United States Government
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United States Government
- Instructor: Mr. Blair
This course is a comprehensive study of government in the United States, including the basic principles of American government and political culture and a cross-cultural examination of institutions, processes, and public policies. It will give students an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States.
This course includes both the study of general concepts used to interpret U.S. government and politics and the analysis of specific examples. It also requires familiarity with the various institutions, groups, beliefs, and ideas that constitute U.S. government and politics. Students should become acquainted with the variety of theoretical perspectives and explanations for various behaviors and outcomes. These certain topics are usually covered in all college courses.
Coursework will consist of assignments and lectures, with a test at least once a week. Anyone is welcome to follow along and read all the course material. However, those who are actually participating in this course should be independent and motivated learners. Completion of most of the coursework in this class requires a very decent command of the English language.
Grades will be based on participation, work ethic, and exam scores. If at anytime, you would like to know what your current grade is, please just send me a message on my talk page or on Engrade and I will give you a full report of where you stand in the course. The grade scale for this course is as such:
- A = 100% - 93%
- B = 92% - 85%
- C = 84% - 74%
- D = 73% - 64%
- F = 63% - 0%
I will always be available at anytime to answer questions that you may have. If you need help, you can simply just post to my talk page or on the course talk page. Alternatively, you can message me on Skype at the address of austinteacher.
Course Outline
To participate in this, please just leave your name in the class roster below and you will be sent a message explaining what to do. This course will be given out in lessons through a virtual classroom where you will have assignments, quizzes, and tests given out to you. These will be graded through Engrade and sent back to you.
Semester 1
- Week 1: People and Government
- Week 2: Origins of American Government
- Week 3: The Constitution
- Week 4: The Federal System
- Week 5: The Organization of Congress
- Week 6: Development of Congressional Powers
- Week 7: Congress At Work
- Week 8: The Presidency
- Week 9: Presidential Leadership
- Week 10: The Federal Bureaucracy
- Week 11: The Federal Court System
- Week 12: Supreme Court Decision Making
- Week 13: Constitutional Freedoms
Semester II
- Week 14: Citizenship and Equal Justice
- Week 15: Law in America
- Week 16: Political Parties
- Week 17: Elections and Voting
- Week 18: Interest Groups and Public Opinion
- Week 19: The Mass Media
- Week 20: Taxing and Spending
- Week 21: Social and Domestic Policy
- Week 22: Foreign Policy and Defense
- Week 23: Structure and Function of State Government
- Week 24: Structure and Function of Local Government
- Week 25: Political Systems in Today's World
- Week 26: Development of Economic Systems
Assignments
All assignments will be sent to you at the end of every lecture. Please answer the questions and you are to turn them into me by the beginning of the next week. You are allowed to work with others, but I should see your answers when you turn them into me. To turn your assignments in, you can either put them on either of the talk pages, message them to me on Skype, or (probably the best way) send them to me on Engrade in a message.
Please know that you will begin your course when I see that you have responded to my original message. Once I know that you are serious about attending the course, then we can set up dates from there. If there is late or incomplete work on your part, then that will affect your grade. Here is how your grade will work:
- Once you sign up for this course, you automatically get 100 points just for signing up. These 100 points can be used to your advantage or to your disadvantage. These are for participation, so if I see that you are on here regularly and turn your assignments in regularly, then you will keep your 100 points. If I don't see that from you, I will start deducting those points.
- The number of points an assignment is depends on how many questions it is asking.
As stated above, cheating is not tolerated in this course. If I see you cheating or some inkling of it, then you are automatically out of the course. To prevent this, give me your honest scores, stick with your own tests/quizzes, and in no time, you will be highly respected by me and your grade may be go up!
Tests & Quizzes
You will have a quiz at the end of every lecture and you will be expected to turn that in along with any other assignments by the beginning of the next week. These quizzes will be a basic review of what you have learned throughout the particular lecture. Tests will be given out after you have completed that whole week and will cover everything that you have learned in that particular period. Unit tests are a basic review covering a particular period of time that we have gone over and are given out about every 3-5 weeks.
To get a test, please send me a message and it will be emailed to you either by your email account or usually through Engrade. Once you have your test completed, send it back to me and it will be reviewed and graded. The same goes for quizzes as you just tell me your score and it will be graded.
Communication
When you get into this course, it may seem that there are quite a few things to do and you may be a bit confused about it. Please know that throughout this course, you can communicate at anytime in our talk page here. In these discussions, we will basically be going through what we did in the week, any questions or comments that you may have, and a bit of feedback and how to improve the course. I would really like to get your full opinions and attention throughout this course because without criticism or feedback, I cannot move much further with these lessons.
So, if at anytime that you have a question or just feel a bit confused, please feel free to contact me at anytime and I will be there as soon as possible!
Throughout these lessons, I will be asking for your feedback and what you think about the course so far, so please refer to the Feedback page here.
Class Roster
Sign up below if interested. This course is simply an open entry and open exit course. Simply list your name below to enroll in the Human Legacy. As soon as you have posted your name on this class's page, I will send you a message explaining what to do and how to schedule a quick orientation lesson. Respond to this as soon as possible and we can begin from there.
- MrABlair23 (Instructor)
- Angela Alexander
- Newellington

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- Follow these links to review guidelines on how to make this course successful. Intro to Learning Projects • The Main Learning Projects Page • Credentials, diplomas & provenance • Policies • Education