Law and Society,
online Professor David Baggins
Political Science, 3410
- Students will understand how law is a product of political, social and economic forces and how each of these in turn is molded by the law. It is the repeated anthem of the class that everything is connected to the law. We will see many examples of that.
- Students will understand the main features of the Constitution and how it is related to criminal justice.
- Students will understand the power of courts and their role in the political process, particularly as applied to criminal justice.
- Students will have a theoretical understanding of criteria for the evaluation of success and failure in the law.
- Students will have an understanding of the complex forces that have achieved the policy reality of criminal justice as a high cost low achievement package.
6. Students
will understand how criminal justice came to be procedurally liberal but
substantively conservative and so very expensive and of limited success.
7. Students
will understand the conditions of high and low criminal justice success.
Major insights of the class:
Every society has law. Law in each society is a reflection
on that society’s values and politics. Law both is a creation and a creator of
each civilization.
American society is unusually law oriented. Every era of the
American experience has left an impression in the law. Principle periods of
legal evolution include: Common Law, Revolutionary, Federalist,
Jefferson-Jackson, Civil War, Republican Capitalist, Progressive-New Deal,
Liberal Sociology, and Culture War.
Procedurally, American criminal law is liberal. This is a
reflection on the founding fathers and their experience with British tyranny.
This liberalism is expressed in clauses of the Constitution including Due
Process, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, right to confront accusers,
right to remain silent and other elements on Constitutional Criminal Procedure.
Substantively American criminal law is
conservative. This is a reflection of American fear of crime, religious convictions
and of a cultural war against minority and nonconforming Americans. This
conservatism is expressed in an unusually lengthily criminal
code, and in harsh penalties including drug prohibition and California’s three
strikes laws. Prohibitions against politically undesired personal behaviors are
central to the criminal justice experience.
In modern America there has been a decade long overall drop
in crime. However while some regions have excelled in crime reduction, others
have not. We will examine why New York City has become a very low crime place,
while Oakland is near the top of violent towns. The failure of criminal justice
in Oakland will remain a theme of this class.
American criminal justice is unusually large, expensive and
ineffective. We have the highest expenditure to criminal justice, but a high
crime rate for a developed nation. Much of this class is an explanation of how
a nation can devote so much resource to criminal justice but achieve so little
result.
The Supreme Court has ruled criminal justice in California
to be a systemic violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruelty
(Brown v. Plata). Governor Jerry Brown has partially accepted this ruling and
is conducting a systemic review of who should be in prison. This is a response
to the Constitutional ruling, and the financial condition of the state, and the
governor’s view that the culture war conducted through criminal justice under
the title War on Drugs was always an abuse of criminal power. He and the more
liberal legislature, and the even more liberal relevant courts are engaged in discussion/confrontation over reduction of
incarceration. We will study Governor
Brown’s plans for criminal justice, the legislative counter offer, and the continuing
judicial response.
Overall America and California are liberalizing their
criminal codes and enjoying a period of falling real crime. However this happy
circumstance is not evenly shared. We will study Oakland and the politics and
sociology surrounding a city with 130 murders in 2012. Oakland leads the nation
in robbery per-capita. It is the California example of failure in the law. It
joins such places as Detroit, Baltimore and St Louis nationally.
American Law caries an inherent duality: Is the purpose of
law to prosecute society toward piety through prohibitions, essentially a conservative
religious purpose, or is the purpose of law human happiness, a liberal public
policy purpose? This is a philosophical
and political dichotomy. We will constantly address the role prosecution of sin
(mala prohibit a) plays in the failure of criminal justice.
This duality has taken particular form in the modern era as
the parties divided over basic questions of the law. Should gays have rights?
Do women own their bodies? Should the government control many aspects of life
including drug use and cyber viewing? The answer to such questions controls the
direction of criminal justice.
Liability and regulation laws have proven effective in ways
criminal law has not in changing behavior. Criminal law could be much more
effective if focused on real crime with real victims (mala in se). But criminal
law is more the product of politics than of reasoned public policy, and so much
of the criminal code addresses cultural crimes.
The nation may be ready to reexamine the failures of
criminal justice policy. In part this is because the prison system is
expensive, unconstitutional and of limited utility. Objectively the nation
would benefit from greater focus on corporate and economic harms and less on
personal behavior. But there is much
political reality between the status quo and such reform.
