|
PLS 350
Government and Politics of Western Europe
Saint Martin's University
Course Syllabus
| Dr.
Richard L. Langill |
Spring 2012 |
| email:
rlangill@stmartin.edu |
Office:
Old Main 333 |
| Office Hrs: MWF
8-9 and 10-11 |
TR 10-11 |
Purpose
of the Course
The purpose of this course is
to introduce the student to contemporary European politics. Most
students have some appreciation and understanding of the American
political system. However, they have little knowledge about the
political systems of Europe. This course seeks to fill this gap by
providing a basis for comparing various governmental institutions and
political process in their historical, socioeconomic, and cultural
contexts.
This course will focus on the
political systems of Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. The course
will examine the factors that have influenced the development of each of
these systems, their political culture and socialization, political
structures, electoral dynamics, political parties, interest groups, and
political problems.
Course Requirements
This course will be primarily a
lecture course with discussion strongly encouraged. The instructor
expects students to keep up with the reading so they will be able to
participate more actively in these discussions.
EUROPEAN POLITICS JOURNAL
All students will be required to keep a
global issues journal in his class. This journal will focus on
current newspaper articles related to the countries that we will cover
in this class -
The instructor expects that students will find two articles per week
for inclusion in this journal. Students should obtain these articles
from newspapers or current periodicals. Students have a choice of
either clipping these from a newspaper like the New York Times or
photocopying these and pasting them in the journal, or they may download
these directly from the web, and prints them for inclusion in the
journal. (The instructor has provided a list of good academic journals
that are available through EBSCO on the SMU Library network.
Links to international newspapers are listed
below for your information:
New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/
The BBC (British Broadcasting Co)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/frontpage.html
The Independent (London).
http://www.independent.co.uk/
The Times.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
The Financial Times.
http://www.ft.com/home/uk
Frankfueter Allgemeine Zeitung
http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/default.asp
Le Monde Diplomatique
http://mondediplo.com/
Agence France-Presse.
http://www.afp.com/english/home/
The Economist
http://www.economist.com/
Moscow Times
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/indexes/01.html
Russia Now.
http://russianow.washingtonpost.com/
Spiegel On Line
http://www.spiegel.de/international/
Munich Times
http://www.themunichtimes.com/
Grading Policy
There will be TWO EXAMINATIONS and a JOURNAL required of all
students in this course. Each examination will count 25% of you total
grade. The journal will also
count 25%; class discussion and class participation will constitute the
final 25% of the grade. The grades for this course will be calculated as
follows:
| Mid Term Exam |
=100 points
(25%) |
A= 400-360 |
|
Final Exam |
=100 points
(25%) |
B= 359-320 |
| European Journal |
=100 points
(25%) |
C= 319-280
|
|
Participation/ Discussion
|
=100
points (25%) |
D= 279-240
|
| |
400 points |
F= 239-200 |
Attendance
I consider attendance to be an
important part of this course. Excessive absences will be penalized.
Students who miss more than 3 classes for any reason will be penalized
one half of a letter grade (20 points); students who miss more than 5
classes will be penalized one letter grade (40 points). This policy will
be strictly enforced.
Required Textbooks:
M.
Donald Handcock et. al. Politics in Europe 5th Ed. 2012 (PIE)
|
