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Welcome Students
Please read below

While this class will not save your life, it will endeavor to take you to a new height of insight into the complexities and challenges of the American Political System. This class is all about the nuts and bolts of government and politics while challenging students to define their own political beliefs and examine the impact of their own actions in the political sphere.

This country and the world at large are facing extraordinary economic challenges that will require extraordinary leadership that is hardly forthcoming. The US national debt just keeps growing very rapidly every year. America has accumulated almost $12 trillion dollars in debt.

Your responsibility for this debt is about $38,000.00 - you should think about this everytime you cast your vote.

In addition, since the nature of politics is about deliberating, taking positions on issues, and critically analyzing democratic ideas, this class will be taught in an interactive seminar style. All students are expected to civilly participate in all discussions held in class.

Overall, this class aims to deepen your understanding of the theory and practice of American Politics and it will convey basic facts about the structure and functioning of American government. In time of drastic changes, we will examine the achievement of our government, as well as its shortcomings. Thus, students will comprehend multifaceted issues in our democratic political process. The purpose of this class is for students, armed with this information, to be better able to understand and participate in the political process. In summary, we will study politics from both the viewpoint of the active citizen and the methodology of the social sciences.

This higher educational institution is where people from all walks of life come to learn, teach, and create knowledge. I hope that this class will not only expand your intellectual horizons but also hone your beliefs, thoughts, and more importantly give you a political direction. I always tell students not to choose classes that play to their strengths, to get easy A’s, rather classes that might correct their weaknesses or nurture new interests. Students should not sacrifice risk-taking and intellectual curiosity on the altar of demonstrable success. This also applies to this class. If you feel this class is too easy for you, then you should look for another instructor who teaches a more challenging class. The purpose of higher education is to learn and grow intellectually.

Finally, this website provides support for this class by providing supplemental materials. As the class progresses I will continue to post additional material. All assignments and readings will be posted on this website, you will need a password to access these documents. The password will be given on the first day of class. All documents have been converted into Adobe PDF files, therefore you will need the Adobe Reader to download them. This reader is free and you can download it for your computer. If you have problems downloading documents email me and I will email the documents directly to you.

Salvador Sanchez
Adjunct Professor of Politics
LACCD

Assignments for Class
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Students Gallery
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