Syllabus Women and American Politics 01:790:335 ~ 01:988:336

Summer I 2013 Online

Professor Danielle N. Pritchett dnmp@rci.rutgers.edu Online Office hours: 2:30 PM-3:30 PM Tuesdays, Thursdays & By Appointment Course Promise This course is an online reading intensive seminar course discussing gender, women and American politics. This course will give an overview of women and how they have participated in American politicsas activists, voters, and politiciansand, also, how gender has played a role in our historically male-dominated government institutions. From the fight for suffrage to the first major presidential run by a woman, the readings and discussions in this class will be historical and contemporary, theoretical and empirical. Finally, because this course is online we will be using technology and social media in this course to not only enhance lectures and readings but to complete course assignments. Required Readings The required textbooks for this course are: Gender and Elections. Susan J. Carroll and Richard L. Fox, ed. 2010 (G&E). Political Women and American Democracy. Christina Wolbrecht, Karen Beckwith, Lisa Baldez, ed. 2008. (PWAD). All other required readings will be posted on the eCollege course website.

Participation (33% of Your Grade) Participation is very important to understand the concepts and ideas shared in this course. It also makes our class more fun! As an online course participation and attendance is even more important. This class can only be as great as your participation. Therefore poor participation will lower your grade! So please make sure you schedule time to do course assignments based on the courses schedule and your schedule. Final Paper (33% of Your Grade: 20% Paper & 15% Final Presentation & Paper Assignments) This paper will be 10 -12 pages focused on an analysis and profile of a women currently serving in executive or legislative office. While the selection of your female politician is open, the final paper must significantly discuss one of the themes discussed in the course and its role or potential role for the womans ability to do her job. Quizzes (20% of Your Grade) During the course we will have three quizzes (tentatively Week One, Week Three & Week Four). These quizzes will test your knowledge of the topics being covered in class as well as helping you prepare for your final paper.. Reading Map & Course Discussion Leader (12% of Your Grade) The reading map & presentation is a way to assure each student has an in-depth understanding of at least one of the readings/topics from the course. The reading presentation is also a way for students to work on their presentation skills in preparation for the final paper presentation at the end of the course as well as for when they join the work force upon graduation. Promise Expectations What Students Should Expect from the Professor Communications with Students All general announcements for this course will be posted on the course website or Facebook page. Due to the short and intensive nature of this course general email communications will be minimal. It is your responsibility to check the course website or Facebook regularly for my communications with you. It is also your responsibility to check your Rutgers email or the email that your official Rutgers communications are forwarded to. For more information about email please read Rutgers NetID and E-mail. Professors Expectations of Students Participation Participation is mandatory! This course is only six weeks long therefore all class activities are extremely important. Please complete each sessions reading assignment before commenting in discussions. Doing so allows us to have a more fruitful discussion and also allows you to find areas that you need clarification or need to ask questions about (bringing these things to the

I will use rubrics to assess your performance in this class, they are in the appendix of this syllabus. Should you decide to challenge any of your grades, please refer to these rubrics in arguing your appeal. Communication with the Professor When communicating with me directly via email or message via the course website or Facebook page please allow up to 24 hours for me to respond. Please note that I do not check email or messages on the weekends outside of the first and the last Saturdays during the span of this course. Also, when communicating with me via email or during my online office hours please be mindful of netiquette. Read more about netiquette here or on our course page under Course Policies. Assignments Reading Mapping & Course Discussion Leader Each student will present one of the readings to the class in a detailed format by mapping the reading for the class. Each student will also lead a discussion of their reading with their classmates on the class Facebook page. Each map should include the following: The main idea/argument of the reading What are three points/ideas that the author shares? What are the central themes in the reading? Two discussion questions for the class to talk about

The two discussion questions can be starting points for leading a class discussion on your reading/the weeks topic. Finally, the class discussions can and should include current or recent events that relate to the main idea, argument or central themes in the reading. Woman in American Politics Paper This paper will be 10 -12 pages focused on profiling a women in American (US) politics who is serving in office. While the selection of the women politician is open, the term paper must significantly discuss either class, gender, identity or race and its role in the politics of the candidate and their campaign, past or present. During the first week of class students will choose which women politician they will profile. A successful term paper will not only summarize the political life of the selected candidate but also discuss a critical question from the course or from the last two elections in which your politician was involved. Students will also complete smaller assignments to assist them in completing their paper: Topic Selection This assignment will give students a chance to get my approval and feedback for your selected term paper topic.

articles that discuss their country and topic. This assignment will also allow students to make progress on their paper and assist them in discovering which items will help in the writing of their paper. Facebook/Social Media Posts Additionally, each student will create Facebook/social media posts centered around the woman selected for their final paper. Each week students need to post three different types of items to the course Facebook page. These posts should include what you are learning about your politician as well as what they are doing (or not doing) in social media. Posts should be diverse, articles, social media pages, books, press releases and other media. Students also need to respond to two posts shared by their classmates.

