IMPORTANT! RETAIN THIS SYLLABUS FOR REFERENCE THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
American political system at the national level, process of government, democratic theory and development of the Constitution, citizen participation through voting, interest groups and political parties.

PREREQUISITES
College-level Reading and Writing skills will be required for successful completion of this course. Basic computer skills, such as the ability to handle e-mail, a search engine, and a word processor will be essential. The student should be able to create, save, and copy and paste documents.

TEXT AND OTHER MATERIALS
Berman, Larry, and Bruce Allen Murphy. Approaching Democracy. 2007, 5th Edition, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
ISBN: 0-13-174401-1

COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the conclusion of this course, the student will master the following objectives
1. Develop an understanding of, and appreciation for, our democratic form of government, and the unique relationship between the Federal, State, and local governments.
2. Develop a continued interest in governmental matters after completing this course by maintaining her/his examination of current political affairs.
3. Develop an understanding of the workings of government agencies.
4. Increase an understanding of the citizen's responsibilities to, and individual rights under, our form of government.
5. Have an enhanced appreciation for the citizen's obligation in the process for selecting capable public officials.
6. Improve her/his knowledge of United States foreign affairs and the political nature of the world.
7. Develop an appreciation of the United States Government through comparison with the governments of other nations.
8. Better understand the broad application to the U.S. Constitution to the lives of American Citizens and to other members of the global community.

INSTRUCTORS WEBSITE INTERACTIVE WORK SCHEDULE
The heart of the Website is an interactive Work Schedule and its calendar. The calendar contains a weekly schedule of work with appropriate links to learning tools in the Website. The site is also interactive in that students can use it to communicate privately or openly with other students and the instructor. Weekly assignments, Quizzes, Case Studies, Web Assignments, and Research Papers are submitted directly into the Website on or before the due dates shown on the Work Schedule Calendar.

INSTRUCTORS WEBSITE GRADE PAGE
Students with proper ID numbers may view a current summary of their grades from any computer. Grades should be checked often for posting accuracy and grade average.
To check your grades:
Go to: www.garyrutledge.com
Click on "Grades"
When master grade page opens, click on the appropriate button for your class.
Scan down class grade page for your ID# and grades
Column headings are abbreviations of the unit assignments and will be in the same sequence as course calendar.

UNIT/SUBJECT QUIZZES
On-line multiple-choice quizzes are due according to the due date on the Government Work Schedule for each unit/subject of work.

WEB ASSIGNMENTS
Short written essay assignments are due according to the due date on the Government Work Schedule for each unit/subject of work. These short essay assignments will be submitted directed to the Gary Rutledge Learning site (GRLS) with links provided in the GRLS Work Schedule. Web Assignments less than the required length will have one letter grade deducted.

MIDTERM EXAM
A midterm multiple-choice exam of approximately 40 multiple choice questions will be due according to the due date on the Government Work Schedule. A review of all practice tests for chapters covered prior to midterm will provide an excellent preparation for the Final.

NOTEBOOK
One of the most important learning techniques in college is the taking of notes that can be used later in the preparation of papers and the study for exams. A spiral notebook will be required in which you will keep daily notes of all course activities. Each day you will begin a new page with notes of lectures, readings, discussions, films, and etc. Begin each day with the date and title of the notes to follow, such as "lecture notes" or "reading notes". All notes should be maintained in this notebook, (do not turn in loose pages).

METHOD OF EVALUATION
The grading scale is 100-90=A, 89-80=B, 79-70=C, 69-0=F. Grades will accumulate from a combination of written web assignments, multiple choice chapter quizzes, on-line case studies, multiple choice midterm, written midterm web assignment, multiple choice final exam, written final web assignment, and in some cases outside class projects for extra credit.

FINAL SCORE TO BE DETERMINED AS FOLLOWS
On-line Quizzes: 20%
Web Assignments: 25%
Mid-term On-line Multiple-choice Exam: 15%
Final On-line Multiple-choice Exam: 20%
Notebook: 10%
Participation grade: 10% (3 absences = 50, 4 absences = 0)

EXTRA CREDIT
If a student has completed all assigned work that student may contact the instructor to contract for extra credit work. No more than five points (one-half of one letter grade) of a student's total grade can come from extra credit work. Discuss all questions and concerns with the instructor as soon as possible.

ATTENDANCE
Good attendance is essential in a class of this nature and will be checked at each class meeting. Assignments and lectures build upon each other from one class to the next. An absence makes completion of assignments difficult. Absenteeism exceeding 10% during the course will be considered excessive. After any absence, the student is responsible for obtaining any class assignments and lecture notes from a classmate.

LATE ASSIGNMENTS
A deduction of one letter grade may be assessed to any work submitted late. Late work will be accepted only at the discretion of the instructor on a case by case basis.

PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the representation of the words or ideas of another as one’s own, including: direct quotation without both attribution and indication that the material is being directly quoted, e.g. quotation marks; paraphrase without attribution; paraphrase with or without attribution where the wording of the original remains substantially intact and is represented as the author’s own; expression in one’s own words, but without attribution, of ideas, arguments, lines of reasoning, facts, processes, or other products of the intellect where such material is learned from the work of another and is not part of the general fund of common knowledge.

WITHDRAWAL STATEMENT
It is hoped that no one will ever have to withdraw: however, if unforeseen circumstances force a student to withdraw from the course, the student should initiate an official withdraw through the registrar's office. Do not just quick submitting work. Without an official withdrawal an "F" will be the only result. Non-performance does not constitute official withdrawal.

CHANGE OF STUDENT INFORMATION
Notify your college registrar and your instructor immediately if any of your student data should change such as your address, telephone number. E-mail address. This information must be accurate for proper and timely communications.

CHANGE OF SYLLABUS INFORMATION
At the instructor's discretion procedures and policy are subject to change at any time.