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Map of study. First read the whole syllabus to gain an
overview of the class. In each unit read
the syllabus, watch the video presentations, read the hyperlinked articles,
write and post your one-two page essay, read other student essays and respond
to at least two in a manner that affirms and augments the author’s argument,
post as well each week two criticisms of some aspect of the week’s deliberation,
or ask questions of the author or me. That makes in total 5 posts each week:
paper, augmentations, criticisms and questions. The criticisms and questions
are to show your critical thinking skills. Watch the dates as you will only be
able to post paper and responses in the time window. Dates are listed at the
end of each unit. Read over the rubric for a better explanation of how you are
graded each week.
Topics
1.
What is law?
Videos (3), Introduction, 1/8, and Unit One: What is Law?
All my lectures are found under East Bay Replay on Blackboard.
Definition: a set of
rules enforced by government that people are required to live by.
Law is basic to sociology, like family, economy, religion
and politics. Every society exhibits some form of each of these elements. Each
of these elements is likely to reinforce the others.
Sociologists, philosophers, theologians and others who have
considered the role of law:
Aristotle and Plato hold an ancient conversation regarding
the use of punishment. Plato, for the conservatives argues the leaders are
better than the people, and should use punishment to instill virtue. Aristotle
thinks people should be allowed to find their own happiness except when they
cause real harm to others. He thinks it is the leaders who need punishment as
they can do the most harm and need be held to a higher standard.
Emile Durkheim, founder of the discipline of Sociology. Law
is essential to create civilization and is found in every civilization. Traditional
society’s have a “collective conscience” that is synonymous with law. Punishment
for breach of collective conscience has the value of denunciation.
Every civilization has a variation of law, these variations
traditionally also have much in common: Taboo, Dharma, Confucius, and Shari’a
Max Weber, early
sociologist. As society evolves, its legal system becomes more formal and more
rational.
Karl Marx, critic of the way things are. Law is about class
oppression, law helps to control the population and enforce hierarchy.
In pre-modern civilizations, law is about hierarchy and
order. Liberal law is a Western
development that has spread to most of the world
Ten Commandments, http://www.byteland.org/godslaw/fixtencommonumentquitman.html
Declaration of Independence,
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
Later in the course we will consider what causes some
places, like Detroit and Oakland, to have high levels of crime. Consider this
from Detroit.
Please write a short essay (1-2 pages) on a topic of this
unit. Suggestions for topics include: role of Ten Commandments in today’s law,
Criticism or appreciation of Aristotle, or Plato, Role of Declaration of
Independence, movement of crime in Bay Area, failure of civics in Detroit as
cause of crime. Post under discussion your essay of the week, two agreements
and two disagreements or questions to me or others with week’s work and
discussion. That is a total of minimum five posts. See end of syllabus for more
information on how to conduct your weekly participation. Students who have
trouble with the class are often students who do not carefully read the
instructions on the five weekly posts. Remember that each week your essay is
due the day before the closing of the unit. Participation in the weekly
discussion is the class. Go to it!
Discussion closes October 8
2.
What is justice?
Video presentation:
What is Justice?
In western civilization the idea of justice has formed an
ongoing conversation. Below are some of the principle participants. The video
presentation introduces each.
Plato (virtue),
Aristotle (happiness), Confucius (harmony), Hebrew (righteousness), Roman (power), Dante (sin) and the Catholic era, Hobbes
(suppression of evil), Locke (freedom) and the Enlightenment era, Thomas
Jefferson(American Republic and liberty) Abraham Lincoln (social justice), Franklin
Roosevelt (progressive) Earl Warren (affirmative action and personal freedom)
and modern liberalism, John Roberts
(corporate rule) and modern conservatism, Scalia(fundamentalism), Modern European Model (post modern)
Consensus view v. Conflict perspective, law is overall good
for civilization, while bad for some groups and individuals. Conservatives tend
to focus on the benefits of law to the civilization as a whole; liberals tend
to focus on the victims.
Retributive Justice v. Distributive Justice: is the heart of
justice punishing behavior or uplifting the downtrodden? Conservatives tend to
focus on the need to punish sin to achieve virtuous civilizations; liberals
want law to create justice through redistribution.
George Lakeoff’s model, nurturing v. strict governance, government
is similar to either conservative or liberal style of parenting.
