Dr. Brett S. Sharp, Assistant Professor, has been a practicing public administrator for over fourteen years. He received his Ph.D. and Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma and a B.S. in Political Science/Public Affairs with a minor in Religious Studies from Oklahoma State University. He is currently the Associate Director of the Oklahoma Policy Research Center at UCO. He is the immediate past president of the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

This course is designed to provide the student with an overview of the importance for civic engagement in a democracy. The theme of social capital and its direct correlation with citizen involvement in public affairs will be specifically emphasized. Related issues such as civic virtue, community planning, public affairs education, and the role of leadership will also be explored.

The student will read one book and a set of readings related to civic engagement and social capital and will analyze them through a political perspective culminating in a review essay. The instructor will help guide the readings by meeting with the student at various times in the semester. The student will also engage in a service learning project as arranged with the instructor that will be summarized in a short reaction paper.

Putnam, Robert D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Touchstone. [Available at UCO Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, etc.]

Hochschild, Arlie Russell. (February 2001). A Generation Without Public Passion. The Atlantic Monthly.

Putnam, Robert D. (January 1995). Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital. The Journal of Democracy.

Putnam, Robert D. (December 1, 1996). The Strange Disappearance of Civic America. The American Prospect.

Scott, Gregory M. & Garrison, Stephen M. (2001). The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. [Required]

Based upon the Oklahoma Regents’ Statement on Course Workload and Homework [OSRHE II-2-34], a college student should expect to spend 3 hours, on average, on outside work for each hour spent in class. The message the Oklahoma Regents are trying to communicate is that if you have a full time job (30-40 hours) you should not simultaneously expect to maintain a full-time academic schedule (15 hours). If you expect to do well, expect to put in the time!

The University of Central Oklahoma complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Students with disabilities who need special accommodations should make their requests by contacting the coordinator of Disability Support Services at 974-2459. Their office is located in the Administration Building, Room 211. Students should also notify the instructor of special accommodations needs by the end of the first week of class.

Discussion of the assigned readings is an important part of succeeding in this course and is required of all students. Meeting with the instructor provides an opportunity for you to ask questions, clarify issues, and deepen your understanding of the concepts covered in the assigned readings. If you are unable to make a meeting as arranged, you are responsible for rescheduling at the instructor’s convenience and availability.

Your report should be in the form of an essay which includes concise summaries and more extensive analyses of the assigned readings. Using the book review from a refereed journal (provided by the instructor) as a model and Scott and Garrison’s The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual as a guide, write a 10-12 page review essay due by close of business, Friday, July 25, 2003. As part of your analysis, answer the following questions within the text of your report:

Select one or more activities from the following list of 100 Things You Can Do to Increase Social Capital (Seminar on Civic Engagement in America) and prepare a 2-3 page reaction paper in which you outline the details and significance of this activity. Papers will be graded on selection of activitiy (activities), format, grammar, style, content delivery, analysis, and general quality. This analysis is due by close of business on Friday, July 25, 2003.

