WEBCT   Class Notes  History Channel Email address: goertzel@camden.rutgers.edu  A class mailing list has been set up.  Class members may send mail to  Political-Sociology@rams.rutgers.edu and it will be forwarded to the class as a whole.

December 17, 2 p.m.  Final Exam.  117 BSB.  The final exam will include mostly items taken or adapted from the previous WEBCT exams, or quite similar to them.  It may raise your grade, but will not lower it.  If you miss the final, you will get the grade published on WEBCT after class on December 10.
December 10:   Country Reports "Clash of Civilizations":  Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Brunei, any remaining.
December 8:  Extra Credit Reports Due:  No Extensions.  Country Reports "Third World" Brazil, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nauru, Senegal, Sierra Leone
December 3:  Terrorism in Comparative Perspective:  Readings:  Terrorist Organizations and Motivation   and Terrorist Beliefs and Terrorist Lives.  Country Reports:  Sri Lanka, Iraq, Germany, Italy
December 1:   Quiz in room BSB 117  on the readings since November 12.   Terrorism.
November 24:   The United Kingdom and the United States in Comparative Perspective.  Reading:  George Bush's speech at Whitehall,   Interview with George Putnam, author of  Bowling Alone. 
Assignment due November 21, 5 p.m.:  Comparative Development report due:  report on the political sociology of a third world country (to be assigned by Nov 10).  Sources:  CIA World Factbook, the Economist Country Report (if available), online reference sources such as the Columbia Encyclopedia and Internet Search..    A Power Point Template is available for this assignment.  However, you should feel free to add slides as needed to complete your presentation.  We will go over how to insert photos on Monday if you are not familiar with this.
November 19:  Meet in  BSB 117 for work on Country Report  PowerPoints. 
November 17:  Brazil, Argentina, Chile.  Assigned Reading:  Does Zero Hunger Make Sense?  The Arab World.  Assigned Reading: Arab Human Development Report 2002:  Executive Summary  .
November 12:  Assigned Reading:  The Clash of Civilizations. 
Nov 10:   Global poverty.  What can be done about it?  What political steps need to be taken.  Reading:  Assigned Reading: World Bank Human Development Report 2003:  Overview.
Nov 5:  New Jersey election results.  Remaining PowerPoint presentations.   Introduction to comparative political sociology - how do we explain different outcomes in different countries.  Each student should choose a country to report on.
Nov 3:  New Jersey Politics.  Reading:   A Campaign Without  Big Guns.  For South Jersey Voters Disdain is the Choice. 
Oct 31:  Force Field Analysis PowerPoints due in WEBCT.  Submit the PowerPoint file:  5 p.m.
Oct  29:  Meet in computer lab, BSB 117, to do Force Field Analysis assignment with Microcase and PowerPoint. 
Oct 27:   Discussion of Future Strategies.  Reading:  Introduction to Future Studies.   Future of South Jersey.  Sprawl Wall. 
October 24, 11:15 a.m.  Make-up for midterm in BSB 117.
Oct 22:   Video  Faces of the Enemy by Sam Kean.  Discussion of political psychology.
Oct 20:  Discussion of Bolivia and New Jersey events.  Class Presentations.  After class, I decided to make this an optional extra-credit assignment for those who are really interested. We will do a simplified future studies assignment in the lab on Oct 29 using Microcase.   PowerPoint Template for Extra Credit Projects.  Data Sources.
Oct 15:  Midterm Examination in BSB 108.
Oct 13:   Review.  See the  Class Notes  for guidelines
October 8:  California Recall Election.  Assigned Reading:  From Pitchforks to Proposition 13  All Politics are Loco!!! 
October 6:  Discussion of Trend Graphs
Oct 3 (friday):  Trend Graph Assignment due by 5 p.m.  If you need help on friday, I have office hours in the morning 9 to 11 and could meet anyone in the comuter lab, bsb 108, if you let me know.  I should also be around early afternoon.
Oct 1:  We will meet in BSB 117 (a computer lab) to work on the Trend Graph assignment due October 1 at 5 p.m.  You should be able to complete the assignment during the session.  If you do not have a clam account, bring a disk or have some other way to save your work.
September 29 - Analyzing Political Trend Data using the General Social Survey.  Making charts in EXCEL. 
September 24:  Presidential Elections 1896-1996.  Generational Trends in the United States.  Reading:  Generational Trends in American Society.     September 11, 2001 as a Turning Point.
 Reading (read 1896, 1912, 1940, 1960,l 1980, 1992):  http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/elections/
September 22:  Quiz Two will be available September 18,must be Completed Before Class Sept 22. It will cover  the readings for today:  The Controller.   Political Parties Shift Emphasis to Core Voters ,  The Battleground Emerges, and for Sept 17.  Discussion of Democratic and Republican Political Strategies for the 2004 elections.  
September 17:  Discussion of the California recall election and anti-tax movements.  Populism vs. Elite Leadership in American Society.   Readings:  State of Siege. Alabama Tax Increase Vote.     The Tax-Cut Con by Paul Krugman.  The Historical Lessons of Lower Tax Rates by Daniel Mitchell.
September 15:  Assignment: All students who did not hand in the Iraq War assignment should complete the Decision Analysis Form and submit it to the WEBCT discussion list before class.  Discussion of how the theoretical models in political sociology can be applied to various issues.      The Online Quiz on Theoretical Models must be completed before class.  The quiz is in WEBCT, just click on Quizzes.  It can be taken at any time until 2:30 on September 15.  You can take it as many as three times, and the highest grade will count.  Do not leave this until the last minute, late quizzes will not be accepted.  
September 10:  Lecture on Theoretical Models in Political Sociology.  The SigningUp assignment is due in WEBCT by 5 p.m.
September 8:  Discussion of the decision to go to war in Iraq.  How can we explain why the United States made the decision to invade Iraq?  Reading:  Thomas Friedman and Charles Krautheimer on Reasons for the War in Iraq.  Assignment Due in class:  One typed paragraph on "I Think the United States Went to War in Iraq Because...."  If you are not attending class, you should email this to me before class.
September 3:  First class, discussion of the syllabus.  At 3:30 we will go to BSB 117 to work on signing up for The New York Times and WEBCT.  The SigningUp assignment is due Sept 10.


For extra credit, you may prepare a PowerPoint presentation on terrorism in your country.  If there is no terrorism or history of terrorism, explain why that is the case - how are disputes and conflicts resolved peacefully instead?