For those who miss any of the in-class lecture experience:
Remember, all of the class lectures from which the essay exams are drawn from are on my website on the world wide web on the following links:
August 21, 2024- We talked about current events and the material on the course syllabus.
August 23, 2024- We covered the Conservative Ideology in Weeks 1-2 of the class notes. Make sure that you know all 7 components of Conservatism and how they operate and why they are important to conservatives.
August 26, 2024- We covered the first 4 components of Liberalism- big government, economic security, equal opportunity, and civil liberties. We also talked about current events, and had excellent student comments.
August 28, 2024- We finished talking about Liberalism by discussing their anti-crime policies of prevention and rehabilitation, and by talking about their foreign policy orientation of foreign economic aid, cooperation and the UN, and human rights. We reviewed all components of Conservatism and Liberalism, which is an important topic that will be on the first test.
August 30, 2024- We had a great class discussion on liberalism and conservatism, with students picking the aspects of each ideology that they prefer, and explaining why they liked those aspects. Most borrowed aspects of both ideologies. I then lectured on subjects that won't be on the first test. We talked about the 3 powers of government, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, Shay's Rebellion, and the Great Compromise.
September 4, 2024- We started an important topic, Checks and Balances. We covered the first 4 elements: bills must pass both chambers of Congress in identical form; President has a veto power; Congress can override the President's veto by a two-thirds vote of each chamber, voting separately; the House can impeach (accuse) a President by a majority vote, but it takes a two-thirds vote of the Senate to remove him from office. We then talked about the 4 Presidents subject to the impeachment process: Andrew Johnson, who was impeached but not convicted by the Senate; Nixon who resigned his office before a House vote on impeachment; Clinton who was impeached but not convicted; Trump who was impeached twice, but not convicted either time.
September 6, 2024. We covered the last 3 elements of Checks and Balances: the Supreme Court can declare Congressional laws unconstitutional and therefore null and void; the Supreme Court can declare Presidential actions unconstitutional; the Congress can impeach and remove Supreme Court (and other federal judges) judges. Students asked a number of valuable questions, and added thoughtful clarifications and opinions.
September 9, 2024. We covered Selection Methods of federal officials (House, Senate, President, Supreme Court). Make sure that you know how they were originally selected, what their terms of office are in years, and the three changes that occurred over the years. This subject is still in Weeks 2-3 of the notes.
September 11, 2024. We had a good class discussion about the presidential debates last night. We've already covered three topics that will be on the first test (two weeks from Friday), and you only have to write on two of them, so the material today and Friday will not be on the test. Those three important subjects are: liberal and conservative ideology; checks and balances; and selection methods of federal officials. We talked about the constitutional requirements for holding federal office, and the constitutional powers of Congress.
September 13, 2024. We talked about the constitutional differences between the House and Senate, and the constitutional powers of the President. I repeated from the previous class the three important subjects that we have already covered that will be asked about on the first test, which is coming up in two weeks.
September 16, 2024. We finished talking about the federal constitution and the Bill of Rights. We covered the Presidential power to receive ambassadors, the powers of the Vice President, the Supreme Court, how the federal constitution can be amended, and the Bill of Rights. We will skip Federalism, as we have talked about it throughout the course. The rest of the week will be on the important topic of Political Parties, especially since 1896.
September 18, 2024. We briefly covered the first three party systems- the Federalists versus Jeffersonian Republicans, the Whigs versus the Democrats, and the 1860-1896 Republicans versus the Democrats. We then covered two important topics: the 1896-1932 era of Republican Party dominance over the Democrats; and the 7 programs of the Progressive Era. See the double spaced class notes under Weeks 5-6, Parties, which has a link at the top of this page.
September 20, 2024. Two students made excellent oral reports on books about Kamala Harris and Andrew Jackson. We then talked about the third important aspect of the relatively recent history of political parties, the 5th party system from 1932 to 1968, when Democrats were the majority party with their liberal domestic economic issues. Study hints (indeed the actual test) for our in-class test next Friday are posted on my website.