Course Schedule
*Subject to Change - Please Check the Course Site & Facebook Frequently for Updates & Reminders **Tuesday and Thursday are used as a guide to help you stay up-to-date with course assignments but they can be completed at anytime as long as it is prior to the due date of assignments and discussion postings.

Week 1
28 May - 1 June

Introduction & Theory: Women & American Politics

Course Introduction, Online Politics Resources and Grammar & Writing Lesson 1

Tuesday

Thursday

Readings: PAWD Ch. 1 Christina Wolbrecht Introduction: What we saw at the Revolution; PAWD Ch. 2 Gretchen Ritter Gender as a Category of Analysis in American Political Development; PAWD Ch. 5 Jane Junn and Nadia Brown What Revolution? Incorporating Intersectionality in Women and Politics. Lesson 2

Week 2
3 - 8 June

Women, Activism and the Vote: Suffrage Movement, Other Movements & Political Party Involvement
Readings: G&E Ch 8. Barbara Burrell, Political Parties and Womens Organizations: Bringing Women into the Electoral Arena; PWAD Ch 4. Nancy Burns, Gender in the Aggregate, Gender in the Individual, Gender and Political Action. Lesson 3 Readings: Jo Freeman, "The Women's Liberation Movement: Its Origins, Structure, Activities, and Ideas," at http://www.jofreeman.com/feminism/liberationmov.htm; Jo Freeman, "Whom You Know versus Whom You Represent: Feminist Inuence in the Democratic and Republican Parties," at http://www.jofreeman.com/conventions/feminuence.htm; Jo Freeman, A Tale of Two Conventions, at http://www.jofreeman.com/conventions/conventions2008.htm#Women; PAWD Ch 6. Lee Ann Banaszak, Womens Movements and Women in Movements: Inuencing American Democracy from the Outside?;

Tuesday

Thursday

10-15 June

Women and Representation

Readings: PAWD Ch 10. Suzanne Dovi, Theorizing Womens Representation in the United States; PAWD Ch 12. Karen Beckwith, Conclusion: Between Participation and Representation: Political Women and Democracy in the United States. Lesson 5 Readings: PWAD Ch 7. Kira Sanbonmatsu, Representation by Gender and Parties; PWAD Ch 9. Beth Reingold, Women as Ofceholders: Linking Descriptive and Substantive Representation; Lesson 6

Tuesday

Thursday

Week 4
17-22 June

Women & Elections

Readings: G&E Ch 7. Richard L. Fox, Congressional Elections: Womens Candidacies and the Road to Gender Parity; G&E Ch 5. Christine Marie Sierra, Latinas and Electoral Politics: Movin on Up; G&E Ch 10. Kira Sanbonmatsu, State Elections: Why Do Women Fare Differently across States?. Lesson 7 Readings: PWAD Ch 8. Kathleen Dolan, Women as Candidates in American Politics: The Continuing Impact of Sex and Gender; G&E Ch 3. Susan A. MacManus, Voter Participation and Turnout: Female Star Power Attracts Women Voters; G&E Ch 4. Susan J. Carroll, Voting Choices: The Politics of the Gender Gap; Lesson 8

Tuesday

Thursday

Week 5
24-29 June

Hillary, Sarah & Beyond: Women in Recent US Elections

Readings: G&E Ch 2. Susan J. Carroll and Kelly Dittmar, The 2008 Candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin: Cracking the Highest, Hardest Glass Ceiling; Diana B. Carlin and Kelly L. Winfrey, Have You Come a Long Way, Baby? Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and Sexism in 2008 Campaign Coverage, Communication Studies 60 (SeptemberOctober 2009), pp. 326-343. Lesson 9 Readings: G&E Susan J. Carroll and Richard L. Fox, Introduction: Gender and Electoral Politics in the Early Twenty-First Century; G&E Ch 1. Georgia Duerst-Lahti, Presidential Elections: Gendered Space and the Case of 2008; G&E Ch 6. Wendy G. Smooth, African American Women and Electoral Politics: A Challenge to the Post-Race Rhetoric of the Obama Moment; Lesson 10