A first look at a famous prosecution, http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/simpson.htm
Ask, what is the point in the end of the infamous Simpson trial: the thug will
do it again; when the police act illegally they destroy their legitimacy; the
demographics of the jury matter more than the guilt of the defendant; or money
buys justice? We will model the insight offered by each of these conclusions.
Our discussion of Oakland is a first pass at trying to
understand the most violent city in California. Focus on how little support the
police receive and ask why. Oakland is a topic we will continue with all quarter.
The following article deserves a careful read.
Vocabulary building: Mala In Se (acts that are inherently
evil and universally prohibited) Mala Prohibit a (acts that are prohibited because
a society says so. For example crimes of homosexuality or alcohol or adultery
or marijuana, list is always political and in motion)
Stop and Frisk,
New York,
Here is a list of mala in se crimes:
More to consider abut Oakland.
Discussion questions (choose one to write, post it at least
a day before the end of the unit, read the posts, and respond to at least for
with agreements or disagreements/inquiries): What do I particularly observe that helps
explain crime and criminal justice in our region of California? How did my
family life shape my values toward sin, crime and punishment? What is the
lesson of the Simpson trial? How is
Oakland’s politics a part of its crime event? Why has New York moved to a very low crime
city? Why has Oakland moved to a very high crime city? You may of course write
on other topics. Ask me if not sure of fitness.
Discussion closes October 15 .
3.
How did American law evolve?
Video Presentation: The Constitution.
Some special moments in the evolution of American law: Magna
Charta, British Common Law, Blackstone, Parliament and the courts, Virginia
colony, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitutional
Convention, Bill of Rights, 13-15 Amendments, Income tax, Women’s vote,
Prohibition, Ban on poll tax, 18yr old vote.
If we consider law in the west after Magna Charta we trace
the rise of liberal legalism, also known as the rule of law. Rights become more
broadly distributed over time: political, economic, social.
How does law control politics today: Checks and Balances
separation of church and state, freedom of speech, Constitutional Criminal Procedure
and rules promoting equality.
Constitution of the United States,
Consideration of California prison case,
Brown v. Plata, http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/crimprof_blog/2011/05/opinion-in-california-prison-overcrowding-case.html
Modern Constitutional Criminal Procedure,
The authors of the constitution were very concerned with
property. So to the Federalists, and the Republicans of the post Lincoln era,
the Progressives through FDR were also concerned, but in a different way. Modern Republicans and Democrats continue to
vie over economic issues. We will consider the Marshal Court, Dartmouth case,
McCullough v. Maryland, Issues of the Federal Bank, Republican Party and capitalism,
Progressives, New Deal Challenge, Regulated Economy, Enron and the Great
Recession, Conservative revolt.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/timeline/1963.html
A central constitutional issue today is “Stop and Frisk”.
Under this standard police with “reasonable suspicion” are able to frisk
persons they consider to be high risk. This police practice is aggressively
diploid in NY City. New York has the lowest crime rate of any major American
city. Its crime rate is below most European and Asian cities. There is little
agreement in the literature as to why. The Mayor, Bloomberg, a wealthy
philanthropist underwrites Planned Parenthood, so one answer is low unwanted
births. They have reduced public housing and gentrified Manhattan. But the
police believe that aggressive “Stop and Frisk” is the lead factor.
Courts have taken up the issue of Stop and Frisk. At the
first round New York’s practice was found to violate rights. Oakland may deploy
this practice if it is held Constitutional. This is very much a living
Constitutional Criminal Procedure argument.
Ideologies active and important to understanding law in
America today, six plus one:
1.
Liberalism, this is the most traditional
American ideology. It is the dominant values set of the founding fathers,
particularly Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. It is the promise that
good government must be non-oppressive. In particular the Constitutional promises
against rule by a police state are a strongly held liberal value. In the 1960s
under the leadership of Chief Justice Earl Warren the judiciary applied these
rights and found criminal justice as practiced in America to be
unconstitutional. California is under liberal order to reduce its level of rule
through prison today. Modern liberals believe that just as government, police
and ruling churches needed to have their power regulated from the founding of
the republic, so too in the modern era corporations and wealth need regulation.
2.
