Class Notes: 1/26

We discussed some watershed events in the evolution of the United States from a loose collection of colonies to a unified republic.
Make sure you can identify the significance of the following events in that evolution:

The French & Indian War (ends 1763)
Publication of Common Sense (January 1776)
Declaration of Independence (July 1776)
Articles of Confederation (ratified 1781)
Shays's Rebellion (1786)
Constitution (approved 1788)

Reading Assignment: Week of 1/26

For next time (2/2), read Chapter 2 of the text, the Constitution. Try to answer these questions as you read:

What were the Articles of Confederation?
What's a confederacy?
Who was Thomas Paine?
Who was Daniel Shays?
What was the Great Compromise? (What was created as a result of the G. C.?)
What is federalism?
What are checks and balances? (You should know a few examples--see the figure on page 49, 9th ed.)

What's Due, When

We've had several people join the course in the past week and I've received several questions about what, exactly, is due, and when. I'll try to clear everything up.

Blog Posts
Your first blog post is due by midnight, Saturday, January 31st. Your post should be a summary and critique of one government related article you find at one of the six web sites listed here under "Article Sources for Weekly Posts." You will write one blog post from a different web site each week. Starting on Saturday, February 7th, you'll also be required to make a short comment on a classmate's blog post from the previous week.

So, next week you'll have to write a blog post. The next week, and each week after, you'll have to write a blog post and a comment on a classmate's previous post.

What You Should Have Done By Now
By now you should have created your blog, posted the web address of your blog in a comment to my post "Creating Your Blog," practiced making posts (that include links), read the syllabus at Blackboard, read all the posts here, completed the reading/viewing/listening assignments posted here under First Reading Assignment-Week of 1/12.

Please feel free to post any questions or concerns you have here in the comments as opposed to sending an email. I'll be glad to answer your questions via email, but the whole class might benefit from seeing the answer here as your classmates may have similar questions.

Class Notes: 1/12

Note: You do not need the text American Government Annual Editions by Stinebrickner.

The Constitution:
We will study the Constitution in depth throughout the course. For now, just be familiar with its structure. The Constitution contains a Preamble (an introductory paragraph that lists reasons for establishing the C.) and seven sections called articles. Below are brief summaries of the articles:

1. the legislative branch
2. the executive branch
3. the judicial branch
4. directions to the states
5. how to amend the C. (the C. has been amended just 27 times)
   
6. ranking our laws
7. how the C. was to be ratified

Benchmarks of Representative Democracy:
Greenberg and Page list three benchmarks of a healthy representative democracy:

• Popular Sovereignty

1. government policies reflect the wishes of the people
   
2. government leaders are selected in competitive elections
3. elections are free and fair
4. people participate in the political process
5. high-quality information is available
6. the majority rules

• Political Equality (one person one vote, equal protection)
  

• Political Liberty (First Amendment rights)
  

First Reading Assignment-Week of 1/12

Hope you are all getting your blogs set up with no problems. Let me know if you need any help.

Here's what I'd like for you to read this week:

1. The Declaration of Independence (posted here under "Landmark Documents")
2. The Constitution (posted here under "Landmark Documents")
3. Pages 2-15 of the text

Also, please listen to the audio clip at NPR.org on former Attorney General Griffin Bell and view the video at Bill Moyers Journal concerning earmarks. Links to both can be found here under "Readings from the Web." Please be prepared to discuss the questions I've posted under both items.

Setting theTime and Writing Posts

The first thing you should do once your blog is created is set the time. Every post you create will contain a date and time stamp indicating when the post was published. To set the time click on the Settings tab near the top left of the page, then the Formatting tab. Scroll down to Time Zone, select "GMT-05:00 Eastern Time - Montreal" and save your settings at the bottom of the page.

Now you're ready to write a post. Don't worry about making your post perfect, you can always edit (or even remove) posts after they've been published. To write a post, click on the Posting tab (by the Settings and Layout tabs at top left). Then click Create.

At the top of the page you'll see a text box where you can title your post. Think of the title as a newspaper headline--it should tell the reader what the post is about. Below the title is the editing window where you'll write your post. It will look very similar to a text editing window in Blackboard. At the top of the window you'll see some editing tools, including the Link tool. For each post you write you must include a link to the news article you're writing about.

I want to give those of you who've never blogged some time to get familiar with everything, so the first blog posts you create for week 2 will not be graded. Use the first couple weeks of class to practice creating posts.

Creating Your Blog

I'd like for you to use Google's free blogging software, Blogger, to create your blog.

Directions for creating your blog can be found here.

There are three steps to the process:

1. Create a Google Account-To complete this step you'll need a valid email address. You'll also be selecting a Display Name, the name that you will use to sign your blog posts. Your display name should be your first name and last initial. For example, my display name is Clay H.
2. Name Your Blog-In this step you'll choose both the name of your blog and the URL, or web address, for your blog. You can name your blog whatever you'd like, so long as it makes sense. It will appear near the top of your blog. I've named my blog for the course "United States Government." You can make the URL whatever you like too--so long as no one else has already chosen that URL. The URL I chose for this blog is http://gov141spring09.blogspot.com/
3. Choose A Template-Templates determine the overall look of your blog. You can choose whichever template you'd like. You won't be graded on the appearance or layout of your blog. This blog uses the default template.
   

At this point your blog will be created. Click the "Start Blogging" arrow to go to your blog. The next post will explain how to write blog posts.

Welcome

Welcome to the course and welcome to the course blog. Blogging will play a big role in this class. You'll be reading this blog and I'll be reading all of your blogs. That's right, we'll all be blogging.

Your blog will be the place you post your weekly article responses. These weekly written responses will make up the majority of your grade for the course. Since there's no research paper assignment, I'll be expecting you to put a strong effort into your blogs posts.

My blog will be the place I'll post reading assignments and questions for you to comment on and be prepared to discuss in class. I've created a Blackboard course also, but I'll use it mainly to post scanned readings and to post your grades. Blogging will be our primary mode of communication outside the classroom.

In the next post I'll describe how to create your blog.