Political Science 100: The American Political System
I took this class with Dr. Cole during the Fall of 2019. Throughout this class, we learned a lot about civic engagement and what “democracy” truly means. Through some conceptual political books about democracy, we learned what is wrong with our modern government and how it can possibly be changed for the better in future generations.
I mainly decided to take this class because when it comes to politics, I am kind of lost. I realized that understanding politics and being able to discuss it is really important in today’s society. This class really helped me understand politics in a way I had never thought possible. I realized the importance of community and choice in our democratic society. Through this class, I feel like I truly understand politics and that will only benefit me in the future.
In this class, we had two books that we had to read that would help us better understand democracy and federalism in the real world. My favorite of the two books was by E.E Shattschneider and it was called, “The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist’s View of Democracy in America”. This book was very conceptual and described democracy more empirically. This book made me understand the skeleton of democracy and helped me see past the fluff that is put on it in today’s society. For this book, I wrote a book review discussing how the people in today’s society do not understand what democracy truly is.