Grading Policy
The final numeric grade will map to the final letter grade according to SUU's standard number to-letter grade conversion scheme. Final grades ending in .5 or higher are automatically rounded up to the nearest whole percentage point.
A: 94-100
A-: 90-93
B+: 87-89
B: 84-86
B-: 80-83
C+: 77-79
C: 74-76
C-: 70-73
D+: 67-69
D: 64-66
D-: 60-63
F: 0-59
Final grades will be assessed through various measures of your performance in the course:
Exam 1 (Midterm): 15%
Exam 2 (Final): 15%
Game Theory Problem Sets: 20% (2 at 10% each)
Community Mapping Project: 30%
Preparedness: 10%
Class Activities: 10%
Exams
There will be two exams, both of which are equally weighted. They will be delivered in class, and the due dates are scheduled in the syllabus. The format of each exam will be multiple-choice and will include any material covered since the last exam. A review day will precede each exam. Questions will be taken from the quizzes, readings, and lectures.
Quizzes
There will be four quizzes, all of which are equally weighted. They will be delivered in class, and the dates are scheduled in the syllabus. The format of each quiz will be multiple-choice and will include any material covered since the last quiz (or last exam). Questions will be taken from the lectures and readings.
Game Theory Problem Sets
Comparative politics utilizes a theoretical tool known as formal modeling, or "game theory", to develop theory and formalize arguments mathematically. Throughout the semester students will learn how to solve various game theoretic problems. To get practice solving these problems, students will complete two practice problem sets (10% each).
Community Mapping Project
This project will have students explore communities in a comparative context through the lenses of institutions and issue areas. There are two parts to this assignment. Students should choose a local community outside the United States, such as a city, town, municipality, or neighborhood, that meets the following criteria:
- Any region in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, Oceania.
- It can be a capital city (e.g., Nairobi, Warsaw, Bogotá) or a smaller urban or rural area (e.g., Chiang Mai, Medellín, Accra).
- Your community must be researchable in a language you can read. Smaller or more remote communities may have sparse information available in English.
- Ensure you can access local government sites, NGO/INGO sites.
- The community must have clearly identifiable political and cultural institutions.
Part 1 of your Community Mapping Project asks you to create a Google map of a community as you define it with: (1) at least 7 major political institutions (governing, electoral, judicial, legislative, dictatorial, etc.) and (2) at least 7 important institutions and organizations at work in a political issue area of your choosing. Your map will include a minimum of 4 sentences caption and photo/graphic/video for each location you map along with a 1 sentence credit or explanation for each photo/graphic/video. This portion of the project is worth 30% of the final grade.
Further instructions will be given on Canvas.
Preparedness
Preparedness will be graded based on the students’ performance during daily “RNG of Destiny” questions. Daily questions will be pulled from the reading for that day, and a set of randomly-selected students will need to answer these questions. Students are guaranteed full preparedness points unless they are called upon during the daily questions and either a) fail to answer the question acceptably, or b) are absent without a university-approved excuse. Some students may never be called upon to answer a question, some students may be randomly-selected multiple times. Therefore, each student must come prepared, having done the reading, or risk losing preparedness points. Preparedness is worth 10% of the final grade. Additional instructions will be provided in class.
Class Activities
There will be several class activities throughout the semester. These activities may consist of think-pair-share, 1-minute essays, civil debates, group discussions and others. Activities will be short and isolated to single classes. As these activities necessitate individual participation during class, no make-ups will be accepted (Excused university absences exempted).