Conservatism, this is the most traditional of
world ideologies. It is the view that order is only achieved through effective
government using police power and punishment. Strength of government, both
police and military, are used to combat dangers domestic and foreign. President
Ronald Reagan revived Conservative values regarding criminal justice to fight
an immerging crime wave and to crush opposition culture. Conservative values led California to fight
crime with mass incarceration.
3.
Progressive, this movement argues that the
morally right way to fight crime is to increase the quality of life of the
underclass through deployment of benevolent governments. They propose public
health, public housing, public education, welfare etc. Democrats have continued
the move toward progressive government with the Affordable Care Act (Obama
care).
4.
Capitalist, this is the movement that argues the
America’s prosperity it the direct result of an economy based on business and
enterprise. The Federalists in the early era of the republic, and the
Republican Party espouse capitalist values.
They see progressive government as the enemy of enterprise. They think
an economy that rewards hard work and good choices is important just as letting
the poor feel the punishment of bad choices is part of how America moves
forward. They blame public welfare as causing a breakdown of values. They
believe capitalism instills values and creates a more prosperous nation.
5.
Libertarian, this view holds that adults have
the right to make their own choices. It does not want to see government
controlling personal behavior. They accept reasonable government oversight to
establish markets and rules so as to take the social harm out of the personal
choice. Libertarians argue that prohibitions are always a public policy error.
They would like to see fewer rules and less punishment in general.
6.
Fundamentalist, this view holds that we know
God’s position on public policy and must deploy police to suppress sin. They
want to see government prohibition of drugs, abortion, homosexuality,
prostitution, pornography etc. The Founding Fathers thought fundamentalism was
passed its era, but it has revived both in the United States and in the Middle
East. Fundamentalists believe in an expansive criminal code focused on mala
prohibit a crimes.
Plus Opposition Culture, this is the view of
people living in the country who do not wish to be a part of the country. The
Bay Area, particularly Oakland is a concentration of opposition culture. The
strength of opposition culture in Oakland is a piece of why police work there
is so challenging. This ideology is not strong nationally, but has a high
presence in Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco. It is a portion of
understanding how a city as actually wealthy as Oakland fails to combat crime.
Discussion Questions (write one; respond to at least two,
two criticisms or questions):
Which ideology is most and least expressed in American law?
Which ideologies are in conflict or cooperation? How is the Constitutional importance of
property related to crime in America? How has the Supreme Court led economics
through the law? How do the political parties differ in their view of law and
economics? How is the Constitution relevant to our discussion of law and
society? What are the values that make
criminal justice procedurally liberal? Would America pass the Constitutional criminal
rights amendments today? Should Oakland deploy “Stop and Frisk? Should “Stop
and Frisk” be held Constitutional?
Discussion closes October 22.
4.
Prohibitions and the Cultural Uses of Crime
Videos (3) 1/24, 1/29, 1/31
What is crime? How does behavior become a crime?
Steady movement from conservative, white male adult
Christian rule, to greater liberalism, rights for Blacks, Women, Gays,
children, Non-Christians etc. We consider: The Immigrant experience and American law; the
centrality of African Americans to the American legal story; law and other
attempts at social change; Brown v. Board and its aftermath; sexuality and the
law; and conservative and liberal plans for family law.
Discussion Topics
What are the lessons
of prohibition? What were the politics behind Prohibition? What are factors
that explain the rise in crime, 1950-1990? What are factors that help to
explain the fall in crime 1990-1993?
Discussion closes October 29.
5.
Law, Crime and The War on Drugs,
Videos (3) 2/12, 2/14,
and The Incidence of Crime.
Concepts that may explain variation in crime:
Relative Deprivation
Opposition Culture
Concentration of Poverty
Gang Sociology and Economics
http://berkeley.patch.com/articles/berkeley-pd-crime-log-for-july-29-aug-4?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001
What is crime? Acts the state chooses to declare crimes in
the criminal code. Elements are: act, in
violation of statute, with intent, without recognized justifications (self
defense, line of duty, duress, and entrapment).
Not all harms are crimes (pollution), not all crimes are
harms (suicide, prostitution, sodomy). Concentric circle, Core crimes, crimes
against culture, Regulatory, Civil action, tolerated.
Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Due Process, Habeas
Corpus, Bill of Rights, Warren Revolution. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/timeline/1963.html
Why does America spend more on criminal justice than any
other nation yet not achieve public safety?
Crime rates 1950 to today, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States
What is criminology?
