CYBERLAND UNIVERSITY OF NORTH AMERICA

Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.

University President & Professor of Political Science
POLITICAL SCIENCE 201H

THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM:
POLITICS & GOVERNMENT IN THE U.S.A.


COURSE DESCRIPTION:

A free, self-study, non-credit course in American Government and Politics designed to benefit (1) the general reader interested in politics, government, law, and public affairs, (2) the advanced high-school student enrolled in an American Government, Advanced Civics, Modern Problems, Problems of Democracy, or Political Science course, and (3) the university or college student enrolled in or planning to enroll in a Political Science or International Relations course or in a History, Geography, Sociology, Economics, or Business course with substantial political content.


COURSE OUTLINE:

PART ONE

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT:  THE ESSENTIALS


A. POLITICS 

    1.  Politics--A Brief Definition
    2.  Politics and Public Quesction
    3.  Politics and Public Problems
    4.  Politics and its Distributive Effects
    5.  Politics--The Pursuit and Interplay of Interests
    6.  Politics and Political Conflict--The Role of Government
B. GOVERNMENT 
    1.  Government--A Definition
    2.  Public Institutions--Distinguishing Characteristics
    3.  Universality of the Government's Reach within Society
    4.  The Government's Control of the Use of Physical Force
        and Coercion
    5.  The Government and Political Legitimacy
    6.  Authoritative Decisionmaking and Action by the Govern-
        ment
    7.  The Government's Authoritative Allocation of Resources
        and Values
    8.  Governmental Activity and Public Concern
    9.  Major Functions of Modern Government
   10.  Government--A Summary
C. POLITICAL POWER 
    1.  Politics and Political Power
    2.  Political Power and Political Behavior
    3.  Political Power and Public Policy
    4.  Government, Private Citizens, and Political Power
    5.  Political Authority and Political Influence
D. POLITICS AND POLITICAL COMPETITION 
    1.  Political Competition--A Definition
    2.  Political Conflict and Competition--The Primary Source
        and Basic Cause
    3.  Why People "Go into Politics"
    4.  Political Competition in a Constitutional Democracy
    5.  Political Elites, Political Competition, and Elite
        Accomodation
E. POLITICS, POLITICAL RESOURCES, AND POLITICAL POWER 
    1.  Political Resources--The Sources and Bases of Political
        Power
    2.  Political Resources and Political Inequality

F. POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL POWER:
     SUMMARY & CONCLUSION


NOTES/REFERENCES FOR PART ONE

REVIEW OF PART ONE


PART TWO

CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY AND OTHER POLITICAL REGIMES


A. MODERN CONSTITURIONAL DEMOCRACY:  FUNDAMENTAL      CHARACTER AND ESSENTIAL INGRIEDIENTS 
    1.  Constitutional Democracy--A Definition
    2.  Constitutional Democracy--Two Essential Ingredients
B. CONSTITUTIONALISM:  THE FIRST ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT OF      MODERN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY 
    1.  A Constitution--Nature and Function
    2.  Constitutions--Written and Unwritten
    3.  Constitutional System--Definition and Examples
    4.  Constitutionalism--Nature and Central Purpose
    5.  Different Ways in which a Constitution May Limit
        Political Authority
    6.  Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law
    7.  Constitutional Oligarchy--Constitutionalism without
        Democracy
    8.  Constitutionalism--A Summary
C. DICTATORSHIP:  THE OPPOSITE OF CONSTITUTIONALISM 
    1.  "Dictatorship"--Synonymous Terms
    2.  Dictatorship--Definition and Description
    3.  Different Types of Dictatorship
    4.  All Types of Dictatorship--A Common Characteristic
    5.  Dictatorship and Constitutionalism--The Essential
        Difference between the Two Systems
D. REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY:  THE SECOND ESSENTIAL      INGREDIENT OF MODERN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY 
    1.  Representative Democracy--Two Basic Elements
    2.  Representative Democracy--A Definition
    3.  Examples of Representative Democracy
E. DIRECT DEMOCRACY AND REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 
    1.  Direct Democracy--Definition and Description
    2.  Direct Democracy in Ancient Athens
    3.  Direct Democracy in New England--Government by Common
        Mass Assembly in the U.S.A.
    4.  Other Examples of Direct Democracy in the U.S.A. Today
    5.  Direct Democracy in the U.S.A.--The Practice of Direct
        Democracy within an Overall Context of Representative
        Democracy
    6.  Direct Democracy and Representative Democracy Contrasted
    7.  The Political Theory Underlying and Supporting Direct
        Democracy
    8.  The Political Theory Underlying and Supporting Represen-
        tative Democracy
F. POLITICAL CULTURE AND MODERN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY 
    1.  Political Culture--Definition and Description
    2.  Political Culture and Political Regimes
G. MODERN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY:  SUMMARY AND      CONCLUSION


