Spring 2026
Federal Government
Approved: Initials/date Federal GOVT 2305 9M2 CREDIT 3 Semester Credit Hours (3 hours lecture, 0 Lab hours lab) Fully Online PREREQUISITE/CO-REQUISITE: TSI Complete for Reading COURSE DESCRIPTION Origin and development of the U.S. Constitution; structure and powers of the national government including the legislative, executive, and judicial branches; federalism; political participation; the national election process; public policy; civil liberties and civil rights. COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to • Explain the origin and development of constitutional democracy in the United States. • Demonstrate knowledge of the federal system. • Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice. • Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government. • Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in the political system. • Analyze the election process. • Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens. • Analyze issues and policies in U.S. politics. CORE OBJECTIVES MEASURED • Critical Thinking: To include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information. • Communication: To include the effective development, interpretation, and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication. • Personal Responsibility: To include the ability to connect choice, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making. • Social Responsibility: To include demonstration of intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility and to engage effectively in regional, national, and/or global communities. INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION Instructor: Christopher L. Bates Email: clbates@lit.edu Office Phone: 409-880-8191 Office Location: Virtual Office Office Hours: By Appointment Requested by the Student REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS American Government 3rd Edition Krutz, Waskiewicz; Free Web Version ISBN-13: 978-1-951693-38-1 https://openstax.org/details/books/american-government-3e ATTENDANCE POLICY Any student who goes more than a few days with no activity in Blackboard should expect an email from me. You need to be logging into Blackboard 4-5 times a week DROP POLICY If you wish to drop a course, you are responsible for initiating and completing the drop process by the specified date as listed in the College Calendar on the Student Success web page. If you stop coming to class and fail to drop the course, you will earn an “F” in the course. COURSE CALENDAR SECTION TOPIC ASSIGNMENTS (Due on this Date) American Government & Civic Engagement Quiz 1/28/2026 Constitution & Its Origins Quiz 2/4/2026 American Federalism Quiz 2/11/2026 Civil Liberties Quiz 2/18/2026 Exam 1 2/20/2026 Civil Rights Quiz 2/25/26 Critical Thinking Assignment: Interview with Chief Justice John Marshall (AI) 3/4/2026 Exam 2 3/6/2026 Congress Quiz 3/18/2026 Presidency Quiz 3/25/2026 The Courts Quiz 4/1/2026 The Bureaucracy Quiz 4/8/2026 Exam 3 4/10/2026 Interest Group Quiz 4/12/2026 Politics of Public Opinion Quiz 4/15/2026 The Media Quiz 4/19/2026 Political Parties Quiz 4/22/2026 Voting & Elections Quiz 4/26/2026 Foreign Policy Quiz 4/29/2026 Core Assessment Assignment 5/6/2026 Exam 4 (Final) 5/11/2026 COURSE EVALUATION Final grades will be calculated according to the following criteria: Exams 50% Assignments/Quizzes 30% Core Assessment 20% GRADE SCALE • 90-100 A • 80-89 B • 70-79 C • 60-69 D • 0-59 F TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS For the latest technical requirements, including hardware, compatible browsers, operating systems, etc., review the Minimum Computer and Equipment Requirements on the LIT Online Experience page. A functional broadband internet connection, such as DSL, cable, or WiFi is necessary to maximize the use of online technology and resources. DISABILITIES STATEMENT The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are federal anti-discrimination statutes that provide comprehensive civil rights for persons with disabilities. LIT provides reasonable accommodations as defined in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, to students with a diagnosed disability. The Special Populations Office is located in the Eagles’ Nest Room 129 and helps foster a supportive and inclusive educational environment by maintaining partnerships with faculty and staff, as well as promoting awareness among all members of the Lamar Institute of Technology community. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Special Populations Coordinator at (409)-951-5708 or email specialpopulations@lit.edu. You may also visit the online resource at Special Populations - Lamar Institute of Technology (lit.edu). STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT STATEMENT It is the responsibility of all registered Lamar Institute of Technology students to access, read, understand and abide by all published policies, regulations, and procedures listed in the LIT Catalog and Student Handbook. The LIT Catalog and Student Handbook may be accessed at www.lit.edu. Please note that the online version of the LIT Catalog and Student Handbook supersedes all other versions of the same document. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE STATEMENT Lamar Institute of Technology (LIT) recognizes the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, have changed the landscape of many career disciplines and will impact many students in and out of the classroom. To prepare students for their selected careers, LIT desires to guide students in the ethical use of these technologies and incorporate AI into classroom instruction and assignments appropriately. Appropriate use of these technologies is at the discretion of the instructor. Students are reminded that all submitted work must be their own original work unless otherwise specified. Students should contact their instructor with any questions as to the acceptable use of AI/ChatGPT in their courses. STARFISH LIT utilizes an early alert system called Starfish. Throughout the semester, you may receive emails from Starfish regarding your course grades, attendance, or academic performance. Faculty members record student attendance, raise flags and kudos to express concern or give praise, and you can make an appointment with faculty and staff all through the Starfish home page. You can also login to Blackboard or MyLIT and click on the Starfish link to view academic alerts and detailed information. It is the responsibility of the student to pay attention to these emails and information in Starfish and consider taking the recommended actions. Starfish is used to help you be a successful student at LIT. ADDITIONAL COURSE POLICIES/INFORMATION Respectful participation in class discussions is expected. At times, students may have differing viewpoints from those of their classmates. Disagreements lead to critical thinking, scholarly debates, and learning, however, disrespect for the opinions of others will not be tolerated. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY Students found to be committing academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, or collusion) may receive disciplinary action. Students need to familiarize themselves with the institution’s Academic Dishonesty Policy available in the Student Catalog & Handbook. Discussion Topics There must be one original substantive post (200 words) AND at least two substantive replies to your classmates’ posts (100 words each post) for each graded forum. Correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and complete sentences must be used. The discussion forum grade will be based on points assigned to measure the quality of both the original post and the two response posts. Anything less than 200 words on your original post and anything less than 100 words on your replies, will receive a zero. No Discussions will be accepted after the deadline! The same criterion is used in grading your response posts to your classmates’ discussion posts. Response posts must contribute something new to the discussion to earn points. In other words, a response consisting solely of “Good post, (classmate’s name)!” will receive zero points. The discussion forum topics will correlate with the reading topics we are covering in the course. The professor views online discussion forums as the equivalent of on-campus classroom discussions, and carefully reads every post to evaluate the quality of its contents. You should therefore make sure to read the assigned material on the forum topic BEFORE submitting your posts. Attendance Policy Many of my classes and students are completely online, or Dual Credit/Dual Enrollment Students. As such, it is important that you show activity in Blackboard so that I know you are staying up to date on the course. You need to get into the habit of logging into blackboard no less than 4-5 times a week on different days. Any student who goes more than 5 days without some kind of Blackboard activity should expect an email from me. Late Policy I DO NOT ACCEPT LATE WORK! If any work is late, you will receive a zero. If you have a documented medical emergency on the day of the assignment deadline, I may consider allowing you to complete the missed assignments once a review the medical documentation. Extra Credit I do not give bumps at the end of the semester. This means if you have an 89.999999% you have a B. I DO NOT GIVE EXTRA CREDIT! If you complete the “Original Credit” there is no need for “Extra Credit”.