What is crime? Mala in Se v. Mala Prohibit a
Mala in se stays pretty much the same. Here is a list again.
Mala Prohibit a is always changing with the times. The
following explores a range of Mala Prohibit a issues:
Gambling
If sugar is a greater health hazard than heroine, as doctors
say, how should the law respond?
Drugs
Prostitution, http://prostitution.procon.org/
Tobacco, http://oag.ca.gov/tobacco
Why does crime rise, 1960-1990, then fall 1991-2011?
Many factors: Baby Boom effect: crime rises when there are a
lot of young people. Abortion effect: crime falls with fewer unwanted kids. End of AFDC: crime falls as Earned Income Tax
credit replaces classic welfare that paid per fatherless child. Change in drug habits: crime falls as
marijuana reasserts as principle drug pushing crack and cocaine aside. Gang phenomena: crime rises and falls based
on how fertile the sociological conditions are for gang breeding. Migration patterns: crime rises as public
policy concentrates poverty, falls as poverty disperses. In the end, rise and
fall of crime is a complex phenomenon with many contributing factors. We may never
be able to fully say why civilization is what it is. The rise and fall of crime
is related to more potential factors than we can list.
Discussion topics (write on one and respond to two or ask
questions):
What are the important lessons of change in crime rate?
Why is the Warren Court controversial in the study of crime?
How is Mala Prohibit a in a state of change since the 1950s?
How are issues of families related to issues of crime?
What is the difference between what Republicans and
Democrats want of the law?
How do you explain what makes for the high crime cities?
What lessons of Prohibition are displayed in the War on
Drugs?
What are the lessons of the War on Drugs?
How should criminal law deal with human sin?
How are the Oakland Police Department a part of the problem
of crime in Oakland?
How is Oakland politics and sociology a part of the problem
of crime?
November 5.
6.
Punishment
Video: Punishment
What are we trying to achieve through punishment:
Specific deterrence, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore
General Deterrence, http://www.worldpressphoto.org/photo/2012-ebrahim-noroozi-cis2-al
Restitution, http://vcgcb.ca.gov/restitution/
Denunciation, recall our discussion on Durkheim.
Retribution
Politics and Policy of Three strikes, http://www.lao.ca.gov/2005/3_strikes/3_strikes_102005.htm
Court order and Eight Amendment, Brown v. Plata
What are they values that frame criminal justice in
California? How is Governor Brown shifting the use of Punishment? How has the
evolution of Three Strikes changed criminal justice? How could the state
improve its model of punishment? What is the most rational use of punishment
America could construct? What is the nature of the politics behind use of
prisons in California?
Discussion closes November 12
7.
Values of Criminal Justice
Video, Values of Crime
James Q Wilson equation value of life <> crime –
punishment
Try to solve this equation from the ideological
perspectives: Libertarian, Capitalist, Progressive, Conservative Religious,
Civil liberties liberalism, Traditional Conservative.
Consideration of effectiveness, externality, criminogenics,
costs, legitimacy.
Arguments on Death Penalty, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/02/dorner-and-the-california-death-penalty.html
The essential point here is that it has been many years
since the state’s enormous and expensive death penalty system, housed in San
Quinton, succeeded in carrying out sentence. Nowhere else is the reality of
procedural liberalism but substantive conservatism so apparent. If you just add all costs of the system over
the last decade and divide by successful death, it’s around 200 million per death.
This is a flawed but dramatic methodology. Death row inmates have a longer life
expectancy than life sentence inmates due to superior living conditions. So
death is longer than life!?
Discussion questions:
Why has punishment proven so ineffective in reducing crime
in California? Given Wilson’s equation, how should crime be reduced? What are
your values regarding the place of punishment? How does California get out of
the death penalty fiasco? Did you vote to end the death penalty in 2012? How
has Three Strikes been changed? Why is the federal government now moving
against the War on Drugs policies? Are we in danger of becoming an
unconstitutional police state?
Discussion closes November 19
8.
Torts, contract, property and regulations:
Video, Regulation and Civil Law
Torts: Negligence, Causation, Damage, duty
FDA
Change of status of women in the workplace.
