Instructor: James Cauthen

Office: 3241 North Hall

Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 5:00 p.m. -- 6:00 p.m. (walk-in) and by appointment

Office Phone: 237-8195 (voice mail checked regularly)

Electronic Mail: jcauthen@jjay.cuny.edu (checked regularly)

Class Location: 3307 North Hall

Class Time: Day: 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.; Night: 7:50 p.m. - 9:05 p.m.

Course Web Page: http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jcauthen (also accessible through John Jay College website)

Course Prerequisites: Government 101

I have two goals for this course, and I trust yours are somewhat similar. First, I would like for each of you to develop a significant understanding about the extent and nature of our constitutional system of government. Second, I want each of you to leave the course with an ability to think critically about the political and legal arguments surrounding the interpretation of the Constitution. The course will be challenging, but I will do my best to ensure that the process of meeting these goals is both exciting and rewarding for everyone in the class.

We will begin the course with an introduction to the Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court. We then will address two broad areas:

• Distribution of Power Among the Branches of Government
• Relations Between the Federal Government and State Governments

Within these broad areas, the focus largely will be upon important historical as well as current controversies about the meaning and application of the Constitution. We will look mainly at the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of relevant constitutional provisions but attention also will given to statutes, political pressures and actual behavior bearing on the problem. We also will consider constitutional issues from political and philosophical perspectives.

Beyond increasing your knowledge of our system of government, this course will improve your critical reading skills, your oral and written communication skills, your ability to critically analyze arguments, and your ability to present logical and coherent arguments in written work. Your achievement of learning objectives for this course will be assessed through your performance on examinations and writing assignments as well as through your participation in class discussion.

A. Textbook: Lee Epstein and Thomas Walker, Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Institutional Powers and Constraints, 4th Ed., CQ Press (2001).

B. Additional Required Readings: Any additional readings will be available through the Course Web Page (or the library if not available on-line). In addition, given that the U.S. Supreme Court will be handing down decisions during the semester, some additional readings may be assigned should the court render a decision relevant to the material.

1. There is a Course Web Page I have set up for this class. You can reach the page two ways. First, you can go directly to it at http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jcauthen. Second, you can go to the course homepage section of the John Jay College web site (http://www.jjay.cuny.edu) and go to the link for my Government 230 class. That will get you to my homepage. On my homepage, you will find contact information, a link to a copy of the syllabus and a link to a "Class Announcements" page.

2. You should visit the "Class Announcements" page throughout the semester. All announcements concerning the course that I make in class also will be posted on this page. In addition, I will provide a link to copies of class handouts. Thus, you can check the page to insure that you are aware of all announcements. In addition, I will not delete any announcement from the page for the entire semester, so you can refer to it anytime during the semester if a question comes up about an announcement made earlier in the class. Over the course of the semester, I also will include exam review questions, discussion questions and other material on this page (will announce in class when posted).

3. Some of you may have computer phobia or not know how to use the WWW (do not worry!). A class early in the semester will meet in the computer lab at the library to introduce you to the WWW and teach you how to navigate through the Course Web Page and locate law and courts information on the WWW.

A. Class Discussion: I expect you to take an active role in the learning process. Although I will "lecture" in the sense of addressing the main points to be made in each class, I will depend heavily on discussion as a method to achieve the course goals. Indeed, 5% of your grade is based on my evaluation of your participation in class (remember, quality over quantity).

B. Attendance Policy:

1. You are expected to attend class regularly and roll will be taken. The class lectures/discussions will not be a summary of the readings but will address in detail one or more concepts relevant to the topic. The material covered in class oftentimes will not be contained in the readings. Consequently, you should take very thorough notes of the material addressed in class. Students with poor attendance will not do well in this class.

2. I will take attendance for every class period by passing around a sign-in sheet. It is your responsibility to see that you sign in as present. If you come to a class extremely late or if you leave early, I reserve the right to mark you as absent even if you sign the attendance sheet. If you miss more than four (4) class periods during the semester, 5 points will be deducted from your final (i.e., course) grade. For each absence over five (5) class periods, your final grade will be reduced an additional 2 points. There are no "excused" absences for this class, except in cases of religious observances. Please see me if this occurs.

