Week 10 — Readings & Resources · American Government & Politics: the U.S. Case

Course: Introduction to Political Science (POLS 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Halloran
Objectives covered: Objective 6 (American government, federalism, separation of powers — the U.S. as a case of the survey's concepts).

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded, and there is nothing to buy.

This week's load is deliberately light: 2 short readings + 1 video + the primary text you'll use in the workshop, grouped by the ideas from the lecture, plus a couple of optional references. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 40–50 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Order that matches the lecture: ① federalism and the three kinds of power → ② separation of powers, checks and balances, and McCulloch → ③ the week's primary text (for the workshop).

A habit to start now: before you repeat any "quotation" from a founding document — from a chatbot, a meme, or even a textbook — ask the question from class: is that actually in the document's text, or is it from somewhere else?

① Federalism and the Three Kinds of Power

Maps to Lecture Segments 2–4. Enumerated, implied, and reserved powers; the supremacy clause; the classic confusions.

Reading — "American Federalism" (OpenStax, Introduction to Political Science)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-political-science/pages/contents
Why it's assigned: the free survey text this course's link set returns to; search the table of contents for the federalism/American-government chapter for a clear, discipline-standard statement of how power is divided between the national government and the states. (Web-search the exact section slug before deep-linking — do not guess the URL; the contents page above is always a safe starting point.)
⏱ ~12 min

Reading — "The Constitution" (Khan Academy, US Government and Civics)
🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-government-and-civics
Why it earns the click: short, plain-language explainers on enumerated vs. implied vs. reserved powers and the structure of Article I §8 — a good second pass after the lecture.
⏱ ~10 min

② Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, and McCulloch

Maps to Lecture Segments 5–7. The three branches in practice; McCulloch v. Maryland (1819); connecting this week back to Weeks 6, 7, and 9.

Video — "Structure of the Court System: Crash Course Government and Politics #19" (CrashCourse, YouTube)
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGyx5UEwgtA (full course playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H)
Why it earns the click: a brisk, engaging walkthrough of how the judicial branch fits into the separation-of-powers design — useful review alongside this week's McCulloch case, and a callback to Week 9's judicial-review unit.
⏱ ~9 min

Reference — McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) case page (National Archives, Milestone Documents)
🔗 https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/mcculloch-v-maryland
Why it's assigned: the authoritative summary of the case you'll analyze in the workshop — how a Baltimore bank cashier's refusal to pay a state tax became the case that defined implied powers and federal supremacy.
⏱ ~8 min

③ The Week's Primary Text (for the Workshop)

You'll analyze this in Political Analysis Workshop 10. Read Article I §8, Article VI, and Amendment X once before the workshop so you arrive ready to close-read them.

Primary text — The Constitution of the United States (signed Sept. 17, 1787; ratified 1788; Bill of Rights ratified 1791)
🔗 https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript (National Archives — the official transcription; see Article I, Section 8; Article VI)
🔗 https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript (National Archives — see Amendment X)
Why it's assigned: the actual text this week's whole analysis is built on — enumerated powers and the Necessary and Proper Clause (Art. I §8), the supremacy clause (Art. VI), and reserved powers (Amendment X). This week you read the Constitution's own words on federal power, not a summary of them.
⏱ ~10 min

Optional one-stop references (free online)

• OpenStax, Introduction to Political Science — the free survey text this course's link set returns to; a solid reference for any week.
  🔗 https://openstax.org/details/books/introduction-political-science
• Khan Academy — US Government and Civics. Short explainers on the Constitution, federalism, and the three branches — first linked in Week 1, useful again this week.
  🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-government-and-civics
• The National Archives — America's Founding Documents. The Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in official transcription; we return to this hub repeatedly (Weeks 1, 6, 7, and now 10).
  🔗 https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs

Pick-one quick path (≈22 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Read the Constitution's Article I §8 and Article VI, and Amendment X (group ③) — for the workshop and the quiz alike.
2. Skim the McCulloch v. Maryland case page at the National Archives (group ②) — the case you'll use to corroborate the text.

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Halloran and use the OpenStax contents page or the National Archives founding-documents hub above in the meantime.