BPA/211
Foundations of Federal, State, and Local Government
Online
Format
$1194
Estimated Tuition
3 credits
Total credits
5 weeks
Course length
Start when you're ready
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Course level: Undergraduate
This course provides students constitutional foundations and governing entities of the federal, state, and local governments. Students will learn about political themes, governmental reach, democracy, and political behavior at each level of government.
Prerequisites
None
What you'll learn
Course skills and outcomes
Week 1
- Explain the Relationship between various State governments and the Federal government.
- Explain if the theories of the founding fathers behind the Constitution were to promote or protect states’ rights.
- Identify the three levels of State and the Federal government and explain the primary purposes of each.
Week 2
- Describe the main protections of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights and how these affect a democratic society.
- Explain how federal, state and local governments are all separate and distinct work together for the common good.
- Identify projects designed for the common good that need all levels of government working in conjunction with each other.
Week 3
- Explain the relationship between politics, special interests, the citizens and governmental leaders and how their interaction creates policy formulation.
- Describe the recent trends in federal and state governmental openness and transparency and the role of the press and media in this movement.
- Explain the importance of public opinion polls, religious beliefs, societal norms and ethical standards to prioritize the services provided by governments.
Week 4
- Examine the inner workings of multi-jurisdictional governmental agencies and the challenges of not duplicating citizen services.
- Describe the recent trend in the concept of shared services and the pros and cons of these programs.
- Identify ways to improve communication and cooperation between various governmental agencies.
Week 5
- Describe the services provided by local governments and identify those services that are most important to everyday living.
- Identify the specialized components of local government.
- Explain the functions of the key members of municipal government including the mayor, the council, the municipal clerk, the engineer and public safety officials.
