Political Science 10: Constitutional Government

A survey course in the political system of the United States from its inception at the end of the eighteenth century until the present time. Primary focus will be the Constitution, its ideological underpinnings, uses and limitations. Class will also cover the two-party system, the process of justice, the specific mechanisms of legislature, and the governmental power at the national, state, and local levels, with specific emphasis on the state of California. The interests and rights of all historically under represented groups will be included in the analysis of the power structure.  (POLSC 10, taken in conjunction with HIST 16 or HIST 17, satisfies the Associate Degree and CSU requirements in United States History, Constitution, and American Ideals.)

Transfer: UC/CSU. IGETC 4H; CSU-GE D8

Political Science 10: Syllabus
Political Science 10: Exam Questions

RESOURCES FOR POLITICAL SCIENCE 10

ARTICLES

Articles for Political Science 10

WEB LINKS

A New Map for America By Parag Khanna (The New York Times)
All Politicians Lie. Some Lie More Than Others. By Angie Drobnic Holan (The New York Times)
America Keeps People Poor On Purpose: A Timeline of Choices We've Made to Increase Inequality (Yes! Magazine)
American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins (Wired)
Americans And Their Discontent: A Timeline of Government Mistrust (NPR)
Center for the Study of the American Electorate
Corporate Profits Grow and Wages Slide By Floyd Norris (The New York Times)
Counties Blue and Red, Moving Right and Left (The New York Times)
Enjoying the Low Life? By Nicholas Kristof (The New York Times)
Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It By Benyamin Appelbaum and Robert Gebeloff (The New York Times)
Everything That’s Happened Since Supreme Court Ruled on Voting Rights Act (ProPublica)
15 Companies That Paid Zero Income Tax Last Year (Despite $23 Billion In Profits) By Ben Schiller (Co.Exist)
Gasoline-Tax Increase Finds Little Support By Patricia Cohen (The New York Times)
'Gerrymandering On Steroids': How Republicans Stacked The Nation's Statehouses (Here and Now)
Government Shows Growth, After Years of Shrinking By Floyd Norris (The New York Times)
How Big Were Tuesday’s Republican Swings? (The New York Times)
How Birth Year Influences Political Views By Amanda Cox (The New York Times)
How Dark Money Flows Through the Koch Network By Al Shaw, Theodoric Meyer, and Kim Barker (ProPublica)
How Politicians Get Away With Dodging The Question By Alix Spiegel (NPR)
How the West Overcounts Its Water Supplies By Abrahm Lustgarten (The New York Times)
Inequality, Unbelievably, Gets Worse By Steven Rattner (The New York Times)
Interactive Map: The War on Voting Rights By The New Yorker
Mapping Out The Revolving Door Between Gov't And Big Business In Venn Diagrams
Mondo Times: The worldwide media directory
More Perfect (Presented by Radiolab)
Open Secrets (Center for Responsive Politics)
Over the Decades, How States Have Shifted (The New York Times)
Public Policy Polling
Rapid Rise in Super PACs Dominated by Single Donors By Robert Faturechi (ProPublica)
Represent (ProPublica)
Secret Money Fueling a Flood of Political Ads By Nicholas Confessore (The New York Times)
Smaller States Find Outsize Clout Growing in Senate By Adam Liptak (The New York Times)
Talking Red State Blues By Seth Stephens-Davidowitz (The New York Times) 
The Big Companies That Avoid Taxes By David Leonhardt (The New York Times)
The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage By The New York Times Editorial Board (The New York Times)
The 15 Best-Educated Congressional Districts in the U.S. By Nate Cohn (The New York Times)
The Health of Reform By Jacob S. Hacker and Carl DeTorres (The New York Times)
The Politics Of Calling In Sick By Emily Cadei (NPR)
The Politics of Income Inequality By Eduardo Porter (The New York Times)
The Rise of American Authoritarianism By Amanda Taub (Vox)
The True Subject of Errol Morris's Donald Rumsfeld Doc: Smugness By Peter Osnos (The Atlantic)
Total Taxes on Wages Are Rising By Floyd Norris (The New York Times)
Transparency (Harvard Kennedy School)
Transparency International: The global coalition against corruption 
Why Are Elections On Tuesdays? By Selena Simmons-Duffin (NPR)
Why Blue States Are the Real ‘Tea Party’ By Steven Johnson (The New York Times)
Why 0% of Florida Adults Can’t Vote: How Felony Convictions Affect Access to the Ballot By K. K. Rebecca Lai and Jasmine C. Lee (The New York Times)
Would America Have Fewer Missing Workers if It Were More Like France? By Neil Irwin (The New York Times)