Federalism made a lot of sense at the time the Constitution was written. Why has this power sharing arrangement between the states and the federal government endured for more than 250 years? In answering this question please include a discussion about American political culture, our views of liberty and identity. Please also consider inyour paper an example of an issue where there is tension between local, state, and federal levels of government. Examples you can look at include education policy, environmental policy, marijuana laws, or minimum wage laws. In looking at a specific example, please make sure to explain why this is an issue that states have considerable (but not absolute) power over and what this tells us about federalism more generally.
Category: Political science
Find a current event article that is interesting to you and relates to the chapter. A current event needs to have taken place no more than 3 weeks prior to submission. Make sure to include the article information in your submission. Answer the questions as concise and informative short answer/paragraph form as possible.
Find and article related to Civil Rights which is this week’s topic and follow the directions below.
What area does this topic effect:
World – How the US relates to the incident
National Government (U.S.)
Local (Specific State/County/City)
Other
Who is the article about? Who are the main players on the article. – group of people, organization, one person
When did the event in the article take place? The date of the event and the article. Include time frame/period.
Where did this event happen? Actual city, county or state.
What is the source of information for this article? Name of website, magazine or newspaper.
In your own words, write an accurate summary of the article.
How do you think this issue impacts your community? Our country? The World?
How does this article relate to the chapter and why is it important to the study of Political Science?
Find a current event article that is interesting to you and relates to the chapter. A current event needs to have taken place no more than 3 weeks prior to submission. Make sure to include the article information in your submission. Answer the questions as concise and informative short answer/paragraph form as possible.
What area does this topic effect:
World – How the US relates to the incident
National Government (U.S.)
Local (Specific State/County/City)
Other
Who is the article about? Who are the main players on the article. – group of people, organization, one person
When did the event in the article take place? The date of the event and the article. Include time frame/period.
Where did this event happen? Actual city, county or state.
What is the source of information for this article? Name of website, magazine or newspaper.
In your own words, write an accurate summary of the article.
How do you think this issue impacts your community? Our country? The World?
How does this article relate to the chapter and why is it important to the study of Political Science?
The topic for this week is civil rights, find an article related to civil right and follow the given directions above.
Upload a two-page, single-space essay comparing the key concepts and propositions of liberal, institutionalist and Marxist theories of political economy. How do they understand capitalism in completely different ways? What political vision flows out of each perspective? Use proper paragraphs, grammar and spelling.
1. POLSCI 410 Week 1 and Heilbroner(PDF) are Liberal Theories of Political Economy.
2. POLSCI 410 Week 2, Kwak(PDF), Rodrik(PDF), and Mazzucatoare(PDF) are Institutionalist Theories of Political Economy.
3. POLSCI 410 Week 3, Marx and Engels(https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm), and Wolff(PDF) are Marxist Theories of Political Economy.
Considering the timeliness and relevance of #Unfit to this week’s module, I have created this thread to discuss the documentary. Avoid polemical approaches (e.g., I like this or hate that), instead addressing how the film employs various aspects of popular culture to make its political points. You may alway wish to comment on how the medium of documentary differs from “pure” entertainment fair like movies, TV, sketch comedy, etc.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465142/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Film Questions
As a spoof of the Bush presidency, what aspects of real life make it on screen in American Dreamz?
An argument is made that the president needs the show more than the show needs the president. How does this relate to the themes of the course?
How important is the popular culture presidency and what does the film show us about that?
Reality TV came of age in the Bush administration, but now a reality-TV star is president. What aspects of the narrative presage the Trump presidency?
The film treats the president as an “empty suit” used as a tool by his advisor (an ersatz Dick Cheney). Does this tell us anything about the office, especially in the current era?
Compare American Dreamz to Obama’s appearance on Between Two Ferns. Are there similarities or are these two totally different phenomena?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnW3xkHxIEQ&list=LL5PMVjyYF1c45iaLBTRXMmg&index=857
I need to provide basic political values, beliefs, and opinions and how I acquire these. Papers must address family influence, educational and peer group influences, significant events, and experiences. The instruction details are on the folder I uploaded. The details start at the end of page 10. Please review carefully and let me know when you have questions about my background.
In order for the Constitution of the United States of America to be ratified, as series of compromises were made, that sought to address the concerns raised by both the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist. These concerns included issues of representation and population size, slavery, and institutional structure as well as the very nature of federalism. Discuss why the Constitution of the United States can be viewed as a series of compromises. Your paper must define federalism, discuss the positions of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, as well as discuss the compromises made, which concerns they addressed, and how these compromises affect the institutional structure of the American government. Please proofread your work! Use proper citations
Why does international trade benefit some groups within a country more than others? Which groups tend to have an interest in protectionism? And which tend to have an interest in freer trade? Also, explain whether you believe programs designed to mitigate the negative impacts of trade create a Pareto improvement. Why do you think there is relatively little support for such programs in the United States?
Congress Member: Steve Scalise
Two or three paragraphs briefly describing the district of Steve Scalise. Include information such as demographics, economics, voting patterns, distinctive regions and cities, etc. Then two or three paragraphs comparing the district to national averages.
