Download govt 2306 learning objectives

GOVT 2306
Summer 2009
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: UNIT I
After reading Chapters 1 and 2 in the Keith and Haag textbook and attending the lectures, the student
should be able to:
Lectures: Unit I

Explain how a framework facilitates an understanding of politics and government.

Distinguish between politics and government.

List and define the five ideas of the American Creed.

Describe the importance of the American Creed.

Describe how individualism, liberty, and equality relate to the analysis of politics.

Describe how democracy and constitutionalism relate to the analysis of government.

Describe the four conditions of democracy: political equality, deliberation, participation,
nontyranny.

Describe the two forms of democracy: majoritarian and pluralist.

Describe the nondemocratic possibility: elitism.

Describe the institutional arrangements and processes that promote each form of democracy.

Describe Huntington’s paradigm of American politics.

Describe the IvI gap.

Describe the responses to the IvI gap and the factors that produce them.

Describe the logical progression of responses to the IvI gap.

Describe the factors that produce periods of creedal passion or moralism in American politics.
Chapter 1: Ideas, People and Economics in Texas Politics

Describe how the face of Texas is changing and the effects of those changes.

Describe the origins of Texas politics and government.

Describe the ethnic goups of Texas

Native Americans

Hispanics

African Americans

Asian Americans

Anglos

Describe the politics of Native American gambling in Texas (Politics Now).

Describe the contemporary population of Texas.

Describe the population projections for Texas from 2005 to 2040 (Analyzing Visuals).
GOVT 2306
Summer 2009
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Describe the urbanization of Texas.

Describe how Texas's historical experiences have shaped the five ideas of the Texan Creed:

Individualism

Liberty

Constitutionalism

Democracy

Equality

Describe the battle for Texas (Texas Values/Texas Voices).

Describe the how the Texas ERA has affected politics (The Living Constitution).

Describe the four political ideologies in Texas: libertarian, populist, conservative, and liberal.

Describe the evolution of the civics education requirement for Texas colleges and universities (On
Campus).

Describe the evolution of the Texas economy from cotton to cattle and from cattle to petroleum.

Describe the contemporary economy of Texas.

Describe wealth and poverty in Texas.

Describe the distribution of income in Texas (Analyzing Visuals).

Define the key terms at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 2: Constitutionalism

Describe the attempts to revise the Texas Constitution of 1876.

Describe the origins of the current Texas Constitution:

1836 Constitution

1845 Constitution

1861 Constitution

1866 Constitution

1869 Constitution

Describe Governor Coke’s influence on the 1876 Texas Constitution (Texas Values/Texas Voices).

Describe the Delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention of 1875.

Describe the reasons for the 1876 Constitution.

Describe the structure of the 1876 Constitution.

Describe the patterns of voter turnout in Constitutional amendment elections (Analyzing Visuals).

Describe how the increasing rate of adoption of constitutional amendments has affected the
current Texas Constitution (Analyzing Visuals).

Describe how the courts have interpreted Article 7, section 1 of the Texas Constitution (The
Living Constitution).

Describe the process for amending the 1876 constitution and its effect.

Describe the consequences and dilemmas of a statutory constitution.

Describe the piecemeal constitutional revision efforts in Texas.
GOVT 2306
Summer 2009
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Describe the early comprehensive constitutional revision efforts.

Describe the 1974 Constitutional Convention and its failure to produce a constitution.

Describe the failed amendments of 1975.

Describe the 1999 constitutional revision efforts.

Describe the provisions of the Angelo State University students’ Texas Constitution (On Campus).

Describe the origins and adoption of the Texas Marriage Amendment (Politics Now).

Discuss whether Texas should adopt the initiative process (Join the Debate).

Define the key terms at the end of the chapter.
GOVT 2306
Summer 2009
Learning Objectives: Unit II
After reading Chapters 3 and 4 in the Keith and Haag textbook and attending the lectures, the student
should be able to:
Chapter 3: Voting and Participating: Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Elections

Describe the governor's race of 2006 involving Rick Perry, Chris Bell, Carole Keeton Strayhorn,
and Kinky Friedman.

Describe the development of political parties, interest groups, campaigns, and elections.

Describe the three parts or components of political parties.

Distinguish between the formal organization and the functional organization of a political party.

Describe the conventions that make up the political parties' temporary organizations:



Precinct conventions

County or senatorial district conventions

State conventions
Describe the elements that make up the political parties' permanent organizations:

Precinct chairperson

County chairperson

County executive committee

State executive committee
Describe the functional organization of the political parties in terms of:

Democratic Party unity

Republican Party unity

Party effectiveness at each level of party organization

Describe the Republican and Democratic Party Platforms (Texas Values/Texas Voices).

