COURSE GOALS:
This course is about people coming together to make collective decisions about what constitutes "the good life." All of us have things we care deeply about, aspirations and dreams, but we can't achieve these things on our own. We live in a society with others and through the political process, we make decisions every day that affect people's ability to live their version of "the good life." This course is about two things. First, it is about developing your view of "the good life" - i.e. what are your dreams and aspirations for yourself and for the world and (2) how can we make collective decisions that allow people to enjoy "the good life." In this course we will look at: Who makes collective decisions? What criteria do they use to arrive at decisions? How do people promote preferred solutions? Why are obvious problems not addressed? This class will engage you in the process of public decision making. You will be asked to think about your own personal goals and how they connect to the society you live in. You will look at the policy process surrounding your goals and how to go about changing that process if it produces unwanted results. Throughout the course, we will work towards developing policy solutions that will affect the things you hope to achieve in life.

This course will address the following CLU General Education Goals:

1. Oral and Written Communication Skills
2. Understanding of Cultural and Global Diversity
3. Critical Thinking
4. Growth in Identity and Values
5. Ability to work in groups
   

This course will address the following Political Science Department Goals:

1. Critical Thinking
2. Exposure to Cultural Experiences

In this course, students are expected to:

1. employ different theoretical approaches towards understanding specific policy issues
   
2. exhibit critical thinking and effective writing and oral skills by applying readings to issues of concern.
   
3. demonstrate the ability to work with other students in groups to locate and present information.
4. show an ability to find, evaluate, use and communicate information in both oral and written formats.
5. demonstrate the ability to communicate orally in a manner that is clear, organized, and appropriate to the intended audience.
6. know how to apply appropriate evaluative criteria to assess their own presentations and those of others.

CLASS REQUIREMENTS:
Any aspect of this syllabus can be changed by the instructor at his discretion.

Readings for the day need to be completed prior to class times, as class activities, discussions, and quizzes will primarily draw upon assigned readings.

Talking, working, and thinking with others are large parts of this class. We will get into discussions about some controversial subjects. I encourage expressions of opinions (myself included), but there are some classroom boundaries. Our class will be a safe place. That is to say, we will all treat each other in a respectful manner. Translation: rude interruptions, hurtful insults (including racial, gender, sexuality, etc. slurs), and personal attacks will not be tolerated. You may not always be comfortable with the topics, and by no means are you expected to approve of everything we discuss.

California Lutheran University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with various documented disabilities (physical, learning, or psychological). If you are a student requesting accommations for this course, please contact your professor at the beginning of the semester and register with the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities (Pearson Library, Center for Academic Resources, Ext. 3260) for the facilitation and verification of need. Faculty will work closely together with you and your coordinator to provide necessary accommodations.

Academic Honesty: Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class. According to the CLU student handbook, plagiarism occurs “whenever a source of any kind has not been acknowledged.” With respect to my policy, let me be clear – you will receive and F in the course if you take material from the Internet and insert it into any written work as your own without giving credit to the person who wrote it. Those found violating the CLU code on academic dishonesty in any way will receive an F in the class.

All quizzes, exams, activities, and papers must be turned in on time: no make-ups will be given, and no re-writes will be offered. If an assignment is of the take-home variety, it must be typed, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins all around, spell-checked, grammar-checked, and demonstrate correct citation and bibliographic format. Late take-home assignments will not be graded unless you have documentation of an emergency. Missed quizzes will be marked down as zeroes

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
Your grade will come from the following assignments:

Blog Entries: Yyou will be asked to create a blog based on an issue you identify as important to you (Setting up a Blogger blog). This blog will serve as the basis for your policy project. Each week, I will ask you to respond to a question I ask based on the readings that relates to your policy project. The questions are designed to get you to think about a policy issue of your choosing and to develop your thinking about the policy issue as the semester unfolds. Each entry can be considered as a "piece" of your final policy project. The assignment is designed to think about your individual passions and how they are affected by the larger political society. Each entry will equal 1 points and I will ask you to create 10 blog entries. They will be graded pass/fail based on whether you do the assignment in a timely fashion, and whether you put mental effort into the assignment.


Pecha Kucha Presentation: One date during the semester, your group will be asked to give a 7 minute Pecha Kucha presentation based on the blog question I asked the class to respond to. You will create a 20 slide-six minute and 40 second presentation that engagingly answers the question asked in the blog assignment. The presenation should educates the class about the policy issues at stake and also should lead into a discussion about how the rest of the class should think about how the readings relate to their final projects. You will lead a 10-15 minute discussion after the presentation intended to get the class to reflect upon how the different aspects of the policy project affects our core passions. To guide the discussion you will provide questions that build upon the material covered for the week. Here are examples of Pecha Kucha presentations.


Diigo Portfolio: part of your grade will come from your level of engagement with the readings and class assignments. I will ask you to create a portfolio of content on Diigo, a social bookmarking site that allows you to share bookmarks, create and respond to forum questions and add highlights and comments to existing articles. You will be required to post one comment each week on the readings. You are strongly encouraged to post more than once. You will earn 1 point for each time you post a comment on the readings. Here is a link to the class Diigo Page.


Exams: We will have two in-class exam in which you will be asked to apply the theories and concepts learned to current issues public policy. The first exam in late October will address issues discussed during the first two sections of the course. The second exam in early December will cover the last two sections of the class. The exams will be a combination of multiple choice, short answer and essay. Each essay exam will be worth 20 points.


Final project: Each of you will produce a resource web page that provides visitors with an introduction to the issue you have identified, an description of the origins and causes of the issue, possible solutions and a suggestions for addressing the problem. The website should include: a statement of the problem you are examining, a discussion of the decision process that led to the current state of the issue, an examination of the social process that describes the issue, an examination of the alternative solutions to the issue and a well-developed strategy for implementing that strategy. On selected days, you will conduct a 10 minute seminar that summarizes your progress on your website. Your peers will evaluate your performance in class and provide you with anonymous feedback. You will also present your work in a "Pecha Kucha" format during the final week of class via a presentation that will build upon your pecha kucha presentation from earlier in the semester. This final resource website and the presentation will be worth a combined 30 points (20 points from the web resource and 10 points from the presentation).

Students must invite relevant stakeholder to the presentation

Final Paper and Presentation = 30 points

Assignments Summary
Blog -- 1 points X 15 entries = 10 points
Exams -- 20 points X 2 exams = 40 points
Diigo Portfolio = 10 points
Pecha Kucha Presentation = 10 points
Final Paper and Presentation = 30 points

Course Readings:
Stone, D. Policy Paradox. WW Norton Press.
All Other Readings Accessible On-Line.

Schedule of Readings