I never know quite what to make of students willing to spoil a nice break by taking a government class - but welcome aboard. We will begin the process of cramming 16 weeks worth of information in 4 weeks immediately. Refer to syllabus, get acquainted with the class' structure - it has a rhythm to it - and start reading.
This blog will be an important source of information to you, I'll post stories related to the topics we cover in class. This is also where you will find the weekly written assignments - which will be the post immediately following this one.
Be sure to become familiar with the range of links I have available on the left hand column. I will refer to them from time to time, but you should be able to find access to most any information you are interested in there. These are modified continually.
Anyway - let me know what questions you have and get to work.