Adams, Karen R.

English

University of Montana

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Syllabi Course Syllabi Fall 9-1-2015 PSCI 344.01: State and Local Government Karen R. Adams University of Montana - Missoula, karen.adams@umontana.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Adams, Karen R., "PSCI 344.01: State and Local Government" (2015). Syllabi. 5858. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi/5858 This Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by the Course Syllabi at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso.umt.edu. 1  State & Local Government Syllabus PSCI 344 / Fall 2015  T/Th 12:40 p.m. - 2 p.m. / Location: LA 342 Professor: Jeffrey Greene TEXTS Primary: State and Local Government, 9/e (Ann Bowman and Richard Kearney)  You can also use The Essentials version of this textbook, 5/e. This is a much shorter version of the main text. Or, you can use the 8/e of the full edition.  Supplements: The State of The States 4/e (Charles Van Horn; not required)  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. 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 and a research paper. Additional learning objectives are provided at PSCI 344 Learning Objectives (on Moodle).  GRADE WEIGHTS Midterm Exam ............30% (October 29, Thursday) Exam 2…... .................30% (November  30, Tuesday) Presentation/Paper.......30% (Papers are due December 3; presentations will be on December 1 and December 3) Participation..............10%  2  Note: the will be no class on October 13 and 15; I will be out of town at a conference. Contact Information  PROFESSOR: Jeffrey D. Greene OFFICE: LA 356  Telephone: 243-6181  E-mail: jeffrey.greene@umontana.edu  Office Hours: T/R 2 - 2:30 p.m. M 3-4 p.m. Grading System  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).  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 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  REQUIREMENTS: There are two exams, which will be given in class. Students are expected to take the exam during the scheduled time. The exam will be subjective (terms and essays). All students will be expected to write a 10 page research paper and/or make a 10-15 minute oral presentation on a topic related to state and local government and provide a written bibliography. Typically, public policy areas are the most popular. All topics must be approved by the instructor. The last weeks of class will be used for presentations. A sign-up sheet will be passed out in class. All papers are due the last day of class prior to exam week. Please note that the option of writing a paper or doing a short presentation is up to each student but you must sign up 3  to do a presentation in lieu of a paper. Students taking PSCI 400 do not have the option of a presentation.  EXAM: There will be two exams. Each exam is comprised of four parts: Part I is terms and concepts (very short answers); Part II is a required essay about federalism in the states (a long essay); Part III provides a choice of a number of short essays (students only have to answer one of these essays); and, Part IV is extra credit items (this section is optional for students).   Accessibility The University of Montana assures equal access to instruction by supporting collaboration between students with disabilities, instructors, and Disability Services for Students. If you have a disability that requires an accommodation, contact me at the beginning of the semester so that proper accommodations can be provided. Please contact Disability Services for Students if you have questions, or call Disability Services for Students (DSS) for voice/text at 406.243.2243.  You may also fax the Lommasson Center 154 for more information at 406.243.5330.  Political Science 400: Students can take this class as PSCI 400 -- the writing class option. You MUST be a political science major to take PSCI 400. This is a one credit hour class that can be used to fulfill the university writing requirement. It is required for all political science majors. If you opt to sign up for PSCI 400, you must get the approval of the instructor; fill out the appropriate paperwork, then turn the completed paperwork to the department secretary in LA 350 during the first week of class. It is the discretion of the instructor to allow more than 10 PSCI 400 students in any political science class. The requirements to complete PSCI 400 are described below.  All students using PSCI 344 as a writing class must be properly signed up for PSCI 400. Students taking this option are required to write a 10 page research paper on a topic related to state and local government. The topic must be approved by the instructor in advance (before beginning the paper). These papers will be graded more rigorously than for students not taking PSCI 400. Students will be allowed one re-write for their research papers. There is not a universally accepted writing style format to follow; writing styles vary from discipline to discipline. The political science department tends to use Kate Turabian's, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. You do not have to use this writer's manual for this class, but you will likely have to use it for other writing classes with other professors in the political science department. Thus, it is advisable to use the Turabian model. All papers are expected to contain a cover sheet, a bibliography, and appropriate citations.  