MCCCD Official Course Competencies:

POS130  1994 Fall – 2011 Summer II

State and Local Government

1.

Describe federalism, including the role of the Supreme Court in its evolution. (I)

2.

Identify the policy responsibilities of the states. (I)

3.

Describe the evolution of state decision-making authority in the modern era of "concurrent federalism." (I)

4.

Describe the origins of state constitutions and contrast with the twentieth century movement towards constitutional reform. (I)

5.

Examine twentieth century "direct democracy" constitutional reforms: initiative, referendum, recall. (I)

6.

Explain the difference between the representative and the governing roles of state legislative bodies. (II)

7.

Explain the importance of Baker v. Carr in changing the political composition of state legislatures. (II)

8.

Identify the political training and socioeconomic background of legislators. (II)

9.

Explain the role of political parties, the committee system, and informal traditions in legislative decision making. (II)

10.

Describe the constitutional powers of governors. (II)

11.

Compare and contrast the legislative, managerial and fiscal powers of governors and describe the differences between the authority of "weak" vs. "strong" governors. (II)

12.

Identify the many informal or "political" powers of governors, and describe the significance of constitutional vs. political powers to the "successful" governor. (II)

13.

Identify and describe the other elected officials in the executive branch of state government. (II)

14.

Differentiate between the state and federal judicial systems. (II)

15.

Describe the dominant state role in defining, prosecuting, and punishing felony crime in the United States. (II)

16.

Describe major issues relating to political participation and voter turnout in state elections. (III)

17.

Explain the changing role of political parties in state politics, emphasizing: decline in party identification, political primaries as vehicles of candidate selection, and one vs. two party states. (III)

18.

Examine the question of whether money-driven mass media campaigns have replaced political parties as the vehicle most likely to assure electoral success in state elections. (III)

19.

Describe the typical functions and authority for county government. (IV)

20.

Describe the typical functions and authority for municipal government, and identify the most common types of city government organization. (IV)

21.

Explain the impact of first urbanization and later suburbanization on local politics. (IV)

22.

Describe the debate between proponents of unified metropolitan government and multiple (fragmented) local governments within the urban/suburban sprawl. (IV)

23.

Analyze a selected case of a specific area of a state or local decision making. (V)

MCCCD Official Course Outline:

POS130  1994 Fall – 2011 Summer II

State and Local Government

I. Constitutions, national and state

A. Federalism

1. Rationale

2. Historical evolution of constitutional doctrine

B. State constitutions

1. Compare/contrast with national model

2. Direct democracy: the most significant of state level innovation

II. State level decision-making institutions

A. Legislative decision making

1. Legislators

2. Legislative organization and procedure

B. Governor and the executive officers

1. Governors

2. Other elected officials

C. State courts

1. Structure of the court system

2. Defining and punishing crime: a state function

III. State politics

A. Political parties

1. Electoral roles

2. Political parties and public policy

3. Money, the media, and professional campaigners

B. Political participation in state politics

1. Participation activities

2. Voter turnout

3. Interest groups

4. Protest as political participation

IV. Local politics

A. County governments

1. County political roles

2. County decision makers

B. City governments

1. City political roles

2. Forms of city government

3. Nonpartisan elections

C. Metropolis: cities and suburbs

1. Anatomy of a metropolis

2. City/suburban conflicts

3. Metropolitan consolidation vs. fragmentation: the debate

V. Case study of specific areas of state or local decision making