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POLS311 - Political Parties and Interest Groups

Course Details

Course Code: POLS311 Course ID: 3748 Credit Hours: 3 Level: Undergraduate

This course is a study of the various roles of political parties and interest groups in the American democratic process. Issues covered include the ideological differences among parties, the role of third party candidates, mobilization of voting blocks, the formation and types of interest groups, and political agenda development.





Course Schedule

Registration Dates Course Dates Session Weeks
12/31/18 - 05/31/19 06/03/19 - 07/28/19 Spring 2019 Session D 8 Week session
02/25/19 - 08/02/19 08/05/19 - 09/29/19 Summer 2019 Session I 8 Week session
04/29/19 - 10/04/19 10/07/19 - 12/01/19 Fall 2019 Session B 8 Week session

Current Syllabi

Course Objectives:

CO-1 Explain the operations of political parties, interest groups, and campaigns.

CO-2 Describe the historical development of the two-party political system in the US.

CO-3 Explain the current state of parties in the US.

CO-4 Explain parties in three areas (the electorate, the organization, and the government)

CO-5 Explain the basic election laws governing campaign finance.

CO-6 Explain the positive and negative role of interest groups in the US political process.

CO-7 Explain citizen participation in election process.

1. John F. Bibby and Brian F. Schaffner. Politics, Parties and Elections in America. Thomas Wadsworth, (2008). The VitalSource e-book is provided via the APUS Bookstore. Please visit http://apus.libguides.com/bookstore for more information.

2. The Federalist Nos. 9 & 10

3. Lesson Notes

4. Web Resources and Assigned Readings

Book Title:Various resources from the APUS Library & the Open Web are used. Links provided inside the classroom in the Lessons section.
Author: No Author Specified

Previous Syllabi

Not current for future courses.