GISDepartment of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies

This course is designed to introduce students to the inner workings of American domestic and foreign policy. It will utilize historical and contemporary examples to help students understand how the United States rose to power and why it has acted in certain historical circumstances. Students will be expected to formulate their own opinions on the topics introduced so they can debate and discuss major issues.

The contents of each week may be changed from the syllabus, especially in the case of unexpected or important political events that take place during the semester (such as an election or Supreme Court decision).

1) Students are expected to develop an understanding of basic structure of the United States government.
2) Students are expected to gain knowledge of the ways in which different branches of the United States government interact and impact foreign policy.
3) Students are expected to understand and critically analyze how governmental and non-governmental factors (lobbyists, voter sentiment) influence American politics and foreign policy.
4) Students are expected to understand some of the political ideals that have influenced American politics since the country’s founding.
5) Students are expected to develop their ability to engage in academic research and writing through the completion of short essays.

Will be able to gain “DP 1”, “DP 2”, “DP 3”, and “DP 4”.

英語 / English

This course will be structured around lectures.

There will also be discussion questions for each week's lecture topic. Although time will be given in class to answer these questions, the questions will be posted on Hoppii each week. Students will be expected to post answers to these questions.

Feedback: Assignments will submitted on Hoppii, and feedback will be included.

あり / Yes

なし / No

授業形態/methods of teaching：対面/face to face

※各回の授業形態は予定です。教員の指示に従ってください。

1[オンライン/online]：Introduction

Introduction to the founding of the United States

2[対面/face to face]：Foundations

The United States Constitution – The Federalists and debates over tyranny & democracy

3[対面/face to face]：Historical Background of American Political System 1

Explaining the functioning of the U.S. government through historical examples.

4[対面/face to face]：Historical Background of American Political System 2

Explaining the functioning of the U.S. government through historical examples.

5[対面/face to face]：Historical Background of American Political System 3

Explaining the functioning of the U.S. government through historical examples.

6[対面/face to face]：Review & Midterm Exam

Assessing the degree to which students understand the subject and Exam: short-answer questions and a short-essay (online test via Hoppii)

7[対面/face to face]：Civil Rights and Racial Discrimination

A discussion of the civil rights movement in the United States and continuing issues

8[対面/face to face]：America as a Super Power - The Cold War

A discussion of America's domestic and foreign policy in the Cold War period

9[対面/face to face]：America's Role in Asia

Focus on relations with Japan and the Cold War in Asia

10[対面/face to face]：The end of the Cold War - a Unipolar world?

A discussion of America's politics after the Cold War.

11[対面/face to face]：Politics in America today / Documentary 1

A short discussion of political campaigning in America today. We will view a documentary about presidential campaigns.

12[対面/face to face]：Politics in America today / Documentary 2

A focus on present day politics in America, with the viewing of a documentary about smaller scale politics.

13[対面/face to face]：Trump's America

Discussion of the 2016 election America under President Trump

14[対面/face to face]：Biden as President

We will look at Biden's presidency so far, and what to expect in the future.

Students are expected to have completed the readings before class. Expect roughly 15-20 pages of reading per week. Preparatory study and review time for this class are 2 hours each.

All course reading materials will be uploaded to the course website.

The following books will prove to be good reference materials.

Herring GC. (2008). From Colony to Superpower, U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776. Oxford University Press.

Grover WF, Peschek JG. (2009). Voices of Dissent, Critical Readings in American Politics. Addison-Wesley Longman.

Ikenberry, G. J. (1999). American foreign policy: Theoretical essays. New York: Longman.

Wasserman, G. (2015). The Basics of American politics.. Boston: Pearson.

Cox, Michael, and Doug Stokes. (2012). US Foreign Policy. Oxford: Oxford UP.

Weekly Written Discussion Responses (Submitted on Hoppii): 40%
Midterm exam: 30%
Final exam(report to be submitted on the course website): 30%

Documentary responses will replace reading responses to reduce the reading load for two weeks.

N/A

Students who have completed General Topics II: American Politics and Foreign Policy can not take this course.

None.