September 23, 2024. We reviewed all three important aspects of the recent history of American parties, and added the fourth aspect, which was why the Democratic Party has lost its majority in the post-1968 6th party era. A student also gave an excellent oral report on Hillary Clinton's book It Takes a Village. The test is Friday, and next class will be a review for the test.
September 25, 2024. We reviewed the class material that makes up the first three questions on the test. View the web link listed on September 20 for the actual test. Go to the actual lectures listed at the top of this webpage. The test is Friday, and it is in-class with no open books, notebooks, phones, or laptops.
September 27, 2024. Test is today!
September 30, 2024. We covered the Truman and Eisenhower presidencies. See the notes for Weeks 7-8, the Presidency.
October 2, 2024. We covered the Kennedy and Johnson presidencies. See the class notes.
October 4, 2024. A student reported on the book American Marxism, and we had a great class discussion of progressivism in America today. We then covered the Nixon Detente policies and Ford's Caretaker orientation.
October 7, 2024. A student reported on a book about President Reagan. We lectured about Presidents Carter and Reagan.
October 9, 2024. A student gave an interesting report on George Washington's Circle book. We then talked about President George Herbert Walker Bush's New World Order, and Bill Clinton as a New Democrat. The professor again warned students against plagiarism. Today was an attendance credit day, so absences were not recorded.
October 14, 2024. We covered the George Walker Bush's and Barack Obama's presidencies.
October 16, 2024. We talked about the Trump and Biden presidencies, but they won't be included in the next test, which is November 4. Two of the four questions will be on the programs and policies of the 12 Presidents from Truman thru Obama (each question will ask about 6 Presidents, in chronological order).
October 18, 2024. We talked about the many ways that one can participate in politics, and how the nomination process works. We then discussed the voting model of party identification, issues, and candidates. We applied it to the period when Democrats were the majority party- 1948 thru 1976. Monday and Wednesday we'll cover the presidential elections since then, which is an important topic.
October 21, 2024. We had three informative oral book reports on J.D. Vance book, Team of Rivals, and Becoming by Michelle Obama. I talked about the issues and candidates affecting the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections.
October 23, 2024. We had three excellent book reports, two on books about Trump, and one on Physics for Future Presidents. We talked about the 1988, 1992, and 1996 presidential elections.
October 25, 2024. We had a very fine book report on Senator Tim Scott, an African American Republican Senator from South Carolina. We then talked about the presidential elections from 2000 thru 2016, and how issues and candidate characteristics determined the outcomes.
October 28, 2024. We covered the first 7 stages of How a Bill Becomes a Law. I also circulated hints for the second test (which is next Monday), which are on my website.
October 30, 2024. We covered the last 3 stages of How a Bill Becomes Law. We also talked about the test Monday, and the simulation starting the next week.
November 1, 2024. We reviewed for the test on Monday, and talked about the twelve Presidents from Truman thru Obama.
November 4, 2024. The second in-class test was today. It was graded, and any change in your Midterm Progress Grade has been recorded in Banner.
November 6, 2024. We gave back the tests, and talked about the simulation. The bills are due Monday, and make 25 copies of your bill. If you can e-mail me your bill Friday or Saturday, I may be able to make the copies of your bill for you, in which case I would e-mail you that you don't need to make copies yourself. We also finished talking about the Congress- its leaders and the norms of Congressional behavior. We also talked about the election last night.
November 8, 2024. We had very fine student reports on the Educated- a Memoir book, Bush's Decision Points, and Packing the Court. We also talked about the Earl Warren Supreme Court. The simulation starts Monday, and class attendance becomes very important.
November 11, 2024. We started the Congressional simulation with party caucus meetings where Senators talked about their bills. Attendance is very important during these two weeks of the simulation, so attendance was taken. All students except one had their bills ready to distribute to all Senators.
November 13, 2024. Three bills were discussed and voted on: Blumenthal, Ossoff, and Cruz.
November 15, 2024. Three bills were discussed and voted on: Klobuchar, Graham, and Cornyn.
November 18, 2024. TBA.