POSC 102 - Public Policy/California Politics

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-D1-2; US-2, US-3
Issues in American public policy, focusing on contemporary controversies (environment, poverty, etc.) California state and local government.

Possible Instructional Methods: Entirely On-ground, or Entirely Online, or Hybrid.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-D1-2 Lower Division Social Sciences, American Institutions/Code US-2 and US-3
Course Typically Offered: Fall & Spring

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Students will learn how California’s current governmental system came to be developed and structured.
Students will examine key public policy issues in the past and current governmental eras.
Students will analyze the role of the electorate in determining California’s future.

D1-2. Lower-division Social Science Electives Learning Outcomes

specify how social, political, economic, and environmental systems and/or behavior are interwoven;
explain how humans individually and collectively relate to relevant sociocultural, political, economic, and/or environmental systems-how they produce, resist, and transform them;
discuss and debate issues from the course’s disciplinary perspective in a variety of cultural, historical, contemporary, and/or potential future contexts; and
explore principles, methodologies, value systems, and ethics employed in social scientific inquiry.

US-2. U.S. Constitution Learning Outcomes

Describe the development of the Constitution from the political philosophies of its framers to its later interpretation and amendment;
Explain how the Constitution influenced the development of American political institutions and government;
Explain citizen rights and responsibilities under the Constitution.

US-3. California Government Learning Outcomes

Describe the role of California’s Constitution in state and local government;
Explain the place of California’s Constitution in the evolution of federal-state relations;
Describe the political processes that enable cooperation and conflict resolution between state and/or local governments and the federal government.