Posted on 11/06/2002 11:07:08 PM PST by doug from upland
Note: Face-to-face class
meets on Thursdays, 6:00-8:40pm, at the UA System Office
January 9 (tentative date):
WebCT Orientation for online students, pre-view party for all students, showing
of “The War Room” and Q and A session about the class; I will also conduct an
online orientation for students at a distance.
Department of Political Science,
608 Stabler Hall, 2801 South University Ave., Little rock, AR 72204
Phone: (501) 569-3331
FAX (501) 569-8271 mescranton@ualr.edu e-mail
Purpose of the Course:
This course explores
the presidency of Bill Clinton from several perspectives, all grounded in the
discipline of political science: the administration’s policy making; presidential
power and leadership; crises and turning points in the Clinton administration;
campaigning and communications skills of the president; the administration’s
relations with the press, political parties and groups; and the legacy of the
Clinton presidency.
As we analyze
these topics, we will also consider the Constitutional framework as it affects
the presidential office and executive-legislative relations and trends in the
domestic and international environments that affected the Clinton presidency.
Berman, William C. From
the Center to the Edge: The Politics & Policies of the ClintonPresidency.
Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.
Clark, Wesley K. Waging
Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat. New York: Public
Affairs, 2001.
Skocpol, Theda. Boomerang:
Clinton’s health security effort and the turn against government in U. S. Politics.
New York: Norton, 1997.
A political memoir or “insider’s
account” of the Clinton Administration
Required Texts – Graduate
Students:
Abshire, David, ed. Triumphs
and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency: Seventy-six Case Studies in Presidential
Leadership. Westport, Ct.: Praeger and Center for the Study of the Presidency,
2001.
Berman, William C. From
the Center to the Edge: The Politics & Policies of the Clinton Presidency.
Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.
Campbell, Colin, and Bert
A. Rockman, eds. The Clinton Legacy. New York: Seven Bridges/Chatham
House, 2000.
Clark, Wesley K. Waging
Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat. New York: Public
Affairs, 2001.
Schier, Steven, ed. The
Postmodern Presidency: Bill Clinton’s Legacy in U.S. Politics. Pittsburgh:
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2002.
Skocpol, Theda. Boomerang:
Clinton’s health security effort and the turn against government in U. S. Politics.
New York: Norton, 1997.
A political memoir or “insider’s
account” of the Clinton Administration and selected readings from the weekly
schedule below.
Political Memoirs and Insider Accounts: (note: a more complete list will
be available later)
Barber, B. R. (2000). My
Affair with Clinton: An Intellectual Memoir. New York, Norton.
Gergen, D. (2000). Eyewitness
to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton. New York, Simon
& Schuster.
Germond, Jack and Jules
Witcover, Mad as Hell: The Revolt at the Ballot Box, 1992. New York:
Warner Books, 1993.
Maraniss, David. First
in his class: A Biography of Bill Clinton. New York: Simon & Schuster,
1995.
Matalin, Mary, and James
Carville. All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President. New York:
Random House, 1994.
Morris, D. (1997). Behind
the Oval Office. New York, Random House.
Reich, R. Locked in the
Cabinet.
Stephanopoulos, George.
All too Human: A Political Education. Boston: Little Brown, 1999.
Woodward, B. (1994). The
Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House. New York, Simon & Schuster.
Class
Policies, No Credit for Late Work, and Grade components:
Please note the following
procedures and rules for our class:
and written assignments. Whenever possible, I will post course materials
on the WebCT site.
and assignments before class (note that reading assignments are listed prior
to the date they will be discussed in class).
board. Always check the bulletin board if you happen to miss a class.
you miss if you are absent from class.
of class. Assignments handed in later that evening or the next day will have
25 points deducted from the earned grade. Assignments will not be accepted
at all after 4:30pm the next day. Instead, a grade of 0 points will be recorded
for that assignment. If you know ahead of time that you will miss class,
hand the assignment in early or e-mail (via WebCT) or fax (501-569-8271) your
worksheet to me at the Political Science Office. To compensate for
this strict deadline policy, you may drop three of your worksheet/assignment
grades; missed assignments will count as drops. These three “free” drops
will cover family emergencies, illness, car problems, etc. The final exam
cannot be made up; instead, a grade of 0 points will be recorded for a missed
final.
