POLS 220: American Parties and Elections

Instructor: John W. Williams

Recommended Prerequisites: POLS 120 

Material and skills covered:

* Political parties -- Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Reform, Greens

* Public opinion -- polls, manipulation, campaign advertising, propaganda

* Campaigns & elections -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008; we'll do exit polling! 

* Media – our goal is to produced and present a four-hour live TV broadcast

* Ability to explore and understand the political process at a deeper level

* Critical thinking * "theoretical" thinking * understanding political behavior 

Methods used:

* Reading of theoretical material  

* Lots of class discussions

* Lots of "case studies" and real-life, including guest speakers & candidates

* Field trips to political rallies, party meetings, and fund raisers

* Independent reading and research paper

* Class research project involving exit polling on Election Day 

* Election Night broadcast from Merrick studies, closed circuit tv & internet radio

Grade determined by:

* Three tests (on political parties, campaigns and elections, and public opinion) 

* Election-outcome prediction memo (7-10 pages, typed) on the state of your choice 

* Election-outcome prediction video (2-3 minutes, to be aired on election night)

* Participation in election night broadcast, with election result updates

* Participation in election day exit polling in Jersey County—doing political research

Attendance policy:

* Students are expected to attend class; there is a correlation between the success in a course and class attendance.