Clean Air Act
Mortgage meltdown
Learn tolerance (sexual revolution), education (safe sex),
manipulate price (tobacco) , create rights (sexual harassment), regulation
(alcohol), criminalization
Gun Control, http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/obama-asks-supporters-to-push-congress-on-gun-control/
Hierarchy of responses to perceived undesired behavior:
Learn tolerance (sexual revolution), education (safe sex),
manipulate price (tobacco) , create rights (sexual harassment), regulation
(alcohol), criminalization
Discussion topics:
How could regulation prove a superior means of social
control to criminalization? How have you successfully asserted your rights to
achieve justice? How should American law be more regulatory toward corporations?
How do the political parties differ on this issue? What sins should be
regulated but not criminalized? Why?
Discussion closes November 26.
9.
The Politics of Criminal Justice.
See Video Politics of Criminal Justice
The cycles
of American Politics, http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/26/specials/schlesinger-cycles.html
Era of bipartisan conservatism, Capitalism and Social;
challenged by progressives, The Jungle Upton Sinclair, FDA; challenged by
Prohibition; challenged by New Deal, Social Security, NLRB, SEC; challenged by
McCarthyism; challenged by Great Society, Sesame Street, AFDC, Head start, public
housing; Challenged by Ronald Reagan, War on Drugs, militarization, culture war;
challenged by Bill Clinton, moderate Democrat; War on Terrorism; today?
Pragmatism; Santorum and Culture War?
Consideration of Willie Horton, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io9KMSSEZ0Y
Chain Reaction http://www.crinfo.org/booksummary/10094/
Making Crime Pay, http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Making+Crime+Pay%3a+Law+and+Order+in+Contemporary+American+Politics.-a021280702
Governing Through Crime http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/simon0707.htm
Life on the Outside. http://www.lifeontheoutside.com/
Drug Hate and the
Corruption of American Justice: http://www.amazon.com/Drug-Hate-Corruption-American-Justice/dp/0275959562 (Disclosure, my book)
Conservative Thought:
Discussion, write about one, respond to two and two
criticisms or questions.
What are the politics that drive criminal
justice? How do you agree or disagree with any of the above arguments? Where
are we in the cycles of politics?
Discussion closes December 3 .
10.
A more rational legal structure.
Video: 3/12 and 3/14
Recognize that prison is
expensive. It should be rationed accordingly.
Recognize that the beneficial
incarceration effect is greatly diluted by irrational rules and punishment.
Recognize that criminal justice
should not be deployed to fight America’s culture war.
Recognize that the status quo ante
of criminal justice made political, but never policy sense.
Recognize that regulation and
civil law can be used to confront social ills in a way that criminal justice
cannot.
Recognize that police are only
effective if they have the support of the city, population, legal establishment
and media.
Recognize the importance of family
and the need in particular of fathers.
Essay prompts:
How should criminal justice be
reorganized? How is criminal justice being changed by Jerry Brown, Brown v.
Plata and the state budget? Why does the
United States spend so much on criminal justice but achieve so little by way of
public safety?
Discussion closes December 10.
Conclusion
Grading and Weekly Participation
The heart of our class together is
our online dialogue. I believe that it is the promise of online teaching to
create the conditions for superior discussion. Your grade is entirely dependent
on your weekly engagement submitted in the correct form and format. My
assignments are your keys to success in both education and grade. Submit all
five required entries each week. Value your papers knowing it is your long turn
to probe the issues. Read each other’s work with genuine interest and openness
of mind. Ask the question you would really like to have answered. Answer
questions directed toward you. I will try to do so to questions not answered.
All material is to be placed on
the online discussion of Blackboard. Discussion ends on Tuesdays, first discussion
ends Tuesday October 8. Your weekly essay is due the prior Monday, thus for
unit one the seventh of October. This is to give the class time to critique
your essay. There is an essay and four
responses each week, two affirming an argument, two critical. You always may
substitute one criticism with a thoughtful question to me based on the class. I
will respond in my weekly to the class essay that summarizes the discussion.
You may ask questions of each other in place of criticism. Please think of the
questions, answers and criticisms as an exercise in critical thinking. I of course
judge if your questions and criticisms advance the conversation. If someone
asks you a question and you reply, that is a matter for weekly grading. I
heartily encourage such exchange. There
is in total a minimum of 50 comments. You may of course write more. You have
entered an online discussion of issues of law, crime, justice, police, politics
and America for the next eleven weeks. You will see, the topic is quite
engaging.
