govt

Rev. 07

1019

Syllabus

HIST 1

3

02

United States

History

since

1877

Welcome aboard!

Over the course of this semester we are going to cover a lot of territory and substantial

information, and accomplish some great work along the way. Please take time to

familiarize yourself with this syllabus, the D2L course layout, the assignments and

dis

cussions, and the grading scheme.

Assignments are due on a regular and continual basis, and although the workload is

mostly open 24/7, you must adhere to the deadlines posted. Please familiarize

yourselves with the open and close dates and times for the c

hapter discussions as these

with be the mainstay of our classwork.

I am open for questions and assistance to everyone. My turn around time on emails is

within 24 hours.

INSTRUCTOR CONTACT & COURS

E

INFORMATION

Instructor:

Janice Strohmeier

E

–

mail:

jstrohmeier

@D2L.Lonestar.edu

Term and Year:

Spring 2020

Course Subject:

History

Course Title:

HIST 1302

—

United States

History

since
1877

Course Section:

600

5

Credit Hours:

3

Class Location:

N/A

Demographics and Amendments Paper

It is important to be able to understand how the changing demographics of a state can influence and impact the government, laws, and policies of that state. These influences and impacts can take many different forms. One such form is in the changing of the state government. We have seen this in Texas through many amendments that have been passed throughout the state’s history. In order to best understand how changes are reflected, and sometimes amplified over time, important to evaluate concrete examples to demonstrate these changes in government. As such, this is a research paper, this is not conjecture (your opinion/feelings or what you have heard), but instead solidly verifiable information from scholarly and reputable sources.

For this paper, you will be researching and analyzing the demographic changes in Texas and then applying that knowledge and understanding to help explain what has led to some of the many amendments in the Texas Constitution. To support your position, you must provide a detailed explanation of an amendment to the Texas Constitution.

Here are some questions that will help guide you:

1. Demographics:

a. What are demographic categories and how are the measured?

b. Why is understanding demographics important?

c. How and why do politicians take demographics into account when creating laws and policies?

2. Texas Constitution/Amendments

a. According to the Texas Constitution, how are amendments made?

b. Why have so many amendments been proposed (passed or defeated)?

c. Have there been periods in Texas history where many amendments were added versus other periods of Texas history?

3. Amendment Chosen

a. Which amendment have you chosen to explain how demographic changes within the state have impacted government, laws, and/or policies in Texas?

b. What is the general history of this amendment?

c. How does this amendment support your position regarding demographic changes?

This paper should:

· Have a strong introduction that tells the reader what the paper is about and why it’s important to pay attention to writing a good introduction (good resource to see how this looks here

https://libguides.astate.edu/c.php?g=14501&p=78098

)

· Have a strong conclusion that ties the paper together (good resource to see how this looks here

https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185935

)

· Be 1,200 words minimum length (not including quotes, heading/title, Works Cited page)

· Be MLA Formatted

· Have at least 3 scholarly sources (great website to determine if your source is scholarly

https://www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/scholarly/

)

· Have at least 3 credible sources (great website to determine if your source is credible

https://sites.umgc.edu/library/libhow/credibility.cfm

)

· Contain a properly formatted MLA Works Cited page

· Contain properly formatted MLA parenthetical in-text citations, where appropriate

General Recommendations:

· Use good time management – I would try to research one numbered part of the prompt per day and then write the corresponding paragraph the next day. Don’t wait until the day this paper is due to start your research and writing. You will not be able to create a well researched and written paper if you wait until the last minute.

· Have someone proof-read your paper – if you do not have anyone who can proof-read your paper, then take advantage of Grammarly.com. While this is not a fail-safe website, it is better than having no one read your paper at all before you turn it in.

· Avoid citation generators at all costs – I have never seen a well formatted Works Cited page that was created using citation generators. Please refer to the OWL at Purdue (

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_style_introduction.html

) to learn how to format your Works Cited properly. This is a skill that will help you all throughout your college career.

· Reviewing your paper before you turn it in – make sure it is in MLA format; that means you have your text all the same size, font, and color in double spacing and you have selected to “remove space after paragraph”. Your heading includes your name, my name, course, and date. Your header is only your last name and the page number (this needs to be the same size, font, and color as the body of your paper).

Websites that may be helpful:

Tarlton Law Library Texas Constitution –

https://tarltonapps.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/texas1876

Texas A&M Researching Texas Law: Constitution and Statutes –

https://law.tamu.libguides.com/c.php?g=513877&p=3511046

The Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin –

https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/

Legislative Reference Library of Texas –

https://lrl.texas.gov/legis/ConstAmends/index.cfm

United States Census Bureau, Texas –

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/TX

Texas Demographic Center –

https://demographics.texas.gov/

Texas Tribune –

https://www.texastribune.org/

PRB Why is the US Census So Important? –

https://www.prb.org/importance-of-us-census/

Center for Public Policy Priorities Blog – http://bettertexasblog.org/

Ballotpedia –

https://ballotpedia.org/Texas

The Texas Lyceum –

https://www.texaslyceum.org/

Texas Standard Government and Politics –

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/categories/government-politics/

Category	Exceeds Standard	Meets Standard	Nearly Meets Standard	Does Not Meet Standard	No Evidence
Introduction	Topic is clearly stated and appropriately focused.	Topic is clearly stated but focus needs to be sharper.	Topic is stated but not appropriately focused.	Topic is not clearly stated.	Topic is not mentioned.
Quality of Information	Information is clearly related to the main topic, including consistent supporting details, and/or examples.	Information clearly related to the main topic, provided adequate supporting details, and/or examples.	Information clearly related to the main topic, provided some supporting details, and/or examples.	Information related to the main topic, no details or examples provided.	Information had little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Organization	Information is logically organized and follows a linear progression.	Information is adequately organized and follows a linear progression.	Information is somewhat organized.	Obvious lack of organization.	No observable organization.
Mechanics and MLA Formatting	No grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors observed. Proper heading and formatting is observed.	Almost no grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors observed. Heading and formatting is observed.	A few grammatical spelling or punctuation errors observed. Heading and formatting is observed.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors observed. OR Proper heading and formatting is not observed.	Limited observable effort in the area of mechanics.
MLA Formatting Sources	6 or more appropriate sources documented in proper MLA format, both in-text and Works Cited.	At least 5 appropriate sources documented in proper MLA format, both in-text and Works Cited.	At least 4 appropriate sources documented in proper MLA format, both in-text and Works Cited.	At least 3 appropriate sources documented in proper MLA format, both in-text and Works Cited.	Fewer than 2 appropriate sources. No observable effort in MLA formatting sources.