Tuesday

Thursday

Week 6 1-5 July

Money and Media and Women in Las Americas, Final Paper Presentations & Final Thoughts
Final Paper Presentations
Readings: About PACs (See eCollege for links); G&E Ch 9. Dianne Bystrom, Advertising, Web Sites, and Media Coverage: Gender and Communication along the Campaign Trail; Brittany L. Stalsburg, Voting For Mom: The Political Consequences of Being a Parent for Male and Female Candidates; Politics & Gender v6 n3, p373-404, Sept 2010; Paxton, Pamela and Melanie Hughes. Women, Politics and Power Chapter 8 All Regions Are Not Created Equal; PWAD Ch 11. Lisa Baldez, Political Women in Comparative Democracies: A Primer for Americanists. Lesson 11

This appendix contains additional information and key policies you need to know for this course:
SAS Political Science Department Learning Goals Students will understand of some of the philosophical and practical problems of political organization, action, and governance; engage in critical thinking, logical reasoning, rigorous positive analysis, and normative or moral judgment about the nature of citizenship, rights, and duties. Students will question, debate, and challenge positive or normative propositions; subject alternative understandings to rigorous and logical testing; and identify and critique various methods and approaches used by political scientists to understand politics. Majors will also understand critical theoretical issues underlying political life: the individual and community; political obligation and civil disobedience; stability, revolution, and change; legitimacy and justice; and freedom and power. Students will understand American political institutions, and the political, economic, and social influences affecting American democracy. Students will understand foreign and international politics, including the nature of other political systems or the operation of the international system. Students will demonstrate a deeper understanding of at least one major topic in each of the following: theoretical approaches to political science, American institutions and politics, and foreign and international politics. Students will understand how political scientists develop and test new ideas or explanations and design and complete a research project. Grading Policy In recent years, students have been viewing grading as a cooperative exercise between themselves and faculty. This is certainly not the case for this class. In other words, I will determine your grade based on your performance in the course. I work very hard to be accurate, consistent and FAIR. Still, mistakes will certainly arise and you have every right to raise questions and concerns about any aspect of your quizzes and/or grade. However, I respectfully request that you do this in a manner that does not impugn on my abilities and/or my character. If you feel that your grade on a particular assignment is inaccurate or if you just want clarification on some points, please come see me or email me within 3 business days of receiving your grade on the assignment if you want the possibility of changing the grade to be possible. I will then examine the paper and provide you with further information about the source of your grade. No assignment grade will be changed if a student contacts me after 3 business days. If you feel that your final grade is inaccurate or if you just want clarification on some points, please come and see me or email me within 3 weeks of receiving your final grade if you want the possibility of changing the grade to be possible. I will then examine your grades and provide you with further information about the calculation of your grade. All final grade changes after 3 weeks from submission of final grades must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The grading scale is as follows:

Participation
CATEGORY Topic Response Good Responding to the instructor's topic by the due date. Responding to the requested number of peer postings within two days. Mediocre Responding to the instructor's topic within a day of the due date. Responding to the requested number of peer postings within three days - OR - not responding to enough of your peers' postings. Responding to 3/4 of the peers who have posted a response to you. Student comments that add moderately to the discussion by suggesting other solutions, pointing out problems, or even respectfully disagreeing. Student does not substantiate any comments made with reasoning or even source citation. Poor Responding to the instructor's topic more than 24 hours after the due date. Squeezing in your peer responses just before the discussion thread closes - OR ONLY responding to 1 peer. No credit Not responding to the instructor's topic.

Peer Response

Responding to NO peer postings.

Final Response

Quality Threads

Responding to all peers who have posted a response to you. Student comments that add significantly to the discussion by suggesting other solutions, pointing out problems, or even respectfully disagreeing. Student also substantiates any comments made with reasoning or even source citation.

