Course: Introduction to Political Science (POLS 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Halloran
Module: Week 10 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objectives covered: Objective 6 — explain American government and political participation — federalism, separation of powers, and the U.S. Constitution as a case of the survey's concepts.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 10 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday pattern with Week 10 meeting Tue Nov 3 and Thu Nov 5, with end-of-week work due Sunday Nov 8, 11:59 p.m. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 10 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 10: American Government & Politics — the U.S. Case

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

A framing note before we start: this is not a switch to a new course. For nine weeks you've built a toolkit for studying any political system — power and legitimacy (Week 2), constitutions and the rule of law (Week 6), how legislatures and executives are designed (Week 7), and how courts check power (Week 9). This week, we point that toolkit at one case in depth: the United States — because it is the case study built into the American-government subfield, and because it is the system most of you live under. We are studying it the same way we'd study any country's institutions: as one instance of general patterns, not as a course unto itself.

The week's big question

"How does the U.S. Constitution divide power — between nation and states, and among three branches — and what happens when that design is tested?"

By Friday you'll be able to name the three kinds of federal power (enumerated, implied, reserved), explain the supremacy clause, walk through separation of powers and checks and balances using the actual branches, and use a real Supreme Court case — McCulloch v. Maryland — to show how the Constitution's text settled a founding-era fight over federal power.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all four out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Distinguish enumerated, implied, and reserved powers — and explain where each comes from in the Constitution's text (Art. I §8; the Necessary and Proper Clause; Amendment X).
• [ ] State the supremacy clause (Art. VI) and explain what it does and does not settle about federal-versus-state conflicts.
• [ ] Walk through separation of powers and checks and balances using the three real branches — legislative, executive, judicial — and name at least one check each branch holds on another.
• [ ] Explain McCulloch v. Maryland's holding — implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause, and the "power to tax involves the power to destroy" line — and connect it back to the Constitution's own text.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Heads-up on the AI tools: you'll use a chatbot to draft and explain, and then you judge its work against the texts and the record. Chatbots routinely misquote the Constitution itself — for example, rendering the famous "wall of separation between church and state" as if it were the Constitution's own words, when it is actually a line from a private 1802 letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association. Catching slips like that is the point — in the tutorial, the assignment, and this week's workshop.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline — I'd much rather hear from you early.

How to succeed this week

• Lead with the structure, not the headlines. This week is about the Constitution's design — enumerated, implied, and reserved powers; supremacy; the three branches — not this week's news. Keep your examples historical and structural.
• Learn the three power words cold. Enumerated = spelled out (Art. I §8). Implied = not spelled out, but a reasonable tool for a spelled-out power (the Necessary and Proper Clause; McCulloch). Reserved = left to the states (Amendment X). Confusing these three is the single most common quiz mistake.
• Read the Constitution's own words, not a summary of them. This week's workshop has you close-read the actual archives.gov transcript — not a paraphrase, not a chatbot's gloss.
• Treat the chatbot as a confident intern, not an oracle. It will "quote" the Constitution with words that are actually from somewhere else entirely — you'll catch it doing exactly that this week.
• Expect fairness, practice fairness. Federalism has real strengths and real weaknesses, and this course will give you the strongest case for both sides — never a verdict. When we discuss it this week, you'll be asked to argue your view and state the opposing case fairly.

You don't need any political-science background for this week beyond what you've already built — just the toolkit from Weeks 1–9, aimed at one country. Come to class ready to talk about how a 1787 document still settles arguments about power in 2026. See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 10

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Nov 2, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Nov 2."

Subject: Welcome to Week 10 — one country, the survey's concepts in action 🏛️

Hi everyone, and welcome to Week 10!

For nine weeks you've built a toolkit for studying political systems in general — legitimacy, constitutions, separation of powers, courts. This week we point that toolkit at one system in depth: the United States — the case study at the heart of the American-government subfield, and the system most of you live under every day.

This week — American Government & Politics: the U.S. Case — we tackle the big question: How does the U.S. Constitution divide power — between nation and states, and among three branches — and what happens when that design is tested? By Friday you'll know the difference between enumerated, implied, and reserved powers, you'll be able to state the supremacy clause, you'll walk through separation of powers and checks and balances using the real branches, and you'll have used a real Supreme Court case — McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) — to see the Constitution's design tested and settled.

Three things not to miss:
1. Lecture Tutorial 10 — work through the week's ideas with one approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) and submit the share link. You'll catch the model's mistakes, not just trust it. Due Sun Nov 8.
2. Political Analysis Workshop 10 (the U.S. Constitution, close-read), Quiz 10, Discussion 10, and Assignment 10 also close Sun Nov 8 — the workshop is the heart of the course, so start early.
3. Open the Start Here page first — it lays out everything in order with due dates.

One promise, right up front: even on the most American of weeks, this course will never tell you what to conclude about contested questions. Federalism's strengths and weaknesses both get their strongest case, and your grade never depends on which side you take — only on your evidence and reasoning. By Friday, the next time you hear the Constitution "quoted," you'll know exactly what to do: go check the actual words.

Bring your curiosity (and a willingness to read closely) to class on Tuesday.

See you soon,
Prof. Halloran