PSC 160 INT - American National Government

Fall 2009

Rock Valley College

P.S. Ruckman, Jr. came to RVC in 1998.  He was born and raised in Pensacola, FL. and earned B.A. degrees in both political science and philosophy from the University of West Florida. Professor Ruckman earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in political science from Florida State University and taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in constitutional law and judicial politics at NIU from 1991-1997. Professor Ruckman has published articles in the Journal of Politics, Presidential Studies Quarterly and Social Science Quarterly and his research and commentary have been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Congressional Quarterly, and Rolling Stone magazine. He has been a guest on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation and On the Media and has been consulted by the CBS Evening News, Newsweek, and Harper’s Magazine. Professor Ruckman is also Editor of the Ultimate Political Science Links Page (a leading web resource for political scientists world-wide) and the "Pardon Power Blog."  His wife, Heidi E. Ruckman, is a graduate of the John Marshall School of Law and a practicing attorney.

American Government, James Q. Wilson and John J. Dilulio, Jr. (11th Edition). ISBN: 0-618-95612-3.

Student Handbook, American Government. James Q. Wilson and John J. Dilulio, Jr. (11th Edition).

Computer Skills / Other Course Requirements

Homework Questions (16 Assignments / 20 Percent of Overall Grade)

Each week – on Sunday evening - the instructor will post a homework worksheet with questions from the text associated with the readings for the week. Students can link to these worksheets by going to the appropriate link on the class web page (the current section will always be highlighted in yellow). Worksheet questions will refer to material in the order that it appears within the text. The questions will also be distributed so as to coincide with each test and to ensure students are reading on a regular basis.  Students are required to answer all of the questions for each worksheet in a timely fashion. The deadline for submission of the questions and associated answers will be midnight, each following Friday evening. The instructor will be happy to accept submissions any time before deadlines but will never, ever, in any circumstance, accept submissions after this deadline. There will be no exceptions made for this rule. Questions and associated answers should be . submitted to PSC160INT@aol.com and the subject line should contain only your last name. 

Homework Questions: Scoring and Purpose

       Students can expect that the instructor will automatically explain the grading on each of the questions for the first assignment (or two). If there are trends that need to be addressed, the instructor will point them out. Likewise, if trends develop throughout the semester, the instructor will point them out individually, or in group e-mails. Regardless, students should feel free, at any point in the semester, to ask for a full explanation for the grading of any and all assignments after the fact. Explanations will generally take the form of two steps 1) listing of specific question numbers that were marked "incorrect" and a brief (one or two word) explanation 2) upon further request, a more full explanation of any scoring which the student was not able to understand by looking at the questions, reading the brief explanation for scoring and revisiting the test. 

       Homework questions are designed to make sure that you are reading the textbook on a regular basis. There is far too much material in the text and the tests are far too demanding to "cram." The material emphasized in the homework questions will be used, however, in the creation of the tests. As is the case with the questions in the Student Handbook, test questions will focus on the material that is highlighted in the homework questions. Finally, the percentage of homework questions that are answered correctly will constitute 20 percent of the overall course grade.

Academic Dishonesty:

The following policy on Academic Dishonesty is published in the Rock Valley College Student Handbook (pages 59-60) and is applicable to all of the assignments in this class: Plagiarism is the representation of someone else’s intellectual property (words, ideas, or data) as one’s own.  When a student submits work for credit that includes the work of others, the source of the information must be properly acknowledged through complete, accurate and specific references. If verbatim statements are included, quotations marks must be used ... Students may not copy any part of another student’s assignment [and] collaboration in the completion of assignments is prohibited unless explicitly permitted by the instructor. Students must acknowledge any collaboration and its extent in all submitted course work. [The] faculty member has original jurisdiction over all instances of academic misconduct that occur in his or her course [and] will access the appropriate academic penalty [including] a failing grade for the course. [If] the faculty member feels a penalty greater than an F in the course is warranted, the faculty member will file a written statement of the allegations with the Director of Enrollment Services and Judicial Affairs.  

Tests (4 Given on Campus / 80 percent of overall grade)

       There will be four tests during the course of the semester. The dates for each test are provided below. There will be no “final exam” in the sense of a comprehensive exercise. The last test is simply “test four.” If you already know of a conflict that will prevent you from taking a test, you should probably withdraw from the class. Tests will not be given “early” and the instructor will not ship tests to other locations for administration. Students are free to take the tests at any time consistent with the hours of Testing Center (lower section of Student Center). Each of the four tests will be built on the material emphasized in questions found in the Student Handbook (Data Check, True/False Questions and Multiple Choice Questions) and weekly homework worksheets. Students should be aware that the tests are not based on the questions, but the material emphasized in the questions. While identical questions may appear, students should not expect this. Data Check questions will focus more so on trends than exact numbers.

       Test scores will generally be posted the day after the second day of administration. Students can track these scores, and their overall grade, by going to the course home page and clicking on the “Scorecard” link. Grades are arranged by the last two digits of the student ID and are in random order. If you are not certain as to which grade is yours, contact the instructor.

C (70-79)

Test Schedule

Course Schedule / by Topic

Ch. 4 American Political Culture

Ch. 7 Public Opinion

Ch. 10 Elections and Campaigns

TEST TWO

Ch. 16 The Judiciary

Ch. 20 Foreign and Military Policy