Describe the party in the electorate in terms of:

The distribution of party attachments

The Democratic and Republican party coalitions

Describe the changes in party identification in Texas between 1952 and 2003.

Describe the changes in the Democratic and Republican Party coalitions that occurred in the
1980s and 1990s.

Describe how political parties effect political change through critical elections and realignments.

Describe how the party in government operates in each of the three branches of Texas
government.

Describe the types of interest groups.
o
Business and Trade Associations
o
Professional Associations
o
Labor Groups
o
Racial and Ethnic Groups
GOVT 2306
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Summer 2009
Public-Interest Groups
Describe the political activities of interest groups.
o
Lobbying
o
Electioneering
o
Litigation

Describe the effects of limiting medical liability (Politics Now).

Describe the types of elections in Texas
o
Primary elections
o
Special elections
o
General elections
o
Local elections

Describe the influence of money, media, and marketing on contemporary political campaigns in
Texas.

Describe the creation and development of the burntorangereport.com blog (On Campus).

Describe the factors that influence voter turnout and the effect of each factor.

Describe limits on the right to vote in Texas ( The Living Constitution).

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of electronic voting (Join the Debate).

Describe voter turnout in Texas from 1958 to 2006 (Analyzing Visuals).

Describe the three factors that influence the vote choice.

Compare the 1986 and 2002 gubernatorial elections in terms of the relative importance of
parties, issues, and candidates on the voters' choices.

Define the key terms at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 4: The Legislative Branch

Describe the efforts by House Democrats to prevent congressional redistricting in 2003.

Describe the functions of the legislative branch.

Describe the origins of the legislative branch.

Describe the historical basis for representation in the Texas Senate (The Living Constitution).

Describe the structural characteristics of the Texas legislature.

Differentiate between regular and special sessions of the legislature.

List and describe the constitutional requirements for membership in the legislature.

Describe the redistricting process and its significance.

Describe the arguments for and against nonpartisan legislative redistricting (Join the Debate).

Describe recent reelection rates and turnover rates for members and leaders in the legislature.

Describe key personal and political characteristics of contemporary Texas legislators and contrast
those with characteristics of Texas legislators of the past.

Describe the ideologies of members of the Texas House in 2005 (Analyzing Visuals).

Describe the rise of partisanship in the Texas House (Politics Now).
GOVT 2306
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Summer 2009
Describe the following legislative leaders' powers, duties, selection:

Senate president

House speaker

Committee chairpersons

Describe the different types of committees in the legislature.

Describe the role of committees in the legislative process.

Describe the "Speaker's Race" and explain its significance.

Compare and contrast the powers of the Senate president and the House speaker.

Describe the party and non-party caucuses in the legislature and their roles.

Describe the role and procedures of the House Calendars Committee and the Senate Two-Thirds
Rule.

Describe the debates in the Texas legislature on HJR 6 (Texas Values/Texas Voices).

Describe the steps in how a bill becomes a law and how a constitutional amendment is
proposed.

Describe the budgeting process in Texas.

Describe the role of staff in the legislative process and the battles over the control of staffing
and information.

Describe the role of outside actors such as the governor and lobbyists in legislators' decision
making.

Describe how student interns learn about legislative politics (On Campus).

Describe the 1993 ethics reforms and their origins.

Define the key terms at the end of the chapter.
GOVT 2306
Summer 2009
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: UNIT III
After reading Chapters 5 and 6 in the Keith and Haag textbook and attending the lectures, the student
should be able to:
Chapter 5: The Governor and Executive Branch

Describe battle between Governor Perry and Comptroller Strayhorn.

Describe the development of the executive in Texas.

Describe the constitutional provisions pertaining to the governor:

o
tenure
o
salary
o
impeachment
o
succession
Describe the following roles of the governor:

Chief of state

Commander-in-chief

Chief executive officer

Chief budget officer

Chief law enforcement and judicial officer

Chief legislator

Party leader

Describe the development of gubernatorial power.

Compare the Texas governor’s power with the powers of other governors.

Describe the Texas governor’s powers to appoint executive officials.

Describe the values relating to gender, race, and money in gubernatorial appointments (Texas
Values/Texas Voices).

Describe the power of staff and the budget of the governor’s office.

Describe the arguments for and against the Texas governor having a cabinet (Join the Debate).

Describe the governor as policy maker and as political leader, including:

Public opinion leadership.

Relations with the legislature.

Describe the ideology of Texas governors (Analyzing Visuals).

Describe the Texas governor’s veto power (The Living Constitution).

Describe the plural executive in Texas.

