POL 318

Spring 2009

Course Description:  

In this course we will undertake an in-depth exploration of environmental politics and policy making beginning with American environmentalism in the 1960s and concluding with global environmental politics in the 21st century.  Environmental issues, ethics, institutional problems, philosophical approaches, economic analyses and implementation problems will be studied.  We will also investigate policies surrounding specific topics including clean air and water, hazardous waste, recreation in wilderness areas, sustainability, trade, and private property rights among others.

Course Objectives:   

*      Examine the history of environmental policy in the United States  

*      Evaluate the success and failures of past polices

*      Suggest policies to address current environmental challenges

Required Texts:        

 *      The Environmental Case: Translating Values into Policy, Judith A. Layzer, (2nd edition, 2006)

*      Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century, Norman J. Vig and Michael E. Kraft

*      Various readings on D2L

 Course Structure:     

 This course will be partially designed by the students in the class.  I expect class meetings will include lectures, group discussions and activities, class-wide discussions, film clips, and case analysis.  All students are expected to be active participants and to contribute to the explanation, evaluation, and application of course concepts.  My expectations for your performance are very high, but my general approach is extremely merciful.

Attendance:   

 Attendance will be monitored.  Students are allowed four absences with no penalty.    After four absences, each additional absence will result in the loss of five points (taken off participation/attendance grade). 

 Participation:             

 Class participation is expected.  Each student starts the course with 50 participation/attendance points.  Points will be deducted for students that miss more than four classes (see above) and/or for students that do not participate in course discussions (especially peer-led discussions).    

 Disability Resource Services:          

 Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, or hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations should contact the instructor and the Disability Resource Services Office (165 Murphy Library) at the beginning of the semester.  Students who are currently using Disability Resource Services will have a copy of a contract that verifies they are qualified students with disabilities who have documentation on file in the Disability Resource Service Office.

  Assignments:

1)         Complete the assigned readings

 The assigned readings are listed on the syllabus.  You may note the readings for many of units are listed as TBA.  These will be decided on by your peers and will be listed on the syllabus on D2L after the second week of the course.

 2)         Complete the assignments for each specific unit

Students will help design the course in groups (described below).  Each group has 10 project points to assign for the unit they are in charge of leading.  There are a total of 7 student led units.  If you subtract the one your group is leading, there are a total of 6 units you can participate in (for a total of 60 points).

 3)         As a group, lead a unit of the course.  You will have the opportunity to choose a unit based on your interests.  The professor will assign you to a unit/group based on interests that you indicate.  Your grade will be determined in part by your group members and in part by the professor (a total of 40 points are possible).

 4)         Complete four take-home exams (each worth 50 points)

Student Designed Units

Each student will have the opportunity to sign up for a specific unit to design/lead.  Students will be assigned to groups based on a sheet they turn in which uses a ranking system to indicate their interests to the professor (see appendix one).  The number of students assigned to each unit will vary according to the amount of course material available for that unit.  There will be a different number of students assigned to each unit and each unit will differ in length (see appendix two). 

 Once assigned, I will turn your unit groups into groups on D2L so that you can use the locker function to share documents with each other (and with me, if you like).

 Once in groups, students will be allowed to decide how that unit will be delivered to the class including choosing the topics to be covered, the assigned readings, the lectures to be given by the professor, the video to be included, any group discussions, group projects, debates, simulations, etc.  Suggestions for readings, lectures, and videos are made in the unit outline (see appendix three).  You may suggest additional readings, lecture, or videos if you wish.   As a group, you must come up with discussions and/or group work and you must have a class project/assignment worth 10 points.

 Foci of Each Unit

There are a number of key questions that your group needs to focus on while you are constructing your unit.  Over the course of the unit you should attempt to answer the following questions:

  1. Is there a story/case study that you can tell and relate to the topic?
  2. Are there any existing policies in place related to your topic  (for most topics the answer is yes)?  If yes, what are they, how and when were they formed?
    1. At what stage are these policies in the policy process – have they been implemented, have they been evaluated, have they been changed?  Are there any policies that are no longer in existence?
    2. Are these policies working to solve the problem they were designed to?
  3. If there are not existing policies, what kind of policy should be formed to address the problem and what factors might affect the success of implementation? 
  4. What role do state governments play?  What role does the federal government play?
  5. What is (has been) the role of the president, congress, and the courts in your topic area?
  6. What other policy entrepreneurs exist and what role have they played?
  7. What “facts” exist related to your topic?
  8. What values do different individuals hold and how have these values shaped policy related to your topic?
  9. What current events are related to your topic?

 Leading Each Unit

 For each unit your group will want to consider including a number of different learning tools.  For example:

ð       How will you assign the project points for your unit?

ð       What readings will you assign (listed on unit outline – but you can add others)(*see below)?

ð       What videos, if any, will you include (listed on course outline)? 

ð       What lectures will you include (examples are listed on the course outline but you can ask for others if needed)?

ð       How will you include class discussion? (**see below)

ð       What group projects or activities will you include?

ð       Will you include some kind of debate (either by group members or other students)?

ð       Is there a guest you would like to bring in?

ð       Is there a simulation related to your topic (i.e. can you assign roles from one of your case studies/stories)?

 

*    There are two ways to think about assigning readings.  The first is to consider assigning readings about topics that you do not intend to cover in class.  For example, the “pollution” group may decide that although the formation of The Clean Air Act is important, they do not have time to cover it.  In this case they may assign the reading to give students background information on the clean air act. 

 

      The other way to think about readings is to assign readings based on the topics that you will cover in class.  This means students will have an appropriate base on which to participate in class activities.  Please note, exams will cover both readings assigned by the group and in-class activities.

 

**  The best technique for generating an environment that is welcoming (i.e. that encourages participation) is to let students 1. write down a few ideas related to the question, 2. share their ideas in a small group, and 3. allow groups to address the class as a whole.  Also, it also works when you ask students or groups to write their ideas on the board.  Discussions are less likely to be effective when the whole group is asked, “what do you think about this?

       Also, consider different ways of forming small groups so that the same people are not always working together.  You may count off or even pre-assign groups.

      Another way to encourage discussion is to ask students to raise their hand in reference to a question and then to ask those that responded to share why they answered in the way that they did.

Sources

 

The main sources for your unit should be those listed on the course outline.  In addition you may also consider using:

ð       The websites listed at the end of the Layzer and Kraft and Vig chapters

ð       Additional library research

ð       Google

ð       Wikipedia (though not credible as a source – but good for ideas)

ð       You Tube (I find news clips by using a key word + news agency, show, or person)