This is the course syllabus from Winter term 2005

COURSE TITLE: Canadian Government and Politics

COURSE NUMBER:  POLS 200

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Tracy L Summerville

OFFICE: Admin 3067

E-MAIL: summervi@unbc.ca

PHONE NUMBER: 960-6637

OFFICE HOURS: 2-4pm Mondays and Wednesdays

This syllabus and other information regarding Political Science at UNBC can be found at:

http://www.unbc.ca/politics

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will introduce you to the workings of the Canadian government. A large part of the course will be dedicated to simulations. We will do a mock leadership debate and leadership convention. We will do a mock election and parliamentary simulation. This course will require full student participation.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Among other things, students will:

• understand the debate regarding the challenges to Canadian federalism
• understand the legislative process
• understand party politics
• understand the Canadian electoral system
• learn about different MPs and constituencies

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Jackson, Robert J. and Doreen Jackson Politics In Canada. 5th edition. Scarborough: Prentice Hall Allyn and Bacon Canada 2001.

Buckley, Joanne. Fit To Print: The Canadian Student’s Guide to Essay Writing. 4^th Edition. Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Company, Canada, 1998.

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADE WEIGHTING

Extensions on assignments are not permitted, except in case of illness or due serious extenuating circumstance.[1]  In the event of illness or serious extenuating circumstance, the student must inform the instructor before the due date, and documentary evidence of the illness or serious extenuating circumstance must be provided to the instructor.  In addition, the student must also provide the instructor with a draft of his or her assignment at the time of the illness or serious circumstance that indicates that substantial progress has already been made towards a final product.  Assignments that are not submitted on the due date receive a grade of zero.

Exam Policy

·        Please note that the term ends on the final day of the exam period NOT on the last day of classes. Students are advised not to make arrangements to travel on a date prior to the date of the final exam as scheduled by the Registrar.  The instructor will not hold early exams for the purpose of accommodating travel requests.

·        It is your responsibility to ensure that all questions on exams are legible. If I cannot read it, I cannot mark it.

Plagiarism is extremely serious and will not be tolerated by the Instructor, the Program or the University. Students should consult the UNBC Calendar or ask the Instructor for a complete description of plagiarism.

Deferrals

·        If, for any reason, you are granted a deferral for this course, you must see me within two weeks of the next term in order to arrange for make-up work to be done.

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS

This class will have a series of assignments that will require active student participation. Some assignments will be done in class as simulations.

Leadership Debates / Leadership Selection (In-class)

Students who wish to run in the leadership election will need to get 10 signatures from other party members (i.e. your classmates). The number of leadership candidates running will determine the length of the debates. Students will participate in a simulated leadership election. This will illustrate the “run-off-ballot” system. Students that participate in both classes will receive 5 marks

Please note: It is possible that the leadership selection will take longer than one class. I have planned for this and we will talk about that if it arises.

Caucus (a meeting of all party members) (In-class)

Students will be required to meet with their party and determine which information will be presented to the class on the different topics from the party platforms. Students will determine groups that will cover each of the topic areas: health, education and the environment. There are two caucus meeting scheduled in the course before the presentations and the election.

Part 1: Presentation of Party Platform (Written Assignment Due In-Class)

Each student will hand in their own version of the party platform document their party (one of: The Bloc, The Conservatives, The New Democratic Party, and The Liberals). PLEASE NOTE: I am asking students to produce the party platform of the party to which they have been assigned. In other words, if you are a Liberal MP, you will research the platform of the Liberal Party. This document will address the following questions. The document must not exceed 8 pages. 

• What are the party’s overall priorities? (1 page)
• What is the party’s position on health, education, and the environment? (6 pages)
• Who is the party leader (provide a brief bio)? What constituency does the leader represent? (1 page)

Part 2: Presentation of Party Platform (In-Class)

Student groups will present the position of their respective party on each of the topics. Presentations will last 20 minutes with 5 minutes of questions from the audience. If students need technological support for their presentation i.e. for PowerPoint, they must arrange this with Educational Media Services (3^rd floor of the Library Building) in advance of the class.

Election Day (In-class)

We will have a mock election that will be based on your choice from the party platforms you heard (and presented). We will divide the class into constituencies and each student will register one vote in their constituency. This will illustrate the “first-past-the-post” electoral system. Students that participate in this class will receive 5 marks

Exam

The exam will take place before the parliamentary simulation and will include all of the lecture material, readings and information learned through the simulations.  This should give students the opportunity to review key chapters of the text (particularly on legislative politics before the parliamentary simulation).

Media Assignment

Students will follow one issue in Canadian politics throughout the term. The format of the assignment is a scrapbook or web page. Students will be required to include articles from the media about the issue. Each article should be accompanied by a short synopsis of the article identifying the key elements such as: party position, identification of party membership by any of the cited MPs along with their riding, identification of MP’s position (backbencher, cabinet member, shadow cabinet etc…), also the student should include commentary on the article fits into the debate.

Topics may include:

Same-sex-marriage

The Liberal government’s response to the tsunami disaster

The gun registry

Decriminalizing / legalizing marijuana

Whistle blowing

Students wishing to do a different topic than those outlined here should see me first.

This assignment should not exceed 20 pages. You must use a range of media sources including The Globe and Mail and The National Post.

Parliamentary Simulation / MP and constituency: past and present

This assignment will prepare students for the parliamentary simulation. Each student will be assigned an MP. They will research this MP and the constituency that they represent. Students will provide a short biography of the MP and past and present electoral information about the constituency. They will try to find out the MP’s position on the debate topic and, failing this, will write a position based on the party’s position and the understanding of the constituency. Is your MP a trustee or a delegate?

The topic of the parliamentary debate will be “Canada and ballistic missile defense”. Each student will have 30 seconds to present their position. Then we will open the floor to debate on the third day and vote at the end of the third class.

COURSE READING AND LECTURE SCHEDULE: