Teaching Res Publica and Individual Rights in the First-Year Political Science Course.

Our political science department created a majors only section of Introduction to Government and Politics two years ago to achieve several department goals (improve writing, provide a baseline assessment, improve retention through a cohort experience, etc.). Unlike the typical survey approach to this course, we designed our majors only section to examine politics and governing around a central theme, specifically the tension of res publica and individual rights in democratic governance. The core readings consist of three books-Joseph Ellis' American Creation, Anthony Lewis' Gideon's Trumpet, and Larry Diamond's The Spirit of Democracy. We selected Ellis to illustrate the tension between res publica and individual rights underlying the compromises forged during the founding and early years of the republic. The students read Gideon's Trumpet as a case study in the evolution and expansion of individual rights in federal systems and as a springboard to exploring contemporary concerns involving the tension between individual rights and res publica (e.g. Patriot Act). Diamond's study of democratization extends America's perception of res publica on a global scale or a concern for the common good of all people. The course ends with a return to the United States, where students are asked to propose and examine policy recommendations in their five-page paper around the theme of Diamond's final chapter where he argues that America has become a troubled democracy. To assist our first-year students in making the leap from theoretical conceptualization to policy recommendations, they spend the final three sessions of the course working in groups to generate, debate, and expand their policy recommendations in the five key areas Diamond targets for reform: influence peddling, corruption, campaign finance, protecting freedom, enhancing participation, and bridging the bipartisan divide. Each group reports their initial policy recommendations to the class and explains/defends their ideas to their classmates. The two professors who team-teach the course grade and return the papers as part of the course requirements. They also submit clean copies of the papers to the department curriculum & assessment committee, who select two members to assess (blind review) the papers on the basis of the department's Student Learning Outcome #5 (the extent to which the students successfully convey the tension between res publica and individual rights in their essays). This paper reports fully on our experience, including the department's goals for this course and its design and assessment results. Appendices contain the course syllabus, our essay grading rubric, and the department's assessment plan for the BA in Political Science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]