system used in the past but rewards As
only to those students whose performance in the class is
"exceptional."
|
Grade |
Point
Scale |
Point
Range |
GPA |
|
A |
93-100 |
8
points |
4.00 |
|
A- |
90-92 |
3
points |
3.67 |
|
B+ |
87-89 |
3
points |
3.33 |
|
B |
83-86 |
4
points |
3.00 |
|
B- |
80-82 |
3
points |
2.67 |
|
C+ |
77-79 |
3
points |
2.33 |
|
C |
73-76 |
4
points |
2.00 |
|
C- |
70-72 |
3
points |
1.67 |
|
D+ |
67-69 |
3
points |
1.33 |
|
D |
63-66 |
4
points |
1.00 |
|
D- |
60-62 |
3
points |
.067 |
|
F |
59
or lower |
N/A |
0.00 |
REQUIREMENTS: All exams will be given in class. Students are expected to
take the exams during the scheduled time. The exams for the summer session will
be subjective (terms and essays). No paper is required in the summer version of
the course.
ATTENDANCE: Students are encouraged to attend class. Poor attendance
may affect one's final grade.
WEB PAGE: Students can visit the Political Science Department Web
Page at: http://www.cas.umt.edu/polsci
COURSE
OUTLINE and READINGS
Introduction
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 1
Political Culture
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 1
Federalism
Bowman and Kearney: Chapters 2
State Constitutions
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 3
Participation in the States
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 4
Political Parties in the States
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 5
State Legislatures
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 6
Governors
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 7
Midterm Exam – July 12 (Thursday) Exams will be returned on Monday
The Bureaucracy
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 8
The Judiciary
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 9
State-Local Relations and Local Government
Bowman and Kearney: Chapters 10, 11
Taxing, Spending, and Finance
Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 12
Final Exam – July 25 (Wednesday) Exams will be returned Thursday, July 26.
Federalism Time Line Transparency
(Adobe Acrobat format. This version is printer friendly)
Learning
Objectives
Link to the
Montana State Constitution
History of Federalism (Link to website at the University
of South Carolina; this is an outstanding website about federalism)
Link to Governing.com,
one of the best sources of information about the state and local arena
available.
Council of State Governments, the
leading professional organization for the states.
Link to City
Journal, one of the most interesting sources about urban politics and
issues.
State
Budget Paper and Information
Paper
about Montana's State Budget
For
anyone interested in the state budget, this is an annual paper written for the
Western Political Science Association about Montana's budget.
Some additional links to materials
ELITE AND
PLURALISM MODELS (In Microsoft Word)
SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION MODEL (In Adobe Acrobat format)
SOURCES
OF VALUES (In Adobe Acrobat format)
New
Orleans, the Gulf Coast, and Hurricane Katrina dominated the news in 2005 and
continue to be important issues about federalism. Many claimed that it was a
perfect example (and case study) about the weaknesses of federalism and
intergovernmental relations. Below is an interesting article about New Orleans
before and after Hurricane Katrina.
This
article, from City Journal, is an interesting account of New Orleans. It
is called "Who is killing New Orleans," by Nicole Gelinas. Click here
for a copy of the article in Adobe Acrobat, or click this link to go directly
to the article at City Journal. http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_4_new_orleans.html
An
article found in Governing Magazine about federalism is located at http://www.governing.com/topics/economic-dev/The-Katrina-Breakdown.html
The article is about the communication breakdown among
various levels of government and between agencies. "THE
KATRINA BREAKDOWN," by Jonathan Walters & Donald Kettl.
(Please note that Governing is updating their website and this link may
note work).
Another
very interesting website is located in Montana. It is called Project Vote Smart. It contains
detailed information about candidates in all 50 states at the national and
state level.
Houghton Mifflin (now owned by Cengage) provides excellent online resources for
the Bowman and Kearney text, including exams, outlines, and many links to
state-local web sites. Click
here to access these resources. (This website is for The Essentials
edition). For the 8/e, Cengage has made it a little harder to access. You will
need to click on the long link (URL) at the bottom of the syllabus. To use some
of the features you will have to register and use the code that came with your
book. Also, Stateline.org is a great website
dedicated entirely to news and information about the states and their local
governments. Another website is Piperinfo.com,
which contains information about state and local governments.
Since
state nicknames are often mentioned in class as trivia, click
here to read more about the origin of the Tar Heel State (North Carolina).
State mottos are also interesting. For example, the state motto for North
Carolina, "Esse Quam Videri" is
Latin for "to be rather than to seem." Click here
for a humorous version of the 50 state mottos. Click here
for a list of official state slogans and official nicknames.
Rankings
for "happiest states" for 2009
Student
Website for the Bowman & Kearney text, 8/e (You can purchase this
book as an e-Textbook at the following link) and website for The Essential, 5/e
Image of Bowman &
Kearney, 8/e
http://college.cengage.com/polisci/bowman_kearney/state_local_gov/5e/students/index.html
(Link to the 5/e website)
Image of Bowman & Kearney, The Essentials, 5/e