NOTES/REFERENCES FOR PART TWO

REVIEW OF PART TWO


PART THREE

BRITISH AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY


A. CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY AND CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC 
    1.  Constitutional Monarchy (UK)
    2.  Constitutional Republic (USA)
B. PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM AND PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM 
    1.  Eight Political Variables
    2.  Fusion or Separation of Legislative and Executive Powers
    3.  The Nature and Method of Selection of the Executive
    4.  The Executive Institutionally Part of or Separate from
        the Legislature
    5.  Executive Responsibility to or Independence of the
        Legislature
    6.  The Executive as the Agent of the Legislature, or the
        Executive and Legislature as Coordinate Organs of Gov-
        ernment
    7.  The Relationship between the Chief of State and the Head
        of Government
    8.  The Possibility of Divided Party Control of Government
    9.  Lines of Political Authority and Responsibility
   10.  The British Parliamentary System and the American Presi-
        dential System--Side-by-Side Comparison and Contrast
   11.  Parliamentary and Presidential Systems--A Concluding Note
C. MAJORITARIAN DEMOCRACY AND CONSENSUS DEMOCRACY 
    1.  The Constitutional Bias of the Governmental System
    2.  Majoritarian Democracy (UK)
    3.  Consensus Democracy (USA)
D. JUDICIAL REVIEW AND PARLIAMENTARY SUPREMACY 
    1.  The Nature of Judicial Review
    2.  The American Constitutional System--Operation of the
        Principle of Judicial Review
    3.  The British Constitutional System--Legislative Supremacy
        and Absence of Judicial Review
E. BRITISH AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY:      SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION


NOTES/REFERENCES FOR PART THREE

REVIEW OF PART THREE


PART FOUR

THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM: ENGLISH ORIGINS


A. INTRODUCTION

B. ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT:
     1066-1558

    1. Common Law
    2. Magna Carta
    3. Parliament During the Middle Ages
    4. Parliament and Changes in Political Culture During the Middle Ages
    5. Parliament and the Tudor Monarchs

C. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH I:
     1558-1603

    1. Crown and Parliament During the Elizabethan Era
    2. The Elibethan Political System -- 1558-1603
    3. The Relevance of the Elizabethan Governmental System to American     Constitutional and Political Development

D. THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL      SETTLEMENT:  1603-1701

    1. The Era of the English Revolution -- 1603-1688
    2. The Constitutional Settlement of 1689-1701

E. THE ENGLISH/BRITISH GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM OF THE      EIGHTEENTHCENTURY

    1. Major Characteristics of the Governmental System of Eighteenth-Century Great Britain
    2. The Relevance of Eighteenth-Century British Government to American Constitutional and Political Development

F. ENGLISH ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITURIONAL SYSTEM:      SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

NOTES/REFERENCES FOR PART FOUR

REVIEW OF PART FOUR


PART FIVE

THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM:
COLONIAL & AMERICAN ORIGINS


