This course is an introduction to United States national government. The course includes an introduction to a framework for understanding United States government and politics, the constitutional basis for United States government and politics, the processes of United States government and politics, the institutions of United States government and politics, and the policies of United States government and politics.

Students will need good reading, writing, critical thinking, and study skills to succeed in this course. Students will be expected to read and learn from a textbook, complete out-of-class assignments, navigate the Web in a search for information, write essays on exams, and, depending on the instructor, submit research papers or book reviews or policy analyses or other such work. Students will be expected to follow grammar and spelling rules in all elements of the course, as well as observe MLA or Turabian or some other accepted citation style in completing research-based course work. Although students will be provided with test dates and general learning outcomes, they will be expected to attend class, learn from lectures, and study information in detail to prepare for the tests.

Varies with instructor and with class format.

The Texas Education Code (51.301) mandates that "every college and university receiving state support or state aid from public funds shall give a course of instruction in government or poitical science that includes consideration of the Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the states, with special emphasis on that of Texas. This course shall have a credit value of not less than six semester hours or its equivalent."

Therefore, the Government Department of Austin Community College has established the following goals:

• To provide six semester hours of instruction in politics and government that acquaint students with the basic concepts used in studying politics and government and that meet the requirements of the Texas Education Code for every student receiving a degree from a state-supported colelge or university in Texas.
  
• To offer an Associate of Arts degree in Government and provide all Government majors with an educational foundation that will allow them to successfully pursue a baccalaureate degree in government or political science at a four-year college or university.

Faculty in the Government Department offer course work that ensures that students learn, in both general and specific ways, the material included in the Department's general learning outcomes for GOVT 2305, listed below.

• Constitutional Foundations: The student will understand the foundations, development, and features of the U.S. Constitution.
• Linkage Institutions: The student will understand how media, interest groups, and political parties serve as institutions to connect people to government.
• Political Learning: The student will understand how political values, attitudes, and behaviors are learned, organized, and expressed.
• Campaigns and Elections: The student will understand the operation of a political campaign, types of elections, and the factors that affect election outcomes.
• Institutions of Government: The student will understand the structure, functions, and operations of the institutions of U.S. government.
• Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: The student will understand how civil liberties and civil rights protect both the individual and categories of people.
• Public Policy: The student will understand the development and implementation of both foreign and domestic policies.

The grading system used depends on the individual instructor.

Policies on attendance, withdrawals, make-ups and/or retests, incompletes, and use of the Testing Center vary by instructor. However, the entire department adheres to the following policies.

Scholastic Dishonesty: Act prohibited by the College for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarism (using another author's words or arguments without attribution), and collusion (the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work for fulfillment of any course requirement).

Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research, or self-expression. Academic work is defined as, but not limited to, tests, quizzes (whether taken electronically or on paper), projects (either individual or group), classroom presentations, papers, and homework.

If a student commits any of the above actions, the instructor will seek disciplinary action in the form of an acadmeic penalty (which will include a zero on the acadmic work in question and may include a course grade of 'F'). Such displinary action will be at the discretion of the instructor following College procedures outlined in the Student Handbook.

Academic Freedom: Each student is strongly encouraged to participate in class discussions. In any classroom situation that includes discussion and critical thinking, particularly about political ideas, there are bound to be many differing viewpoints. Students may not only disagree with each other at times, but the students and instructor may also find that they have disparate views on sensitive and volatile topics.

It is the instructor's hope that these differences will enhance class discussion and create an atmosphere where students and instructor alike will be encouraged to think and learn from each other. Therefore, be assured that the students' grdes will not be adversely affected by any beliefs or ideas expressed in class or in assignments. Rather, we will al respect the views of others when expressed in classroom discussions.

Office for Students with Disabilities: Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physcial, cognitive, or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must meet request reasonable accommodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.