Grades for 4345 (undergraduate
level):
The following writing assignments
will make up your course grade:
20%
20%
20%
WORKSHEETS and QUIZZES:
Throughout the semester I will assign worksheets to assist you in processing
assigned readings and to investigate sources (such as government documents or
Web sites) of information about the Clinton presidency and related topics.
I will assign discussion preparation worksheets related to special topics and
invited speakers. And, for certain readings, I will create online quizzes that
cover assigned readings.
MEMOIR/INSIDER ACCOUNT
ANALYTICAL REVIEW: Guidelines will be provided for
this assignment. You will select a memoir or insider account from the approved
list of books to read. You will also locate and read several published reviews
of the selected book and incorporate those into your own analysis. The guidelines
will explain how you will assess additional evidence about the events discussed
in the selected book and how you will evaluate the contribution and significance
of the book in terms of a broader debate about the presidency.
ANALYTICAL RESEARCH PAPER:
Guidelines will be provided for the policy analysis paper. This year,
the class will use documents from the Health Care Task Force and write about
health care reform. Undergraduates will write 10-15 -page papers utilizing
3-5 primary source documents; graduates will write 20-25 -page papers utilizing
5-10 primary source documents. All papers must adhere to scholarly standards
for style and format.
TESTS. We will
have a final examination. Questions will be in essay form, and your answer
should be a reasoned, well-organized essay that demonstrates your ability to
integrate and analyze general themes and ideas. You will have a choice among
questions to answer; essay topics will be provided prior to the exam.
Grades for 5345 (graduate
level):
The following writing assignments
will make up your course grade:
20%
15%
15%
30%
20%
Reading and Writing Assignments
for Graduate Students:
In addition to the required readings on the syllabus, graduate students will
read and review five scholarly articles selected from the recommended readings
on the syllabus. For graduate students, the analytical research paper will
be 20-25 pages long and will utilize 5-10 primary source documents (bibliography
to be approved by the instructor in advance). Papers must adhere to scholarly
standards for style and format. Guidelines will be provided for the Comparative
Analysis paper, based on articles in Abshire’s Triumphs and Tragedies of
the Modern Presidency: Seventy-six Case Studies in Presidential Leadership;
graduate students will select a Clinton case topic and compare the Clinton case
with two other presidential cases. The comparative analysis paper will be 7-10
pages in length and demonstrate an ability to compare and contrast policies
and decisions, decision contexts, and political contexts. Guidelines also will
be provided for the scholarly article review assignments; the reviews should
be 3-5 pages in length and demonstrate advanced critical thinking and writing
skills.
A 90-100 excellent recall, comprehension, or application, defined as: no
errors of fact plus inferences and interpretations that are solidly grounded
in assigned readings (and guidelines, if relevant) and reflect an awareness
of complexity
B 80-89 superior recall, comprehension, or application, defined
as: a few errors of fact plus inferences and interpretations that are somewhat
grounded in assigned readings (and guidelines, if relevant) – with either a
few significant omissions or misinterpretations – and some appreciation of complexity
C 70-79 average recall, comprehension, or application, defined
as: a fair number of errors of fact plus a mixture of warranted and unwarranted
or correct and incorrect inferences and interpretations of assigned readings
(and guidelines, if relevant), along with minimal appreciation of complexity
D 60-69 below average recall, comprehension, or application,
defined as: errors of fact outnumber correct responses, plus more unwarranted
that warranted and more incorrect than correct inferences and interpretations,
failure to adhere to guidelines, plus lack of appreciation of complexity
F < 60 extremely poor recall, comprehension, or
application, defined as: serious errors of fact, predominance of unwarranted
and incorrect inferences and interpretations, failure to adhere to guidelines,
plus severe lack of appreciation of complexity
DEPARTMENTAL AND UNIVERSITY POLICIES
1. Inclement Weather: In addition to the university
policy of announcing on television and radio official closings due to inclement
weather, I urge students to evaluate their own routes and relevant weather conditions.
If your location poses an unusual weather hazard, you must notify me in advance,
at the beginning of the semester, in order to obtain an attendance exemption.