1. Organize a social gathering to welcome a new neighbor

2. Attend town meetings

3. Register to vote and vote

4. Support local merchants

5. Volunteer your special skills to an organization

6. Donate blood

7. Start a community garden

8. Mentor someone of a different ethnic or religious group

9. Surprise a new neighbor by making a favorite dinner–and include the recipe

10. Tape record your parents' earliest recollections and share them with your children

11. Plan a vacation with friends or family

12. Don't gossip

13. Help fix someone's flat tire

14. Organize or participate in a sports league

15. Join a gardening club

16. Attend home parties when invited

17. Become an organ donor

18. Attend your children's athletic contests, plays and recitals

19. Get to know your children's teachers

20. Join the local Elks, Kiwanis, or Knights of Columbus

21. Get involved with Brownies or Cub/Boy/Girl Scouts

22. Start a monthly tea group

23. Speak at or host a monthly brown bag lunch series at your local library

24. Sing in a choir

25. Get to know the clerks and salespeople at your local stores

26. Attend PTA meetings

27. Audition for community theater or volunteer to usher

28. Give your park a weatherproof chess/checkers board

29. Play cards with friends or neighbors

30. Give to your local food bank

31. Participate in walk-a-thons

32. Employers: encourage volunteer/community groups to hold meetings on your site

33. Volunteer in your child's classroom or chaperone a field trip

34. Join or start a babysitting cooperative

35. Attend school plays

36. Answer surveys when asked

37. Businesses: invite local government officials to speak at your workplace

38. Attend Memorial Day parades and express appreciation for others

39. Form a local outdoor activity group

40. Participate in political campaigns

41. Attend a local budget committee meeting

42. Form a computer group for local senior citizens

43. Help coach Little League or other youth sports – even if you don't have a kid playing

44. Help run the snack bar at the Little League field

45. Form a "tools cooperative" with neighbors and share ladders, snow blowers, etc.

46. Start a lunch gathering or a discussion group with co-workers

47. Offer to rake a neighbor's yard or shovel his/her walk

48. Join a carpool

49. Employers: give employees time (e.g., 3 days per year to work on civic projects)

50. Plan a "Walking Tour" of a local historic area

51. Eat breakfast at a local gathering spot on Saturdays

52. Have family dinners and read to your children

53. Run for public office

54. Stop and make sure the person on the side of the highway is OK

55. Host a block party or a holiday open house

56. Start a fix-it group–friends willing to help each other clean, paint, garden, etc.

57. Offer to serve on a town committee

58. Join the volunteer fire department

59. Go to church...or temple...or go outside with your children–talk to them about spirituality

60. If you grow tomatoes, plant extra for an lonely elder who lives nearby – better yet, ask him/her to teach you and others how to can the extras

61. Ask a single diner to share your table for lunch

62. Stand at a major intersection holding a sign for your favorite candidate

63. Persuade a local restaurant to have a designated "meet people" table

64. Host a potluck supper before your Town Meeting

65. Take dance lessons with a friend

66. Say "thanks" to public servants – police, firefighters, town clerk…

67. Fight to keep essential local services in the downtown area–your post office, police station, school, etc.

68. Join a nonprofit board of directors

69. Gather a group to clean up a local park or cemetery

70. When somebody says "government stinks," suggest they help fix it

71. Turn off the TV and talk with friends or family

72. Hold a neighborhood barbecue

73. Bake cookies for new neighbors or work colleagues

74. Plant tree seedlings along your street with neighbors and rotate care for them

75. Volunteer at the library

76. Form or join a bowling team

77. Return a lost wallet or appointment book

78. Use public transportation and start talking with those you regularly see

79. Ask neighbors for help and reciprocate

80. Go to a local folk or crafts festival

81. Call an old friend

82. Register for a class – then go

83. Accept or extend an invitation

84. Talk to your kids or parents about their day

85. Say hello to strangers

86. Log off and go to the park

87. Ask a new person to join a group for a dinner or an evening

88. Participate in pot luck meals

89. Volunteer to drive someone

90. Say hello when you spot an acquaintance in a store

91. Host a movie night

92. Exercise together or take walks with friends or family

93. Assist with or create your town or neighborhood's newsletter

94. Organize a neighborhood litter pick-up – with lawn games afterwards

95. Collect oral histories from older town residents

96. Join a book club discussion or get the group to discuss local issues

97. Volunteer to deliver Meals-on-Wheels in your neighborhood

98. Start a children’s story hour at your local library

99. Be real. Be humble. Acknowledge others' self-worth

100. Tell friends and family about social capital and why it matters

Cheating = Failure (please refer to attached Academic Integrity Statement). Cheating is unacceptable conduct and will result in an automatic grade of "F" for the course, and be reported to Academic Affairs. Students are required to do all of the work for this class on their own. Copying answers to exercises or examinations from anyone constitutes cheating. Allowing another student to copy one’s answers will be treated as cheating. A student may discuss exercises and case briefs with others before preparing his or her own answers, but the answers must be each student’s own work product. Consulting with the instructor about any assignment does not constitute cheating and is encouraged.

The Political Science Department of the University of Central Oklahoma is asking all students taking political science courses to read the following Academic Integrity Statement. Our purpose in doing so is to ensure that all our students are aware of what is improper academic behavior.

As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold standards of intellectual and academic integrity. The Political Science Department expects that its students will conduct themselves honestly. This means, above all, that students submit for credit work that is the product of their own efforts. Principles of academic integrity require that all dishonest work be rejected as a basis for academic credit, and that students refrain from any and all forms of dishonorable conduct in the course of their academic work.

The examples and definitions given below are intended to clarify the standards by which academic honesty and integrity is judged. The list is merely illustrative of some of the more common infractions. It is not intended to be exhaustive. Any question a student has about what constitutes inappropriate behavior should be directed towards their instructor. The rule of thumb to follow is: If in doubt, ASK!

Plagiarism - Plagiarism is presenting another person’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism includes not only the exact use of another’s words, word for word, but also the paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student’s work as one’s own. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly, or creative indebtedness, and the consequences of violating this responsibility. In case of doubt, give a citation of the author you are using. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one's reliance on other sources is plagiarism. A plagiarized paper will result in a failing grade on the work in question, and perhaps, for the entire course.

Cheating on Examinations - Cheating on examinations involves giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include the use of notes, texts, or "crib sheets" during an examination (unless receiving instructor approval), or sharing information with another student either during or after an examination.

Falsification - It is a violation of academic honesty to misrepresent material or to fabricate information in an academic exercise or assignment (e.g. false or misleading citation of sources, the falsification of the results of experiments or of computer data).