Describe the functions of the following executive offices:

Attorney general

Controller of public accounts

Land commissioner
GOVT 2306
Summer 2009
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Agriculture commissioner

Railroad commissioners

State Board of Education

Describe the development and activities of student regents (On Campus).

Describe the modern Texas bureaucracy and its organization:
o
Two basic patterns of organization
o
Secretary of State
o
Public Utility Commission
o
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
o
Insurance commissioner
o
Health and Human Services Commission
o
Public counsels
o
Boards and commissions

Describe how the agencies are made accountable.

Describe the sunset process in Texas.

Compare state employment and compensation in Texas with that in other states.

Describe the Texas Residential Construction Commission and its role (Politics Now).

Define the key terms at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 6: The Judicial Branch

Describe the decision by Chief Justice Tom Phillips to resign his position on the Texas Supreme
Court.

Describe the development of the Texas Judiciary

Describe the structure of the Texas judiciary.

Describe the two supreme courts in Texas (The Living Constitution).

Describe the jurisdictions and functions of the courts:

local trial courts of limited jurisdiction

county trial courts of limited jurisdiction

district courts

intermediate appellate courts

supreme courts

Describe the judges and judicial selection in Texas.

Describe the arguments for and against the election of Texas judges (Join the Debate).

Describe the actions of Texans for public Justice (TPJ) to reform judicial selection in Texas
(Politics Now).

Describe the criticisms of the judicial branch in Texas.

Describe the battle over methods of judicial selection (Texas Values/Texas Voices).

Describe the cartoon depicting justice as for sale in Texas (Analyzing Visuals).
GOVT 2306
Summer 2009
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Describe the criminal justice process in Texas.

Describe the activities of the Texas Center for Actual Innocence (On Campus ).

Describe the civil justice process in Texas.

Define the key words at the end of the chapter.
GOVT 2306
Summer 2009
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: UNIT IV
After reading Chapters 7 and 8 in the Keith and Haag textbook and attending the lectures, the student
should be able to:
Chapter 7: Local Governments

Describe the efforts of local governments to deal with the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Describe the development of local government in Texas.

Describe the patterns of population change in Texas counties (Analyzing Visuals).

Describe the problems encountered in establishing home rule for Texas counties (The Living
Constitution).

Describe the structure of county government, including the following officials' functions:

county judge

commissioners court

county commissioners

district attorney

county attorney

sheriff

tax assessor-collector

district clerk and county clerk

treasurer

county auditor

Describe the authority of county governments.

Describe the finances of county governments.

Compare and contrast general-law cities and home-rule cities.

Describe the forms of city government:

mayor-council

council-manager

city commission

Describe the type of government and election systems in Texas’s ten largest cities,

Describe the authority and functions of city governments.

Describe the battle over form of city government in Dallas (Politics Now).

Describe the finances of city governments.

Describe the arguments for and against photographing red-light runners (Join the Debate).

Describe the annexation powers of cities and their limitations.

Describe the methods of electing city council members and their effects.

Describe the emergence of strong Hispanic leaders in San Antonio (Texas Values/Texas Voices).

Describe students and their attempts to win local office (On Campus).
GOVT 2306
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Summer 2009
Describe special districts in terms of their:

types.

governance.

sources of revenue.
Define the key terms at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 8: Public Policy in Texas

Describe the Texas Public Policy Foundation and its political activities.

Describe the evolution of public policy in Texas.

Describe the stages in the public policy process.

Describe the policy actors in public policy.

Describe policy outcomes, including David Osborne’s two primary roles of government.

Describe budgeting and borrowing in Texas.

Describe the major sources of revenue in Texas:

taxes

federal funds

other revenue sources

Describe the evolution of the constitutional cap on welfare in Texas (The Living Constitution).

Describe the level of taxation in Texas.

Describe the effects of Texas's tax system on individuals.

Describe tax incidence in Texas

Describe state spending in Texas:


expenditures by policy areas

spending comparisons with other states
Describe public education policy in Texas:

structure of elementary and secondary education

school finance

educational quality

Describe the fight for equity and choice in Texas schools (Texas Values/Texas Voices).

Analyze Ben Sargent’s cartoon on Governor Perry’s plan for funding public schools (Analyzing
Visuals).

Describe higher education in Texas:

funding sources

access to higher education

Describe Texas’s Top Ten Percent Law and efforts to amend or eliminate it (On Campus).

Describe health and human services policy in Texas:

the partnership between governments
GOVT 2306
Summer 2009

welfare programs

health-care programs

Describe the arguments for and against privatizing public assistance (Join the Debate).

Assess the adequacy of health and human services programs in Texas.

Describe the controversy surrounding the creation of toll roads in Texas (Politics Now).

Define the key terms at the end of the chapter.