Simon Fraser University

Political Science Department

Syllabus: Summer 2023 – POL 121 D100
POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT: FROM THE STREETS TO THE BALLOT BOX

Lectures: Dr. Prest’s office hours:

Mo 10:30 AM – 12:20 PM In office:
RCB 8100, Burnaby  Monday, 9:30-10:30am, AQ 6055
Dr. Stewart Prest  Tuesday, 9:30-10:30am, AQ 6055
Email: stewart_prest@sfu.ca  By appointment online
Twitter: @stewartprest

Tutorials:
D101 Mo 12:30 PM – 1:20 PM RCB 6101, Burnaby
D102 Mo 12:30 PM – 1:20 PM RCB 5125, Burnaby
D103 Mo 1:30 PM – 2:20 PM RCB 5125, Burnaby
D104 Mo 2:30 PM – 3:20 PM RCB 6101, Burnaby

Course details:
This course has two distinct but related goals: first, to give students the tools to
understand political participation in modern societies, and second to how to be engaged
citizens themselves.

To that end, we answer a number of broad questions related to crucial aspects of political
behaviour and citizenship. How do citizens participate, and what are some of the major
changes that have recently transpired in terms of citizens' (and non-citizens') engagement
with their governments? Why have these changes taken place?

We will be investigating contemporary political phenomena including explanations for

voter turnout and its decline, the rise of protest politics, and the spread of online
engagement. Implied in that is a study on two crucial questions underlying our study of
democratic change: is there something amiss with modern democracy, and what can be
done to address the challenges confronting it?

As part of our investigation, we will look at variations in participation across countries,

and across types of engagement. Why does political participation and engagement look
so different in various parts of the world? For example, why have large-scale anti-system
demonstrations appeared in some countries and not others in recent years? To answer this
question, we will be investigating some of the legal, social, and cultural factors that
provide the opportunities and constraints for political engagement.

The two hours of lecture and one hour of tutorial will include a mixture of lecture, group
discussions, in-class assignments and audio-visual content. By the conclusion of the
course, students will have both the tools to understand different types of political
engagement, to themselves be active citizens in their polity, and to diagnose and address
some of the major challenges confronting democracy today.
There are four interrelated learning objectives for the course:

1. Learn to understand and describe different methods of democratic participation

and explain how participation has evolved over time.
 What does research tell us about how and why citizens participate in
contemporary democracies?

2. Learn how to engage in democratic processes, and evaluate that engagement

 While the discipline of political science is primarily about understanding
politics, as citizens we must be able to practice politics as well. Combining the
two perspectives—practice and study—will lead to a deeper understanding of
politics in Canada.

3. Learn to diagnose, describe, and address key democratic challenges facing

contemporary democracies, in Canada and beyond.
 Contemporary democracy is a relatively recent phenomenon, one that
continually confronts new problems. By the end of the course students will
understand some of the biggest challenges facing democracy in Canada and
elsewhere today, along with some potential solutions.

4. Learn to communicate ideas effectively through both written and spoken forms.
 Politics is best learned through discussion, through practice. In this course
students will develop written and oral communication skills, developing the
ability to express themselves effectively in a range of fora.

Grading:
Participation: 10%
Media assignment (11:59pm via Canvas on Friday before assigned class): 15%
Major project group proposal (5 Jun, due 11:59 PM via Canvas) 5%
24-hour take home midterm (12 June) 20%
Final project group and individual submissions (31 July, due 11:59 pm via 20%
Canvas):
24-hour take-home final exam (Date and Time TBD): 30%

Assignments:
General written Submission Guidelines
All graded writing assignments are due via Canvas at the specified time and date. Late
assignments will be penalized 5% per 24-hour period. All assignments are to be double-
spaced, 12 pt. times new roman font, black ink, with 1-inch margins, pages numbered,
name and student number included, and word count noted. Unless otherwise noted,
word counts include all text including footnotes, but exclude the bibliography.

Participation (10%):
The participation grade is dependent on both lecture and tutorial attendance and
participation.
Grade will be based upon regular attendance in class, as well as active participation in
small and large group discussions and completion of assigned class activities. Lectures
will feature regular short assignments to be completed as part of the class and submitted
via Canvas.

Tutorial discussions are another element of participation. It is the quality not the quantity
of your comments that is important — in particular, whether you show knowledge of the
readings, apply them to the world around us, and respond to and build on comments
made by other students. Get in the habit of planning to contribute at least once or twice to
each tutorial.

Each tutorial, your TA may ask one or two of you to start the tutorial by summarizing the
week’s reading in two or three sentences. This is to give you an incentive to keep up with
the reading and therefore prepare for the midterm and final exam – so come to tutorial
being able to explain:

 What was the author’s argument, or what information were they trying to convey?
 Do you agree with the author’s conclusions?
 How does the reading fit with other chapters/articles you have read this semester?

