GOVT 291 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
Syllabus
Instructor: George Backen, Ph.D., J.D.
E-mail: gjbacken@adams.edu
Phone: 719.587.7201
Fax: 719.587.7176
Address: Department of History, Government, and Philosophy
208 Edgemont Blvd.
Alamosa, CO 81102
COURSE CREDIT:
Three Semester Hours
COURSE MATERIALS:
To order textbooks or obtain information about book titles you may go to
www.exstudies.adams.edu and click on the “ASC Bookstore” icon.
Use Section Number: 864 to order books from Bookstore site.
Required Textbook:
Volkomer, Walter E. Amercican Government, Eleventh Edition. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Prentince Hall, 2007. ISBN: 0132211084
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is a survey of national governmental/political processes, American democracy, the
Constitution, political parties, the executive/congressional/judicial branches, and contemporary
issues.
COURSE OBJECTIVES/STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
• The student will identify or describe the proper structures and form of American
government at the national, state, and local level, including the current positions and
makeup of national political parties and how they evolved, the role of the Constitution
in shaping policy, the political culture of the United States, and the chronological
organization, the major eras, events, personages, and their relationships in the evolution
of American Government.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the interplay of course terms, ideas, and concepts
through constructing acceptable responses to essay questions.
• Examine and appraise selected scholarly debate about key terms, ideas, and/or concepts
in American Government.
