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POL 342 Lobbying: A Citizen's Guide to the Legislative Process

This course, for the seasoned lobbyist as well as the newcomer, is designed to stimulate people to effectively assert power in the political arena. The structure and dynamics of Minnesota government and politics are examined. Students learn how to start with an idea and build a strategy to make that idea into law using the Minnesota Capitol as a laboratory.

Prerequisites

4 Undergraduate credits

Effective August 1, 1998 to present

Meets graduation requirements for

Learning outcomes

General

  • Understands the roles and functions of the state legislature and the processes of law making at the state level.
  • Can analyze and critique institutional and political forces that shape legislative outcomes at an upper division college level.
  • Can apply principles of effective lobbying to the creation of a successful lobbying campaign at an upper division college level.
  • Can draft clear and persuasive written materials at a level consistent with upper division standards.
  • Can examine and reflect on their own values, potential and commitments as engaged citizens.
  • Understands the principles and techniques of effective legislative lobbying.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

Goal 5: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences

  • Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
  • Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
  • Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
  • Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.

Goal 9: Ethical and Civic Responsibility

  • Examine, articulate, and apply their own ethical views.
  • Understand and apply core concepts (e.g. politics, rights and obligations, justice, liberty) to specific issues.
  • Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific issues.
  • Recognize the diversity of political motivations and interests of others.
  • Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.