Media assignment
Each student will find a recent news story that is relevant to one week’s readings (i.e.
something from the last 5 years). Students complete an assignment for only one week in
the semester.

The assignment must explain (briefly) what happened and show how course readings
help to understand the story.

You must be explicit as to the readings you see the news story relating to, and provide
citations to any news stories you use in researching the event.

Students will be expected to be active leaders in tutorial for the week their reading is
assigned. Weeks will be assigned in Week 2 tutorials, including providing discussion
questions for their tutorials. Further detail regarding the assignment will be provided then
as well.

Assignments must be submitted the Friday before the assigned week. Students are
expected to play an active role in lecture and tutorial discussions the assigned week.

Major project proposal

Working in assigned groups, students will complete a short (i.e. roughly two pages, but
long enough to fully communicate your plan) draft outline for your major project.
Projects will describe an active democratic engagement project that you will undertake as
a group. Each student must submit a copy of their group proposal.

The proposal should identify:

 (1) The democratic arena (e.g. neighbourhood, university, municipal, provincial or
federal)
(2) The topic, problem, or challenge (e.g. transportation, housing affordability, etc.)
(3) The planned form of engagement (e.g. petition, education campaign, public
discussion, etc.)
(4) The goal of engagement (e.g. raising awareness, instigating a policy change), and
(5) Some way to measure impact (e.g. number of signatures collected, people reached
through the education campaign).

Proposals should provide sufficient information to make clear what the issues are, why
engagement is warranted, why you are choosing the form and focus of engagement that
you have, and what you hope to accomplish. Include a list of at least five sources. At least
three should be academic; the others can be trustworthy non-academic sources. For each
source, provide a note explaining how it helps your group understand the topic and/or the
form of engagement selected.

Major project final submission

Major project submission includes two parts, one prepared by the group, and one by each
individual. Each student must submit a copy of both the group submission, and their
own individual submission.

 Group submission: a double-spaced, 12-point font, 1500-1750 word report describing

the background of the issue, what democratic engagement you chose to engage in,
and why, what actually happened, and what the results were using measurements of
impact you identified. The report should include at least three academic sources,
along with any necessary reliable non-academic sources to help support the analysis
of the problem, choice of engagement, and form of evaluation. (Worth 15%)

 Individual submission: A 1000-1200 word reflection and analysis on the process of

engagement. What worked out well during the project? What did not? What
conclusions have reached, both about both the specific subject and the processes of
democracy more generally? Reflection should include a clear summary, and at least
one academic citation to support the evaluation of the democratic process. (Worth
15%)
o Note that other group members will not see individual submissions, so you
may discuss any challenges you had within the group process itself. Group
work is, after all, a form of democratic process.

Exams
Exams will be 24-hour take-homes, and include short essay-style responses. The essays
will require students to synthesize themes that we have encountered throughout the
course using information from lectures, tutorials, readings, and other learning experiences
during the semester. Students will have some choice on what topics they write on.

Texting & Web-surfing: Unless they are being used for specific classroom activities,
phones should be put away. Students may use a computer to take lecture notes.
Students are expected to refrain from texting and web-surfing during class. If you choose
to text and/or web-surf during any part of the class without permission you’ll receive a
low or failing participation mark and I may ask you to leave the class.

Grades
The conversion of final percentages to letter grades follows the rubric below. Rounding is
done consistently; in other words, there are no “bumps” to the next letter grade. For
example, a final grade of 73.4% becomes a B- and a 73.5% becomes a B. Absolutely no
exceptions will be made to this rule as a matter of fairness to all students in the course.

Grading Scale
A+ 93-100% C+ 60-69%
A 86-92% C 64-66%
A- 80-85% C- 60-63%
B+ 77-79% D 50-59%
B 74-76% F <50%
B- 70-73%

Appeals
If you want to appeal a grade on an assignment, you should focus only on how the
assignment matches up to the grading criteria, and feedback you have received, not
personal matters. Personal matters are dealt with under accommodation and may result in
an extension. The appeal procedure is:
 Take 24 hours to read and consider the feedback you have been given.
 If after 24 hours you believe the grade should be reconsidered, write and submit a
short (100-200 words) explanation of how you think your assignment compares to
the grading criteria (see assignment guides on Canvas) and precisely where you
think you should get a different grade. Make sure you address the feedback you
have already been given.

If you request a regrade on the assignment, the mark may be reduced, stay the same or be
increased. If you have remaining questions after this, you may note departmental appeal
procedures below.