The first draft of the paper is due on Tuesday, November 30. The papers will receive two letter grades; one for content (the quality of the research) and separate grade for writing (composure, grammar, writing style, and clarity). The second grade is a technical grade and the standard that will be used is based on the technical writing style of social science research. That is, sentence structure should be clean, clear, and concise. The goal is to write a short, well-crafted, organized paper that is easy to read. After the first draft is graded, the papers will be returned and students will make any corrections and re-submit the paper by the last class of regular classes (the last 4  day prior to exam week, which is December 3). The papers will be re-graded. The final grade for PSCI 400 will be based solely on the average of the content/writing grade for the final paper. For example, if the final grade on the paper is A/C (92/75), the student will receive a grade of a "B" (the average is 83.5).  Holidays at UM during the Fall Semester September 7 (Labor Day) October 13 and 15 (No class) I will be out of town at a conference  November 11 (Veteran's Day)  November 25, 26, and 27 (Thanksgiving Break)  Exam Week is December 6 – 11  COURSE OUTLINE and READINGS Introduction Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 1 Van Horn: Chapter 1, "Power, Politics, and Public Policy in the States," by Van Horn 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 Van Horn: Chapter 2, "The State of State Elections," by Dautrich and Yalof Political Parties in the States Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 5 Van Horn: Chapter 4, "The Transformation of State Electoral Politics," by Salmore and Salmore. State Legislatures 5  Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 6 Van Horn: Chapter 3, "Legislators and Legislatures," by Rosenthal. Midterm Exam – October 30 (Thursday) Exams will be returned on Tuesday Governors Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 7 Van Horn: Chapter 4, "Being Governor," by Beyle. The Bureaucracy Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 8 Van Horn, Chapter 6, "Accountability Battles in State Administration," by Gormley. The Judiciary Bowman and Kearney: Chapter 9 Van Horn: Chapter 5, "State Courts and Their Political Environment," by Lawrence Baum. Local Government Bowman & Kearney Chapters 10, 11 State-Local Relations, Tax and Spending Bowman and Kearney: Chapters 12, 13 Van Horn: "State Government Finances: A Review of Current Conditions and the Outlook," Henry Coleman Public Policy in the States (The class will cover as many policy topics as time permits) Education, Economic Development, Criminal Justice, The Environment Bowman and Kearney: Chapters 14,15,16,17,18 Van Horn: Chapters 8, 9, and 10 (Education Policy, Welfare Policy, and Health Policy). Van Horn: "State Education Policy in the New Millennium," Margaret E. Goertz; "State Welfare Policy," Irene Lurie; "State Health Policy," Joel Cantor  Exam 2 – Tuesday, November 30.   All Presentations will be on December 1 and December 3. 6  Additional Information  Materials for the class are located on Moodle under PSCI 344.01. There are many items, including study guides, posted on Moodle. In the past there were links of the syllabus to these items, but these items have now been posted on Moodle. Link to the Montana State Constitution      http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca_toc/CONSTITUTION.htm  Link to Governing.com, one of the best sources of information about the state and local arena available.  http://www.governing.com   Council of State Governments, the leading professional organization for the states. http://www.csg.org/csg/default  Link to City Journal, one of the most interesting sources about urban politics and issues.  http://www.city-journal.org/index.html  State Budget Paper and Information  This paper is posted on Moodle. For anyone interested in the state budget, this is an annual paper written for the Western Political Science Association about Montana's budget.  New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, and Hurricane Katrina dominated the news in 2005 and continues 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. 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, titled, “THE KATRINA BREAKDOWN," by Jonathan Walters & Donald Kettl.  7  Stateline.org is a great website dedicated entirely to news and information about the states and their local governments.  http://www.stateline.org/  Student Website for the Bowman & Kearney text, 9/e (You can purchase this book as an e-Textbook at the following link) http://www.cengage.com/search/productOverview.do?Ntt=115241602112711363348153369041961398942&N=16+4294922390+4294967248+4294965528&Ntk=P_EPI  Table of Contents for Van Horn, 4/e – This book is OPTIONAL  1. Power, Politics, and Public Policy in the States, Carl E. Van Horn  2. The State of State Elections, Kenneth Dautrich and David A. Yalof  3. Legislators and Legislatures, Alan Rosenthal  4. Being Governor, Thad L. Beyle  5. State Courts in Their Political Environment, Lawrence Baum  6. Accountability Battles in State Administration, William T. Gormley, Jr.   7. State Government Finances: A Review of Current Conditions and the Outlook, Henry Coleman  8. State Education Policy in the New Millennium, Margaret E. Goertz  9. State Welfare Policy, Irene Lurie  10. State Health Policy, Joel Cantor  Syllabus for Fall 2015 campus class 

PSCI 344.01: State and Local Government

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PSCI 344.01: State and Local Government

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