1. POLITICAL SCIENCE 201-003: AMERICAN GOVERNMENT FALL 2015 MONDAY 6:30-9:15 PM, OWENS 103

2.  Bancroft 340  (Mailing address Bancroft 346)  (803) 323-4665  holderj@winthrop.edu holderj@winthrop.edu  http://faculty.winthrop.edu/holderj/plsc201003.htm http://faculty.winthrop.edu/holderj/plsc201003.htm  Office Hours M 3:30-6:00, TR 2:00-3:15, or by appointment

3. Susan Welch, John Gruhl, Sue Thomas and Maryanne Borrelli Understanding American Government Fourteenth Edition, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014.

4. http://www.amazon.com/Understanding- American-Government-CourseReader-0- 30/dp/1133955746/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1440 068438&sr=8- 2&keywords=Susan+Welch+Understanding+Amer ican+Government http://www.cengagebrain.com/shop/en/US/stor efront/US?cmd=CLHeaderSearch&fieldValue=978 -1-133-95574

5.  Name  What do you like to be called?  Where are you from?  Do you have any experience in politics or government?  Why are you taking this class? (Constitution requirement, prospective political science major, general interest, etc.)

6.  The use of scientific methods to study some aspect of society (human beings and their interactions).  Anthropology  Economics  History  Political Science  Psychology  Sociology  Etc.

7.  Study of power and the organization of power  Harold Lasswell: “Who gets what, when and how.”  Power: Creation and enforcement of laws and rules deciding  What you have the right to do (MAY)  What you have the obligation to do (MUST)  What you’re prohibited from doing (MAY NOT)

8.  Use of the scientific method to:  Observe: “What’s happening?”  Explain: “Why is it happening? Why is it happening that way ?”  Predict: “What’s going to happen?”

9.  Do whatever you want  No rules, no laws, no restrictions  Unlimited right to acquire property  What’s the problem?

10.  No way to protect your own property or otherwise prevent your rights from being violated  What’s the answer?

11.  Government in a free society exists to make and enforce laws in a way that protects the rights of the people  Power to make rules and laws gives you a great deal of power over others’ lives  Imprisonment  Taxation  Etc.

12.  Divine Right  Monarch endowed by God with power  Democracy  People govern directly  Republic/Indirect Democracy  People choose leaders who make decisions  Dictatorship  I make the rules because I have the biggest gun.

13.  http://www.isidewith.co m/elections/2016- presidential-quiz http://www.isidewith.co m/elections/2016- presidential-quiz  Did your results surprise you?  Theories of power