Course schedule and readings:

The course has one required textbook. Other readings will be available online, through
the library website or on the course Canvas website.

Dalton, Russell J. Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced
Industrial Democracies - Seventh Edition. CQ Press: Washington DC, 2019. ISBN-13:
978-1544351780
Course Schedule: (Note: this outline may be subject to change. See the course
website for the most up-to-date information.)

Week Date Readings, topics, and due dates

Part 1: Core definitions, concepts and theories
1 8 May Course introduction: what is political participation?
 Dalton Ch 1
 OPTIONAL: Ryan Callista and Michael Morden. 2019.
“You Have Our Attention: Youth political engagement in
Canada.” Toronto: The Samara Centre for Democracy.
 https://www.samaracentre.ca/articles/you-have-our-
attention (cut and paste if link doesn’t work)

2 15 May Is something wrong with contemporary democracy?

 Flinders, M. 2016. “The Problem with Democracy.”
Parliamentary Affairs. 69:1, 181-203
 Corbett, J. 2016. “Democratic Gaps, Traps and Tricks.
Comment on Flinders, M (2016) The Problem with
Democracy.” Parliamentary Affairs. 69:1, 204-206. (3
pages)
 Marsh, I. 2016. “Democratic Discontents. Comment on
Flinders, M. (2015) The Problem with Democracy.”
Parliamentary Affairs. 69:1, 207-210. (3 pages)
3 22 May No class.
4 29 May The citizen in democracies—who participates, and why?
 Dalton Ch. 2 and 4
5 5 Jun Forms of participation: theory and practice
 Dalton ch 3
 PODCAST: How to Really “Get out the vote”:
https://effectivegov.uchicago.edu/podcast/how-to-really-
get-out-the-vote
Major project proposal due 5 Jun at 11:59 PM via Canvas.
Part 2: Electoral politics and participation
6 12 Jun 24-hour midterm: no class
7 19 Jun Values and identities, issues and ideologies in politics
 Dalton chs 5 and 6

Part 3: New problems, new solutions for democratic engagement

8 26 Jun Voting and elections
 Dalton chs 7
9 3 Jul Canada Day Holiday (in lieu of 1 July). University closed
10 10 Jul Psychology and sociology of voting
 Dalton Chs. 8 and 9 (Specific excerpts to be provided in
class)
11 17 Jul Changing views of representation and democracy: deliberative
and participatory democracy
 Dalton chs 11 and 12
12 24 Jul Media, civic engagement and civic literacy
 Michael Morden, Stewart Prest, Jane Hilderman, and
Kendall Anderson 2019. “Investing in Canadians’ civic
literacy: An answer to fake news and disinformation.”
Toronto: The Samara Centre for Democracy
13 31 July Misinformation online
Reading TBD
Major project due 31 July at 11:59 PM via Canvas.
Take home final exam date TBD

Other course policies:

 We treat each other with respect: listen to others; don’t interrupt or have private
conversations; only use electronic devices for note-taking; debate and disagree
with one another by focusing on ideas and arguments, not the person making
them. Misconduct with respect to a student, teaching assistant, instructor, or staff
member with the intent of humiliating or intimidating that person will not be
tolerated. Remember that we don’t know the paths that others have travelled to
get to this point in life; a little empathy will go a long way.

 This course involves participation in discussions and activities that may touch on
sensitive and/or controversial topics. We each have different experiences that
influence our perspectives of the world. You may feel uncomfortable or disagree
with certain ideas or opinions expressed by others or with certain topics in the
class. You may also find you share perspectives or experiences with others. The
classroom should be a lively and interactive place where information is shared,
ideas tested, and issues debated. The expression of ideas grounded in facts and
logical reasoning falls under the principle of academic freedom.

 To facilitate the exchange of ideas for educational purposes, all class participants
must engage with each other respectfully. Moreover, students must be afforded a
reasonable amount of confidentiality within the classroom: please do not share
others’ comments without their permission. As a student, you should expect the
professor of the course to be prepared for each class and to treat each student with
respect. Students will in turn come to each class prepared to engage, complete
readings and assignments on time, and will adhere to the university’s academic
standards including those governing student conduct and academic dishonesty.
The following link will provide further guidance on the Universities student rules
and policies: https://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student.html
*** *** The Political Science Department Policies *** *** ***

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism involves using another author’s words without attribution or

otherwise presenting another person’s work as one’s own. It is a fraudulent and
serious academic offence that will result in a severe academic penalty. Also, close
paraphrasing of another author’s work & self-plagiarism, including submitting the
same, or substantively the same, work for academic evaluation more than once, are
unacceptable practices that will result in a severe academic penalty.

