American Government 3rd Edition 

Krutz, Waskiewicz; Free Web Version

 ISBN-13: 978-1-951693-38-1 

Openstax, Rice University

https://openstax.org/details/books/american-government-3e

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Explain the origin and development of constitutional democracy in the United States. 

2. Demonstrate knowledge of the federal system.

 3. Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice. 

4. Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government. 

5. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in the political system.

 6. Analyze the election process. 

7. Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens. 8. Analyze issues and policies in U.S. politics.

Exams.........................................40%

Unit Assignments.......................20%

Semester Project/Paper.............20%

Quizzes.......................................20%

Make-up work and exams are given at the discretion of the Instructor. In cases of personal illness or emergency, with proper documentation, the instructor will allow make-up work, but only if the student requests one immediately upon return to class. 

Using AI to complete any assignments is strictly prohibited. This includes the use of Grammarly and other wordsmith websites. Your work should be completely your own. Any student caught plagiarizing/cheating/ using AI will automatically receive a 0 on the assignment. Any student caught plagiarizing/cheating/using AI more than once will receive a 0 as the final grade in the course.

Late work is not accepted in this course, unless due to verifiable personal illness or emergency and always at the discretion of the instructor.

In this course we will frequently discuss current events, and at times, some students may find these topics controversial. It is important to keep in mind that different students may come from a different background and therefore may have different experiences and points of view. Students may disagree on these points of view. Disagreements lead to critical thinking, scholarly debates and learning but only when students disagree respectfully. Disrespect towards any person or group of people, whether inside this classroom or out, will not be tolerated. Students may not denigrate or attack any person or single out any person based on race, gender, religion, age, ethnicity, nationality, abilities, appearance, or sexual orientation. Any student turning in any assignments or posting any discussion posts that fail to meet the above standards will not receive credit for that work.

The instructor will grade and return all submitted work ASAP, but grade turnaround will never take longer than 7 days after the assignment is due, without advance notice.

As this is an online course, there is no attendance policy, but discussion posts will be counted as class participation. Each student must create their own post for the grade (including posing an original question) and then answer two of their classmates’ questions each week to receive attendance and participation points.