ABOUT Y200

OBJECTIVES 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CLASS SCHEDULE

EXERCISES

POLICIES, GRADES
AND KEY DATES

PROF. WRIGHT

Associate Instructors

ELECTION LINKS

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Y200 HOME 

Y200

KEY DATES TO REMEMBER:
	Sep 20 Sep 27 Oct 4 Oct 18 Oct 25 Nov 1 Nov 15 Nov 29 Dec 11	Exercise #1 Exam #1 Exercise #2 Exercise #3 Exercise #4 Exam #2 Exercise #5 Exercise #6 Exam #3
GRADES
	Exam #1 Exams #2 & #3: 25% X 2 Exercises: 5% X 4 Participation & in-class exercises *Only four of the six exercises are required.	20% 50% 20% 10%
ATTENDANCE Attendance is assumed. Those who do not attend class regularly should drop this class right away. I expect your active participation—that is the best way to learn and it is more interesting than just listening to me go on and on. Extra credit will be given at the instructor’s discretion for those who are clearly active participants in the course.

POLICIES

• Do the assigned reading before class.
• Come to class. Take the exams as scheduled. Make-ups are very hard to come by. They will all be given on Friday, December 1 at 5:00pm. Room TBA.
• Hand in your exercises on time.  They will always be posted at least two weeks before they are due.  Late exercises are accepted for a period of one class meeting (with a discounted grade). After that it is a zero.
• Be open to discussion. Comment on others' questions and opinions, and be sure to ask our guest speakers questions.
• The tests are not easy to cheat on, but don't try. It will get the perpetrator an "F" for the course and referral for disciplinary action by the university. The same goes for the course exercises. Do your own work, do not plagiarize, and follow the instructions for the assignment.  See me or the AI if you have any questions.
• If you have any questions or problems, see me!  We can fix a lot beforehand, but not much after the fact.  This applies especially for exams.
• Have fun with the course. While elections are a serious business for a democratic society, they are also full of human comedy, they are often tremendously interesting, and they matter.

EXAMS

There will be three examinations, including the final. The format will be short answer (a paragraph or so) and an essay. They will be closed book and each will cover the material in class, in the assigned readings, and the major events of the campaign.  Each exam will cover the material since the last one, except the final which will focus on the material since the last exam for the short answer but the essay portion will be drawn from the whole course.

KEEPING UP WITH THE CAMPAIGN

You will need to follow the events of the campaign fairly closely so that we can combine with is going "out there" with the general principles of elections and campaigns that we learn in the course.  There are a number of ways to get campaign information. 

• A number of political experts have web sites worth following. Sample the growing listing under the “Election Links” tab.
• My favorite site is Project Vote Smart. It has just an enormous amount of nonpartisan information about candidates and a good set of election links as well.
• The Washington Post has an ongoing Election 2006 feature as do many other sources. Some others are Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, The Rothenberg Report, Stateline, and the Cook Report.
• A fine factual background collection of information on the election is provided by The Green Papers.

Many of the above, as well as the sites listed in Links have cites to the political parties, the candidates and numerous spoof and critical web sites as well.  With the Web, it is easier than ever to keep up.

This page was last updated 8/27/06
URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~gwclass/y200
Contact: wright1@indiana.edu