The university policies on academic honesty are available at:

http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student.html

The Department of Political Science’s interpretation of this policy can be found at:
http://www.sfu.ca/content/dam/sfu/politics/documents/Undergraduate/Plagiarism
%20Policy.pdf
All students are responsible for familiarising themselves with these policies.

A helpful SFU Library tutorial on plagiarism is at

https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/academic-integrity/plagiarism-tutorial

The DOs and DON’Ts of AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

Do not:
 submit an entire paper or part(s) of a paper or papers that has been written or
researched by any other person(s);
 submit a paper as an assignment that has been bought from another person or
from a ‘paper mill’ or essay service;
 submit a paper or other written assignment that has been submitted at another
time or for a different course by yourself or any other student or former student;
 submit material that has been downloaded from a website, without acknowledging
(using appropriate citation style) that you have done so;
 take someone else’s idea(s) and represent it/them as your own;
 copy any text verbatim, or with only slight variation from the original text,
without using quotation marks and documenting the source with proper citation
style;
 do not closely paraphrase another’s material; either paraphrase completely in your
own words, or cite as a direct quotation using quotation marks (in either case, give
full credit and details regarding authorship and location of the original material);

Do:
 learn how to cite material properly (there are many good guides on this, including
the departmental one);
  use a recognized citation style (eg. APA, MLA, Chicago), according to
instructions given by the course instructor, and be consistent in the use of the style
throughout any single piece of written work;
 carefully read and make sure you understand the university’s policy on academic
honesty;
 ask the instructor of this course or other faculty members if you have any
questions about plagiarism.

Grade Appeals
Grade Appeals Grade appeal procedures follow guidelines set out in the SFU Policy
T20.01, “Grading and the Reconsideration of Grades”. Only final grades or written
assignments may be appealed. Grades may be raised, lowered, or remain unchanged.
1. Students must first consult with their instructor, providing a written account of why
their grade should be changed. The grade will be discussed with the instructor informally.
2. If Step 1 is unsuccessful, students should submit a completed grade appeal form to the
Department Chair, along with all of the graded material being appealed. The Department
Chair will arrange for a re-evaluation of the work in question and assign a new grade.
3. If a student feels their grade appeal has been dealt with inappropriately at the
department level, they may convey their concern to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and
Social Sciences. The Dean will review and confirm the new grade assigned, or initiate an
alternate means of reconsideration. The decision of the Dean shall be final, subject only
to an appeal to Senate.
Students can access more information about the department’s grade appeal policy, and
download the grade appeal form at:
http://www.sfu.ca/politics/undergraduate/advising.html

Department Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

The Department of Political Science seeks to promote the values of Equity, Diversity,
and Inclusion in relation to our undergraduate and graduate students, administrative staff,
sessional instructors, and faculty members. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are
especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of
ethnicity/race, culture, religion, ability status, socio-economic status, sexual orientation,
gender, gender diversity, citizenship, and national origin. We commit to fostering a
departmental climate that is welcoming, respectful, and inclusive as well as ensuring that
departmental policies and practices are fair.

Preferred Name & Preferred Gender Pronouns

Generally, class rosters provided to the instructor only include the student's legal name.
Please advise the instructor if you wish to be addressed by a different name and/or gender
pronoun early in the semester, or before it begins if possible.

Here is a good example of how to inform your instructor through email:

Dear Dr. Sanchez:

I am writing to let you know that the name I go by is ____________ and my pronouns are
___________. I will be using this name on all of my coursework. I trust that my
pronouns will be respected in class.

Thank you for your understanding and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

K.C. Ang

Student Behavior

Misconduct with respect to a student, teaching assistant, instructor, or staff member with
the intent of humiliating or intimidating that person will not be tolerated.

This course involves participation in discussions and activities that may touch on
sensitive and/or controversial topics. We each have different experiences that influence
our perspectives of the world. You may feel uncomfortable or disagree with certain ideas
or opinions expressed by others or with certain topics in the class. You may also find you
share perspectives or experiences with others. The classroom should be a lively and
interactive place where information is shared, ideas tested, and issues debated. The
expression of ideas grounded in facts and logical reasoning falls under the principle of
academic freedom. To facilitate the exchange of ideas for educational purposes, all class
participants must engage with each other respectfully. Moreover, students must be
afforded a reasonable amount of confidentiality within the classroom: please do not share
others’ comments without their permission. As a student, you should expect the professor
of the course to be prepared for each class and to treat each student with respect and
compassion. Students will in turn come to each class prepared to engage, complete
readings and assignments on time, and will adhere to the university’s academic standards
including those governing student conduct and academic dishonesty. The following link
will provide further guidance on the Universities student rules and
policies: https://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student.html