GOVT-2306 Texas State and Local Government

David Albert

Credit Spring 2023

Section(s)

GOVT-2306-034 (60989)
LEC MW 10:30am - 11:50am RVS RVSG 9114

Readings

Required Textbook:  Texas Politics Today (19th edition) Mark P. Jones and Ernest Crain (available on Blackboard).  Unless you opt out, you have already paid for the book at a discounted rate through your tuition as part of ACC’s First Day program.  Information on First Day is available at http://austincc.edu/firstday.  More details below.

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

Course Content/Description/Goal: This course is designed to provide students with critical understanding and insight into the structure, nature and operations of Texas government, democracy, politics and some current public policy debates.  The goal of the course is to prepare students to become well-informed, knowledgeable, and engaged citizens.  This course is designed to improve students’ critical thinking, reading and writing skills.  The course will include in-person lectures and discussions, an online textbook, online materials as well as the use of supplemental audio-visual materials.

Course Requirements

 Course Requirements

10% - Attendance                               10% - Blackboard postings

70% - 3 tests (23.33% each)               10% - Class Participation 

 

Evaluation Methods/Exams/Grading:  The standard grading scale will apply for A to F grading.  Incomplete grades will only be given under special circumstances with certified medical or otherwise documented excuses. The instructor reserves the right to round final grades. Last Day to withdraw:  Monday, April 24

Grading Scale:    A – 90% to 100%              B – 80% to 90%                  C – 70% to 80%                               

                              D – 60% to 70%                F – Below 60%

 

Participation/Attendance (20%): You are expected to attend class – every day.  Lateness will not be tolerated and will be penalized.  Attendance will be taken every day.  Sleeping in class or doing work for other classes is not acceptable.  You are expected to be familiar with the news of the day for each class, because it may come up in class.  You are expected to have read the day’s reading assignment and view the day’s lectures BEFORE class.  Under the current circumstances, a more flexible attendance policy will be applied.  Contact the instructor if you have difficulties make the discussion sections.  Attendance is 10% of your grade.    

Class Participation is 10% of your grade.  Students are required to actively participate in class by being engaged in class discussions, taking notes, asking questions, and keeping up with assigned reading and current events.  Non-participation will be penalized at the instructor’s discretion. Cell phones and text messaging are not allowed in class. Texting in class is strictly prohibited and will be penalized.  Please turn off all phones and mobile devices before class starts.  Try to be mentally present, not just physically.   

Exams (70%): There will be three in-class exams (23.33% each) will be given.  The exams will be divided roughly on each test into 10% current event questions, 50% objective fill-in-blank questions covering the material in the chapters, and 40% essays discussing the materials in the chapters. Bonus questions will be included so that the total number of points will exceed 100, but the grade will be taken from a 100-point scale The current events and objective portions will be done as an in-class exam and the essay portions will be done as a take-home exam which will be submitted online.  More details on current events follows later on in the syllabus.

Late exams: If you are going to miss an exam, contact the instructor BEFORE the exam by email.  Feel free to use the emergency number on the syllabus to call or send a text. Failing to show-up to take an exam will be penalized.  Non-penalized makeup exams will be given only with a certified medical excuse for yourself or a family member, documented work-related absence, or other documented excuse.  “I overslept” is not an excused absence.  “I had to do an assignment for another class” is not an excused absence.   As a general rule, makeup exams will be given only with a verified medical excuse and will not be given after exams have been returned.

ESL Students:  English as Second Language students who are still in the process of acquiring basic English skills should consult with the instructor about testing accommodations including the use of a dictionary or translator during testing.  Issues will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

 

 

 

 
 

Blackboard discussion (10%): You will comment substantially on 5 Blackboard posts on public policy issues covered in the documentaries that are shown in class.  You must complete 1 Blackboard during first part of the course and 2 each during the second part and third parts of the course.  In this class, the some documentaries will be shown in class as part of the class curriculum.  Others will be accessible either via Blackboard or the ACC Library Catalog.  Each post will be due a week after the film is shown in class on the date specified on Blackboard and on the syllabus (unless otherwise specified).  You will NOT receive credit for more than 5 of these posts each of which is worth 2% of your grade.  When discussing a question, you must respond using material from the film in a substantive and detailed way.  You should express a clear and thoughtful opinions or ideas.  This means you must write several paragraphs – about 300 words - that shows a substantive effort.  That does not mean a summary.  You should be addressing the questions asked about the film.  Blackboard posts will be due at the time specified on the Blackboard post and will not be accepted late.  A bonus assignment that involves watching several feature films and commenting on Blackboard is explained later in the syllabus and will be worth up to 3% extra credit on your final grade.  See supplemental instructions later in this syllabus.

