212 Syllabus SPS

PURPOSE:

1997 Catalog description, PSC 212: American Policy System The system of making and implementing public policy with case studies of public policy such as foreign policy, economic policy and civil rights. State and local government with Alabama as a particular example. Recommended: 201.

This introductory course will be devoted primarily to the process and results of policymaking at the federal, state and local level. This course, not simply the second half of American Government, has an emphasis on public policy using Larry Brewster's lively text, The Public Agenda; and more emphasis on the state level and the basic characteristics of international relations.

This course will present you with some of the moral questions about public policy and explain some of the choices the American system has made in public programs. For example:

What does federal law actually say about abortion, school prayer or capital punishment?
How does the law match or contradict public opinion?
Why is American health care policy or taxation so distinct from that of other developed liberal democracies?
Is the federal government actually distinguished by waste, fraud and abuse -- or is that more true of the states and cities, including Alabama and Montgomery?

For this purpose we shall examine classic readings in political theory and perhaps recognize the echoes of their arguments in current political debates. Throughout the Janda text you will find fascinating data tables -- and in Serow's The Lanahan Polity Reader, classic readings of political theory. Janda and Serow are also used for PSC 201. Except for Janda, the books are inexpensive paperbacks.

ABOUT THE BOOKS:

Kenneth Janda, Jeffrey Berry and Sheldon Goldman, The Challenge of Democracy. (Houghton Mifflin /DC Heath.) Probably the liveliest of the more theoretical leading texts. [Chapters 11-20]
Study Guide for the Challenge of Democracy. (Houghton Mifflin /DC Heath.) [Chapters 11-20]. Recommended as preparation for tests, explains text's concepts, but not required.
Ann Serow (ed), The Lanahan American Polity Reader. (Lanahan Press.) [Parts 13-16]. The cheapest and yet perhaps the most plentiful anthology on the market. You will present and discuss most of these in seminar sessions, matching each section to a chapter of Challenge.
William Riordon, Plunkitt of Tamany Hall. (Dutton). [Entire]. Classic, brief memoir of ward politics in an immigrant machine. How well does this relate to modern Alabamian politics?
Lawrence G. Brewster and Genie Stowers, The Public Agenda. (Thomson /Wadsworth.) [Entire]. A lively, inexpensive text on topics in public policy.
Some other materials (e.g. on Alabama state politics) may be linked online.

Students With Disabilities, HC notice: "Huntingdon College makes every reasonable accommodation for disabilities that have been processed and approved through our Disability Services Committee in accord with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. In order to request disability-related services at Huntingdon College, students must self-identify to the Disabilities Intake Coordinator, Ms. Jennifer Ishler, and provide appropriate and up-to-date documentation to verify their disability or special needs. After the accommodations have been approved by the Disability Services Committee, the 504 Coordinator, Dr. Glenn Cobb, will notify your professor(s) of the Committee’s decision. If you have any questions regarding reasonable accommodation or need to request disability-related services, please contact Disability Services at (334) 833-4556 or email disabilityservices@huntingdon.edu."