The first is to help you learn to think about government and politics. The second is to familiarize you with a body of information about our politics, history, and institutions of government. Under the first objective, we will try to develop your critical thinking ability . The course has a theme, which is to examine American politics by asking whether or not the nation is governed by an elite, by democratic pluralism, or under some other system. We will be asking both empirical and normative questions about this nation's politics.
Empirical statements attempt to portray the world as it is.
Normative statements are phrased in terms of what ought to be. Simply put, empirical statements are about facts, and normative statements are about values. The distinction between the two kinds of statements is often hard to make in practice, but it is a useful analytical tool, so we will begin by accepting that there is a difference, and learn to question it later. We will be examining questions like this, looking at them from a variety of perspectives, and along the way absorbing a considerable amount of information about the American system of government that should help you answer some of these questions for yourself. I hope we will have an open and lively class discussion every session, and one which is also respectful of differences of opinion and always civil and polite.