Course Subjects

Course Calendar – Texas Government

Week

Dates

Course Activities
  1.  

Mon 1/16

MLK Day – No Class – Think about Civil Rights

Wed 1/18

Introduction to course & syllabus
  1.  

Mon 1/23

Finish Introduction; Start Prologue: Texas’s Political Roots

Wed 1/25

Finish Prologue: Texas’s Political Roots
  1.  

Mon 1/30

Start Chapter 1 – Texas Culture and Diversity                 

Wed 2/1

Finish Chapter 1; Film: The Longoria Affair (on an incident of discrimination in South Texas in late 1940s) (BB post due 2/8)
  1.  

Mon 2/6

Chapter 2 – Texas in the Federal System

Wed 2/8

Chapter 3 – Texas Constitution in Perspective
  1.  

Mon 2/13

Start Chapter 4 – Voting and Elections

Wed 2/15

Finish Chapter 4 – Voting and Elections
  1.  

Mon 2/20

Film:  Last Man Standing (on a State legislative race in 2002) (BB post due 2/27)

Wed 2/21

Test 1 (Prologue, Chapters 1-4); Take-home portion of Test 1 due 2/27
  1.  

Mon 2/27

Chapter 5 – Political Parties[Complete 1of2 BB posts for part 1]/ Take-home portion due

Wed 3/1

Chapter 6 - Interest Groups

  1.  

Mon 3/6

Films: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (on the collapse of Enron) & Jesus Camp (on the socialization of religious right) (BB posts due 3/13)

Wed 3/8

Start Chapter 7 – The Legislature (focused on Organization and Structure)

 

3/13 – 3/17

Spring Break / Enjoy SXSW

9.

Mon 3/20

Finish Chapter 7 - The Legislature (focused on the Legislative Process) / Film: Beyond the Wall (on undocumented immigration) (BB Post 3/27)

Wed 3/22

Film: Tower (on 1966 UT Tower Shooting) (BB post due on 3/29)

10.

 

Mon 3/27

Start Chapter 8 - The Executive Branch (on Governors)

Wed 3/29

Finish Chapter 8 - The Executive Branch (on other Executive Branch officials)

11.

 

Mon 4/3

Film: Revisionaries (on the Texas State Board of Education) and Code of the West (on Medical Marijuana in Montana) (BB post due 4/10)

Wed 4/5

Test 2 (Chapters 5-8); Take-home portion of Test 2 due 4/10

12.

Mon 4/10

Start Chapter 9 - Texas Judiciary [Complete 2 of 6 BB posts for Part 2]

Wed 4/12

Start Chapter 10 – Law and Due Process - Civil

13.

Mon 4/17

Film: Tulia, TX (on racial profiling in North Texas in 1990s) / Also Evidence of Innocence (on mistaken conviction of Michael Morton) (BB posts due 4/24)

Wed 4/19

Chapter 10 – Law and Due Process – criminal

14.

Mon 4/24

Chapter 10 – Law and Due Process - Death penalty / Film: Death by Fire (on an execution in Texas) (Preview Film: Writ Writer (on Texas prison conditions), Two Towns of Jasper (on the aftermath of the dragging death of James Byrd in Jasper, TX) (BB posts due 5/1)

Wed 4/26

Start Chapter 11 – Local Government

15.

Mon 5/1

Finish Chapter 11 – Local Government / Film: Building the American Dream (on workers’ rights in Texas) / Preview Film: Unforeseen (on economic development in the environment in Austin) (BB posts due 5/8)

Wed 5/3

Start Chapter 12 – Public Policy in Texas

16.

Mon 5/8

Finish Chapter 12 – Public Policy in Texas / Film: The Forgotten Americans (on the Colonias/shantytowns in South Texas) (BB post due 5/15)

Wed 5/10

Test 3 (Chapters 9-12); Take-Home portion of the Test 3 due 5/12

Fri 5/12

Take-Home portion of the Test 3 due by 5pm

 

Mon 5/15

Bonus Blackboard posts due, 10:00am [Complete 2 of 8 BB posts for Part 3]

Wed 5/17

Final grades will be posted and submitted to ACC by 5:00pm

Office Hours

Office Hours

Published: 01/15/2023 15:59:38