Each week your contribution to the
class is evaluated on a scale of 0-5. Thus there are 50 points needed in the
class. Thirty points is needed for a grade of C. I reward: careful reading and
use of materials provided including lecture, response to fellow classmates, use
of relevant materials you have found through research, thoughtfulness of
advancement of week’s discussion. I also
reward appropriate application of past material and responsiveness to my
comments made as the week’s discussion evolves. This discussion can be exciting
and even intense. I am open to the full range of points of view. However, I do
take off points for comments that are rude, ill informed or simply
unproductive. Conversation must be about the issues of the class and must be
conducted in a civil manner.
There is one extra credit point
available for posting a link that I find sufficiently useful that I include it
in future syllabi. This is at my discretion.
I will send out my summary comment
of each week based on the progress of class discussion.
All lectures are found under East
Bay Replay.
Rubric for weekly
contributions, this is included for your guidance. This is my basis for assigning
points.
|
Levels of Achievement
| |||
|
Criteria
|
Novice
|
Competent
|
Proficient
|
|
1. Use of Materials:
lecture, readings, clips etc.
Weight 40.00%
|
0 %
Little
evidence that you considered material.
|
50 %
Genuine
evidence of reviewing materials.
|
100 %
Deep
understand of materials and fully useful application.
|
|
2. Material Added to
Discussion: research, useful personal experience, and observations
Weight 15.00%
|
0 %
No
added material.
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50 %
Useful
valid information.
|
100 %
Genuine
research that makes a worthy point and is substantiated with citation.
|
|
3. Advances Class Discussion:
responsiveness to others, meaningful questions, criticisms and advancement of
argument, use of weekly summary.
Weight 15.00%
|
0 %
Comments
and questions have no relation to discussion.
|
50 %
Simple
agreement or disagreement with thread.
|
100 %
Meaningfully
shifts discussion.
|
|
4. Shows Awareness of
Subject Taken as a Whole: by remembering past material, advancing material
yet to be covered, or showing the relationship of weeks and ideas.
Weight 10.00%
|
0 %
Lacks
connection to big picture.
|
50 %
Shows
some of the connection of ideas.
|
100 %
Shows
how the particular material is a part of the big picture in a way that
benefits the readers.
|
|
5. Correct Form: weekly
paper is class worthy, questions, comments and criticisms are intelligently
composed.
Weight 20.00%
|
0 %
Careless
and unworthy of college work.
|
50 %
Clear,
but not well crafted.
|
100 %
Fine
written work
|
There are thus five criteria for
grading your five weekly posts. Give consideration to how you will demonstrate
the five criteria. Note that the first criteria, use of this week’s materials,
carries the most weight.
I do recommend that you use cut
and paste to retain a copy of your posts until the end of the class. Sometimes
students find that helpful if they wish to compare their answers to the rubric
above. I can only discuss your work with you if you can present me with copy of
the text. I cannot search back material for you.
Revised Student
Learning Outcomes for Political Science (POSC)
SLO 1
POSC majors will
develop and articulate an understanding of the theory and practice of political systems and gain practical experience in politics, public
policy, and civic engagement in
a democracy.
SLO1a: understanding the theory and practice of political systems
SLO1b: involvement in practical experience/civic
engagement
SLO 2
POSC majors will
demonstrate through written competency, an understanding of the theories,
concepts, empirical content, and research agendas of the fields of political
science with advanced understanding in the selected option and the use of critical thinking.
SLO2a: understanding theories and concepts in
political science and applying them to new material or situations
SLO2b: understanding quantitative and qualitative
empirical content
SLO 2c: understanding research agendas
SLO 3
POSC majors will
demonstrate an understanding of political institutions, processes, and culture
in the U.S. and around the world including the economic, ideological, ethnic
and cultural groups and movements that engage the political process.
SLO 3a: understand the relationship between ethnic,
racial, religious and socio-economic diversity and national political cultures.
SLO 3b: understand the relationship between political
culture and political institutions and processes.
SLO 3c: understand the institutions and processes of
government
SLO 4
POSC majors will
articulate career goals, demonstrate knowledge of how to achieve those goals,
and produce evidence of working to achieve the goals.
SLO 5
POSC majors will
demonstrate the ability to apply knowledge through collaborative learning.
Indicators:
A=assignments, weekly
E=Essays, weekly
R=Research papers,
weekly
O=Other:
a continuing discussion in the class critical thinking format.
