American Politics Applied: Interactive Exercises for Inside and Outside the Classroom
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2023
Pages: 182
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2023
Pages: 182
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American Politics Applied: Interactive Exercises for Inside and Outside the Classroom is designed as a practical yet engaging supplement for both students and faculty. The book includes two exercises for each topic regularly covered in an American politics and government course. The first exercise in each chapter is designed to facilitate in-class student engagement, and the second is a homework assignment that uses real-world applications of concepts, ideas, and principles. From role-playing to analyzing data, from researching actors to discussing the perspectives of current controversies, American Politics Applied provides flexible and ready-made material to appeal to a wide variety of students.
CHAPTER 1: POLITICAL THEORY AND CULTURE
OVERVIEW
1A. ACTIVITY: Exploring Theoretical Ideas Through Thought Experiments
1B. HOMEWORK: What Values Make Up the “American Creed”?
CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
OVERVIEW
2A. ACTIVITY: Moral Dilemmas in Amending the Constitution
2B. HOMEWORK: Finding Key Principles in the Constitution
CHAPTER 3: FEDERALISM
OVERVIEW
3A. ACTIVITY: Federalism and Marijuana Laws
3B. HOMEWORK: Lobbying Sub-National Government*
*Also suitable for: Interest Groups; Public Policy
CHAPTER 4: PUBLIC OPINION
OVERVIEW
4A. ACTIVITY: Taking the Temperature of Political Figures and Organizations
4B. HOMEWORK: Public Opinion and Ideology in One Issue Area
CHAPTER 5: THE MEDIA
OVERVIEW
5A. ACTIVITY: Privacy, Free Expression, and Social Media*
5B. HOMEWORK: Bias in the News: A Comparative Media Analysis
*Also suitable for: Civil Liberties
CHAPTER 6: POLITICAL PARTIES
OVERVIEW
6A. ACTIVITY: Drafting Party Platforms
6B. HOMEWORK: How Partisans Differ From Each Other: Who Are They? What Do They Think?*
*Also suitable for: Public Opinion
CHAPTER 7: INTEREST GROUPS
OVERVIEW
7A. ACTIVITY: Interest Groups and Selective Benefits
7B. HOMEWORK: Battling Websites: How Interest Groups Perceive Issues
CHAPTER 8: PARTICIPATION AND VOTING
OVERVIEW
8A. ACTIVITY: Climate Activism: You Can’t Do Everything But You Should Do Something*
8B. HOMEWORK: Who Voted for Whom in 2020, and Why?
*Also suitable for: Public Policy
CHAPTER 9: CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS
OVERVIEW
9A. ACTIVITY: “Primary Effects” on Electoral Choice*
9B. HOMEWORK: Who Bankrolled Your Senator and Why?^
*Also suitable for: Political Parties ^Also suitable for: Congress
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS
OVERVIEW
10A. ACTIVITY: Congressional Redistricting: A Very Political Game*
10B. HOMEWORK: Analyzing a House District and Its Representative
*Also suitable for: Campaigns and Elections
CHAPTER 11: THE PRESIDENCY
OVERVIEW
11A. ACTIVITY: Power and the “Two Presidencies”
11B. HOMEWORK: Presidential Approval and American Democracy*
*Also suitable for: Public Opinion
CHAPTER 12: THE BUREAUCRACY
OVERVIEW
12A. ACTIVITY: Is The Executive Branch of the Federal Government Too Big? An Assessment
12B. HOMEWORK: The Foreign Service and “Neutral Competency”: Government Workers as Nonpartisan Experts Versus Political Loyalists
CHAPTER 13: THE COURTS
OVERVIEW
13A. ACTIVITY: Is It Constitutional? Judging Government Actions
13B. HOMEWORK: To Reform, or Not to Reform, the Supreme Court?
CHAPTER 14: CIVIL LIBERTIES
OVERVIEW
14A. ACTIVITY: Universities, Outside Speakers, and Free Speech
14B. HOMEWORK: Civil Liberties on Campus: You and Freedom of Expression
CHAPTER 15: CIVIL RIGHTS
OVERVIEW
15A. ACTIVITY: Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, and a Wedding Cake
15B. HOMEWORK: Civil Rights and Increasing Diversity in the United States
CHAPTER 16: PUBLIC POLICY
OVERVIEW
16A. ACTIVITY: Creating Environmental Policy
16B. HOMEWORK: Forgiveness for Federal Student Loans: Boon or Boondoggle?*
*Also suitable for: Interest Group
Todd Schaefer is Professor of Political Science at Central Washington (State) University, where for over two decades he has taught courses on American politics, mass media, presidency, and political behavior (parties and elections, interest groups). He has authored numerous articles on US politics and political communication, a coauthored 2007 text on public opinion with Russell Brooker, and most recently, Presidential Power Meets the Art of the Deal: Applying Neustadt to the Trump Presidency (2021).
Russell Brooker is professor of political science at Alverno College in Milwaukee, teaching courses in American politics, as well as sociology, African American history, and statistics. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from The University of Chicago, specializing in public opinion and political participation. In addition to American Politics Applied, he has written two books. In 2006, he co-authored, with Todd Schaefer, Public Opinion in the Twenty-First Century: Let the People Speak? His second book was The American Civil Rights Movement 1865-1950: Black Agency and People of Good Will, which was published in 2017. He has written papers and book chapters on African American politics and history. He is the treasurer of America’s Black Holocaust Museum and has written several displays on Jim Crow for the ABHM web site, www.abhmuseum.org. He taught as a Fulbright scholar in Vietnam during the spring 2006 semester and returned to Vietnam to teach American History and American Government in summer school in 2007 and 2008. He has taken Alverno students to Vietnam three times.