Transfers ToNot transferableDescriptionPart 1: This course is an introduction to government and politics in the United States and California. Students examine the constitutions, structure, and operation of governing institutions, civil liberties and civil rights, political behaviors, political issues, and public policy using political science theory and methodology. Part 2: This course is a critical examination of the contemporary and historical struggle for the development of democratic political institutions in the United States at the state, local, and national levels. Particular emphasis is given to the conflict between disparate socioeconomic groups in the conduct of U.S. political life (e.g., traditional elites versus the historically (and currently) disenfranchised-- women, people of color, workers, immigrants, etc.) and the interrelationship among social equity, democracy, and sustainable environmental conditions. 