HELP 2026-2027 Catalog (BETA) Cal State East Bay Print-Friendly Page (opens a new window) Facebook this Page (opens a new window) Tweet this Page (opens a new window) Add to Folder (opens a new window)

POSC 101 - American Political Institutions

1. Students will acquire a full understanding of how government functions in the United States, especially on the Federal level. This includes historical and structural elements, evolution of institutions, and variations in institutional power.
2. Students will be able to appreciate fully major current elements in government on issues of contemporary importance. Emphasis will be on precedents and historical contexts in analyzing contemporary developments in the study of political science. 
3. Students will be able to evaluate the interplay of personality, politics, and principle in the formation and implementation of government policy

1. Explain how social, political, and economic institutions and/or principles intersect with each other.
2. Describe how people produce, resist, and/or transform social, political, and economic institutions/principles.
3. Investigate contemporary and/or historical events/issues from a social science perspective.

1. Explain the causes and consequences of major historical events in a period of at least a hundred years of U.S. history.
2. Describe the contributions of major social movements and ethnic groups in a period of at least a hundred years of U.S. history.

1. Describe the development of the U.S. Constitution and its later interpretation and amendments.
2. Explain the practices and institutional forms of democracy derived from the U.S. Constitution.
3. Explain citizen rights and responsibilities under the U.S. Constitution.