American Government

American Government Module 1
American Government, Civic Engagement, and The Constitution and Its Origins

• What is Government?
• Who Governs? Elitism, Pluralism, and Tradeoffs
• Engagement in a Democracy
• The Pre-Revolutionary Period and the Roots of the American Political Tradition
• The Articles of Confederation
• The Development of the Constitution
• The Ratification of the Constitution
• Constitutional Change

American Government Module 2
American Federalism

• The Division of Powers
• The Evolution of American Federalism
• Intergovernmental Relationships
• Competitive Federalism Today
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Federalism

American Government Module 3
Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

• What Are Civil Liberties?
• Securing Basic Freedoms
• The Rights of Suspects
• Interpreting the Bill of Rights
• What Are Civil Rights and How Do We Identify Them?
• The African American Struggle for Equality
• The Fight for Women’s Rights
• Civil Rights for Indigenous Groups: Native Americans, Alaskans, and Hawaiians

American Government Module 4
The Politics of Public Opinion, Voting, and Elections

• The Nature of Public Opinion
• How Is Public Opinion Measured?
• What Does the Public Think?
• The Effects of Public Opinion
• Voter Registration
• Voter Turnout
• Elections
• Campaigns and Voting

American Government Module 5
The Media, Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Lobbying

• What Is the Media?
• The Evolution of the Media
• Regulating the Media
• What Are Parties and How Did They Form?
• The Two-Party System
• The Shape of Modern Political Parties
• Interest Groups Defined
• Collective Action and Interest Group Formation
• Interest Groups as Political Participation

American Government Module 6
Congress and The Presidency

• The Institutional Design of Congress
• Congressional Elections
• Congressional Representation
• House and Senate Organizations
• The Design and Evolution of the Presidency
• The Presidential Election Process
• Organizing to Govern
• The Public Presidency

American Government Module 7
Courts, State and Local Government

• Guardians of the Constitution and Individual Rights
• The Dual Court System
• The Federal Court System
• The Supreme Court
• State Power and Delegation
• State Political Culture
• Governors and State Legislatures
• State Legislative Term Limits

American Government Module 8
Bureaucracy, Domestic Policy, and Foreign Policy

• Bureaucracy and the Evolution of Public Administration
• Toward a Merit-Based Civil Service
• Understanding Bureaucracies and their Types
• What Is Public Policy?
• Categorizing Public Policy
• Policy Arenas
• Defining Foreign Policy
• Foreign Policy Instruments
• Institutional Relations in Foreign Policy

**Outlines are subject to change, as courses and materials are updated.**