2. Cheating, plagiarism, duplicity and other violations
of academic integrity: Cheating, helping others to cheat, or plagiarism will
be punished. Plagiarism is "To adopt and reproduce as one's own, to appropriate
to one's own use, and incorporate in one's own work without acknowledgment,
the ideas of others or passages from their writings and works.... When a faculty
member believes that a student has behaved dishonestly, he or she will immediately
notify the dean of students of his or her suspicion of cheating, plagiarism,
collusion, or a similar activity...." (UALR Faculty Handbook). Students'
rights and the due process for investigating violations of academic integrity
are described in the Student Handbook.
3. Disability Support Services: It is the policy
of UALR to accommodate students with disabilities, pursuant to state and federal
law. Any student with a disability who needs accommodation, for example in seating
placement or in arrangements for examinations, should inform the instructor
at the beginning of the course. The chair of the department offering this course
is also available to assist with accommodations. Students with disabilities
are also encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Support Services, which
is located in the Donaghey Student Center, Room 103, telephone 569-3143, and
on the Web at href="http://www.ualr.edu/~dssdept/index.html">http://www.ualr.edu/~dssdept/index.html.
4. Arrangements to audit the course or take it for
credit/no credit must be approved by the department chairman by the end of the
first week of the semester. Given limited enrollment in both the face-to-face
and the online section along with high student demand for enrollment in the
course, we do not anticipate than many slots will be available for audit or
credit/no credit students.
5.
Students shall
adhere to the UALR Code of Conduct, which is in the UALR Student
The course material is crap, though. Where is "Year of the Rat" or "High crimes and Misdemeanors"? Even Howard Kurtz's "Spin Cycle" would have been nice.
Stay Safe !
Christopher Hitchens - "No One Left to Lie To"
Ann Coulter - "High Crimes and Misdemeanors"
David Schippers - "Sell Out"
Ruddy & Limbacher - "Bitter Legacy"
R. Emmett Tyrrell - "Boy Clinton"
Dr. Paul Fick - "The Dysfunctional President"
Ambrose Evans Pritchard - "The Secret Life of Bill Clinton"
L.D. Brown - "Crossfire: Witness in the Clinton Investigation"
Gary Aldrich - "Unlimited Access"
Roger Morris - "Partners in Power"
Martin Gross - "The Great Whitewater Fiasco"
Doug from Upland - "The Official Clinton Bashing Limerick Book"
Doug from Upland - "Willy's White House Limerick Book"
Unless those books are read and discussed, it is a sanitized course that will not examine the real Clinton. Many, many people believe that a rapist occupied the White House. Will that be discussed? Will there be a discussion about how a so-called stalker and troubled young woman was given top secret clearance at the Pentagon? Will she discuss how Bernie Schwartz sold banned technology to the ChiComs and gave 900K to the DNC to avoid prosecution?
Amen to that. The required reading list given by the prof is a joke. B.R. Barber will probably be presented as one of the 'objective' portions included for balance. Barber's writings are part of the ultra liberal philosophical mainstay used by communist, I mean liberal, educators. Skocpol's work is beyond apologetic, it is downright Clintonian in her final analysis where she "points out" that if it had not been for the "huge federal budget deficit created by Reagan's tax cuts" the Health Care Plan may have been politically feasable, blah blah blah. Wesley Clark is not only mentally unstable, but will be regarded by future historians (unfettered by the modern leftist press) as a war criminal, not an expert, in regards to Clinton's Balkan legacy. The other works aren't much better, and some are worse. The only exception being the "Mad as Hell" book, no doubt included just to show how he got in office the first time. This course looks like it was put together by Willy himself after snortin' a whole eightball of peruvian blueflake. Kiss some more young minds goodbye.
Since some highly-placed people are now calling for "humanitarian war" and "humanitarian occupation and nation-building" in Iraq, this antidote is needed very badly. And there is still much clintonite damage in the Balkans that needs to be undone!!!!
I agree.
The course, however, is about Clinton presidency, not his person. It is true, of course, that Clinton's presidency was to a great extent about his self-centered person, but these are not the same.
To study art you do not need to know much about the artist himself. Here is the same distinction.
Surely, someone else could have come up with a different list, but I do not find the syllabus to be outrageous.
Stay Safe !
I was going to insert some smart-ass comment here, but the irony level of this statement stands far above my poor power to add or detract.
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