Responding to 1/2 of Responding to NONE of the peers who have the peers who have posted a response to posted a response to you. you. Student comments Student does not parthat do not add to the ticipate at all in the discussion. Student threaded discussion. does not substantiate any comments made with reasoning or even source citation. Posting is simple: "I agree" or "Yes" or "No"

Category

D/F

Argument and Makes clear and com- Makes clear argument, Attempts to offer a Fails to make a cogent pelling argument. Solid based on plausible cogent argument and argument or to offer analysis reasoning. Offers in- readings. Some effort analysis, but argusound analysis. sightful analysis to sustain argument ment and analysis are throughout the analy- based on faulty reasis. soning.
Writes well, making appropriate word choices and avoiding grammar and spelling mistakes. Organization Presents clear, navigable structure with inand structure troduction, body, and conclusion. Provides reader with a "road map" of essay. Uses multiple readings Mastery and use of readings and demonstrates mastery of facts and arguments made in readings.

Writing and grammar

Writes well, but may Makes multiple errors, Makes multiple errors include a handful of but still writes in a that interfere substangrammar, spelling, or clearly intelligible tially with comprehenword choice mistakes. manner. sion. Offers clear organiza- Makes some effort to Structures the paper in tion with some road structure the paper, a way that is disorganmap for reader. but organization is ized and difficult or problematic or difficult impossible to follow. to follow. References multiple Makes minimal use of readings and demon- readings and/or fails strates a good degree to demonstrate adeof understanding. quate mastery of readings. Fails to use readings

Conceptual Analysis

Empirical analysis

Knows the analytical concepts, provides their definition(s), and applies them precisely and systemically in the analysis of specific problems. Marshals appropriate evidence to describe, understand, and explain political problems.

Knows most of the Makes some headway Fails to know and apconcepts. Makes mi- toward knowing and ply basic concepts. nor definitional errors. applying the relevant concepts.

Theoretical analysis

Marshals appropriate Attempts to provide Fails to provide releevidence to describe, and explain evidence vant evidence. understand, and exbut with substantial plain political prob- omissions or errors in lems, with small erinterpretation. rors. Explains the relevance Is able to apply suc- Has difficulty connect- Fails to connect the and applicability of a cessfully some of the ing theoretical analycourses theoretical wide range of theoreti- courses theoretical ses to the political analyses to analyzed cal analyses to specific analyses to selected problems. political problems. political problems. political problems.

Political liter- Exhibits a nuanced un- Demonstrates a gen- Has difficulty connect- Fails to connect the derstanding of the rela- eral understanding of ing the theories to theories to actual isacy
tionship between the analytical tools learned in class and real life global/comparative political problems. the relevance of political scientific theories for the analysis of the global political world. actual issues of global/comparative politics.

sues of global/ comparative politics.

Academic Integrity Policy Academic integrity is essential to the success of the educational enterprise and breaches of academic integrity constitute serious offenses against the academic community. Every member of that community bears a responsibility for ensuring that the highest standards of academic integrity are upheld. Only through a genuine partnership among students, faculty, staff, and administrators will the University be able to maintain the necessary commitment to academic integrity. The University administration is responsible for making academic integrity an institutional priority and for providing students and faculty with effective educational programs and support services to help them fully understand and address issues of academic integrity. The administration is also responsible for working with other members of the academic community to establish equitable and effective procedures to deal with violations of academic integrity. Students are responsible for understanding the principles of academic integrity fully and abiding by them in all their work at the University. Students are also encouraged to report alleged violations of academic integrity to the faculty member teaching the course in which the violation is alleged to have occurred. Visit, http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu, for more information. Disabilities (Learning, Physical & Other) If you have a disability as recognized by the Rutgers Office of Disabilities please contact me as soon as possible so that we can make sure that your disability is documented with the Office of Disabilities and create a plan for reasonable accommodations for you. To learn more about your rights and your options please visit the Office of Disabilities Services for Students: http://disabilityservices.rutgers.edu/ Religious Holiday Observance It is University policy (University Regulation on Attendance, Book 2, 2.47B, formerly 60.14f) to excuse without penalty students who are absent from class because of religious observance, and to allow the make-up of work missed because of such absence. Examinations and special required out-of-class activities shall ordinarily not be scheduled on those days when religiously observant students refrain from participating in secular activities. Absences for reasons of religious obligation shall not be counted for purposes of reporting. Students are advised to provide timely notification to instructors about necessary absences for religious observances and are responsible for making up the work or exams according to an agreed-upon schedule.