3. If you miss class, contact someone who attended and check the "Class Announcements" section on the Course Web Page. Although the syllabus sets out the schedule of readings and other assignments, circumstances may necessitate changes. Any such changes will be announced in class and posted on the "Class Announcements" section of the Course Web Page. Whether regarding schedule changes or anything else having to do with the course, students will be held to have knowledge of all class announcements.

C. Readings: You should complete all readings before the first class meeting for which they are assigned. Try to plan ahead, as some classes require significantly more reading than others do. Also, the readings require careful thought, and some material may have to be read 2-3 times to understand fully its content and implications. Apart from the influence on the Daily Quiz grade (described below), to succeed in this class it is imperative that you keep up with the reading. If you fall behind, CATCH UP QUICKLY! Last minute "cramming" will not work with this material.

D. Daily Quizzes: Throughout the semester, you will be given short objective quizzes covering the reading assigned for that day. I reserve the right to administer these each and every class period. If you are not in class the day a quiz or exercise is given, you will receive a grade of 0. However, for those taking the quiz, the lowest grade I will give will be 40. Thus, you are given significant credit for attendance in class, even if you do poorly on these assignments. At the end of the semester, I will drop your lowest quiz/exercise (both in-class and take-home) grade when computing this portion of your final grade. These quizzes are administered at the start of a class, so if you are late on a day a quiz is given, you will not be able to take it.

E. Examinations: There will be two examinations during the semester and a final examination. The first examination will consist of short answer/multiple choice questions. The second exam and the final exam will consist of short answer/multiple choice questions, as well as essay questions. The examinations will focus on the following in order of importance: 1) material in the text and discussed in class; 2) material discussed in class but not in the text; and 3) material in the text but not discussed in class. The majority of the material covered on the final exam will come from the last one-third of the class, with the remaining material coming from the earlier two-thirds of the class. Unless excused by me, you will receive a "0" if you fail to take an exam when scheduled (I generally do not administer make-up exams).

F. Paper: You will be required to write a paper (approximately 6-8 pages) addressing a constitutional issue. Shortly after Exam #1, you will be given a description of the issue as well as a list of you can use to write the paper. I am willing to review and provide written comments on drafts of papers before the due date, telling you how to improve the paper. You then can revise the paper and hand in the revision by the due date. Additional information about the paper will be forthcoming. Papers up to 24 hours late will accepted, but the grade will be reduced 10 points. Papers turned in more than 24 hours but less than a week late will be graded, although the highest grade available is 50. Papers more than a week late will not be accepted, and students will receive a 0 on the paper grade. There are two ways to turn in your paper: 1) I receive it in class or you hand it to me outside class; 2) I receive it via e-mail as an attachment (I must receive it; not sufficient that you merely send it -- so ask in your e-mail for a confirmation). Please do not slide papers under my office door.

G. Grading: The final grade will be computed as follows: Exam #1 -- 15%; Exam #2 -- 20%;

Paper -- 20%; Final Examination -- 25%; Quizzes/In-Class Exercise (average) – 15%; Class Participation – 5%. Your final grade will be assigned based on the College’s grading set out in the Undergraduate Bulletin. I will give a grade of "incomplete" only under the most dire of circumstances.

H. Extra Credit: There will be one extra credit essay given as part of the final exam (the only extra credit available during the semester). This will make the final exam worth a total of 110 points. This will be the only extra credit available.

IV. SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS [Epstein and Walker = E&W]

1. For the assigned readings beginning , you should focus on the decisions listed (italics), as well as all material in the text introducing and relating to the topic and relating to these cases. The only specific decisions from the readings on which you will be tested will be those in italics. However, you are responsible for all other "non-case" material (e.g., discussion by the authors, introductory text) assigned in the readings as well as all material addressed in class.

2. If we spend more time on certain topics than allotted, I will make changes to this schedule. Any such changes will be announced in class and posted on the "Class Announcements" page.