A. THE U.S. CONSTITUTION: COLONIAL & EARLY AMERICAN
     ANTECEDENTS
    COLONIAL ANTECEDENTS TO THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM
    1. Political Experience With Colonial Governments
    2. The Governmental System of the Virginia Colony -- Basic Features
    3. Colonial Governmental Systems in British North America in 1774
    4. Government and Political Culture in Colonial North America
    EARLY AMERICAN ANTECEDENTS TO THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM -- ANTECENTS GROWING OUT OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION & ITS AFTERMATH
    1. The American Revolution as a Conservative Revolution
    2. State Governments Under the First State Constitutions
    3. Intercolonial and Interstate Efforts Toward Unity and Joint Action Prior to     the U.S. Constitution -- The Continental Congress and the Articles of     Confederation
    4. The American Political Order During the Revolutionary and Immediate     Post-Revolutionary Periods -- A Weak and Impotent Central Government     and State Governments Dominated by Their State Legislatures
    5. The New York Constitution of 1777 -- The Scheme of State Government
    6. The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 -- The Scheme of State     Government
    7. Significance of the New York and Massachusetts Constitutions
    8. The Maryland Constitution of 1776 -- An Earlier Victory for Conservatism

B. THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787

    1. The 1787 Federal Constitutional Convention: Nature, Time, Place,     Membership, Legal Mandate, and Action Taken
    2. The Conditions That Gave Rise to the Federal, Constitutional Convention
    3. Points on Which There Was Substantial Agreement at the Constitutional     Convention
    4, Political Conflict and Controversy at the Constitutional Convention
    5. The Connecticut Compromise: The "Great Compromise"

C. THE U.S. CONSTITUTION: RATIFICATION & ADOPTION

    1. "Ratification of the Constitution" -- A Definition
    2. How the United States Constitution Was Ratified and Why
    3. The Nature of the Political Conflict over Ratification
    4. Federalists Versus Antifederalists
    5. James Madison's Response to the Antifederalists' Argument That Liberty     Was Safest in a Small Republic
    6. The Issue of the Absence of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution
    7. The Federal Bill of Rights -- The Important Political Bargain That Emerged     from the Ratification Campaign
D. THE U.S. CONSTITUTION: THE SCHEME OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

    THE ORIGINAL SCHEME:

    1. The U.S. Congress -- A Bicameral National Legislature
    2. The President of the U.S.A. -- The National Chief Executive
    3. The Federal Judiciary -- The U.S. Courts
    4. The National Supremacy Clause
    5. The Procedure for Amending the Constitution

    THE CONTEMPORARY SCHEME:

    1. Selection of U.S. Senators
    2. Operation of the Electoral College

PART SIX

THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM:
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS


A. CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT WITH THE POWERS      OF GOVERNMENT DIVIDED & DISTRIBUTED AMONG      GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS REFLECTING VARYING &      COMPETING INTERESTS:  A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IN WHICH      POLITICAL AUTHORITY IS LIMITED & BALANCED

    1. Constitutionalism -- Constitutional Government
    2. Republicanism -- Republican Government
    3. Separation of Powers
    4. Checks and Balances
    5. Strict Legislative Bicameralism
    6. Balanced Government

B. FEDERALISM: A CLOSELY-KNIT UNION OF STATES, A POWERFUL      CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, & A SUBSTANTIAL DEGREE OF STATE      AUTONOMY

    1. Federalism -- Definition, Characteristics, and Examples
    2. Federalism, Unitary State, and Confederation
    3. Federalism Under the United States Constitution
    4. How the U.S. Constitution Allocates Authority Between the National     Government and the States
    5. The Necessary and Proper Clause -- The Constitutional Basis of the Implied     Powers of Congress
    6. The National Supremacy Clause -- Defining the Supreme Law of The Land in     the U.S.A.
    7. The Meaning of Federalism Under the U.S. Constitution -- The Framers' Failure     to Spell out, in Precise Terms, the Constitutional Relationship Between the     National Government and the States and the Full Extent of the Constitutional     Powers of the National Government
    8. American Federalism and the Power of Congress Under the U.S. Constitution --     The Decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
    9. Federal Constitutional Limitations on State Authority -- Powers Denied to the     States by the U.S. Constitution
    10. Constitutional Obligations of the National Government to the States



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SUBJECT MATTER COVERED ON THIS PAGE:

Political Science - Government - Politics - Political Systems
American Government - American Political System
American System of Government
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
American National Government & Politics