(https://www.census.gov/mycd/) and (https://www.census.gov/data.html)
The amount of money spent in the previous two primary and general election campaigns by both Steve Scalise and his/her opponents, and the percentage of this money that was raised from PACs. (https://www.opensecrets.org/)
The percentage of the vote Steve Scalise received in the past three primary and general elections, the number of terms Steve Scalise has served and a list of political positions held before entering Congress (https://www.congress.gov/)
Part 2: Critique and Rebuttal
You will not be able to review posts submitted by your peers, until you yourself have submitted your critical analysis, for Part 1.
Review your classmates posts. Select one to offer a rebuttal or critique.
Selection Criteria and Post Formatting Requirements-
Cannot choose to reply to post of someone who shares your same prompt or your same position and analyses. You only have to do this once, but I encourage you all to reply and post to as many classmates posts to enhance discussion to make the course more engaging.
Minimum length of analysis is 1 page double spaced, or half page single spaced. Type it first in a word document for reference. Then, copy and paste. Formatting standards: 12 point font, times new roman, double spaced ( if 1 full page in word) otherwise single spaced (equivalent to half page in word).
Introduction and Background on Discussion Topic and Prompts
Modern political scientist debates begin with matters of what research methods are to be accepted as the best approach. Structuralists believe research, methods and analysis should focus on objective factors. Understanding political context of ones environment can only be objectively achieved, if focus is on factors pertaining to the way in which the world is organized. Structure and organization determine politics. Therefore, the proper objects to study are power, interests, and institutions.
Culturalists prioritize subjectivity. Exploring research of objects relative to perception is the best practices methodological approach to evaluating and understanding politics. Values, opinions and psychology are argued to be more important than objective and tangible reality.
Structuralists and culturalists agree on the issue and topic of debate. For example, both groups would acknowledge and validate there is considerable emerging inertia within the United States political systems, as it pertains specifically to presidential (s)election. The methods required to achieve an explanation is the source of opposing divergence.
Take the presidential selection issue. Structuralists research and methods would rely on explanations of factors, such as electoral laws and processes. It would be necessary to build a research method that evaluates variation or uniformity, with a state by state comparison of laws, rules, processes, and methods that govern how the states electoral college is selected, organized, structured, empowered, and ultimately the rules and processes that govern how presidential votes will be cast, tabulated and awarded.
A culturalist would require a research method that focuses on factors, such as public opinion. They would assume that the recent and increasing inertia behind electoral college concerns in deciding the countrys President, is most accurately and informatively explained as variable(s) dependent of peoples attitude in apathy towards voting system, all together. Or perhaps, evaluating the value in objects, like peoples obedience and acceptance of a 250 plus year old institution, that was created before modern United States geography. For culturalists, the root of the problem is not the governing laws and processes that structure the existence and behavior of the institution: electoral college. The explanation requires evaluation of the governed. Namely their values in acceptance and tolerance toward the current system. Their research and methods would be driven by a question focused more towards psychology. For example, despite a lack in federal lawoutside of the constitutional creation of the electoral college institutionto uniformly mandate each states electoral college selection and voting processes be the same, and with the exception of 3-4 of the 50 total states, somehow the states ended up adopting the same selection and procedural system, by which their independent electoral college and its voters operate. Thus, the higher priority being placed on values of acceptance amongst the public, instead of the institutions (lack of uniformly mandated) procedural rules, guidelines and laws.
Decide and discuss whether you consider yourself as one of the following.either
1.) exclusively one or the other: structuralist or culturalist,
2.) Neither, providing and discussing ideas about what you think a better approach and method to explaining current political system environments, include reasoning, examples and hypotheticals
3.) A combination, provided discussion must include identification of specific aspects from each approach that you would rely on, to achieve a balanced reasoning and rationalization to discuss and explain a more individualized approach, which you would defend as the best approach to finding the most accurate method to understanding political systems. Include any examples, along with hypothetical comparisons, explanations, or scenarios to fully explain your position.
Remember, there is no right or wrong answer. You can base your response on the presidential selection and electoral college example I outlined, while introducing the prompt and topic for this current event discussion. Your response does not require you to focus your analysis and response on the particular example I illustrated. You can find your own. Be thorough. Be direct. Be reflective. Be thoughtful. Be a political scientist!!
Useful Links and Resources (recommended not required)
Thinking About the Political Impacts of the Electoral College (Grofman and Feld) (Links to an external site.)
Background on Electoral College, The Right to Vote and Federalism (Links to an external site.)
this one is pretty long, but informative. Table of contents appears on the very first page. Use this as a guide to insight and information more specific to your needs in comprehending the electoral college as an institution part of our political system, in order to drive your response to prompt selection
Primary Primers: The Electoral College is a Complex Institution that may be Making Contemporary Political Conflicts Worse (Links to an external site.) (OpEd)
Overview and Primer on Structuralism (Links to an external site.)
Primer on culturalism and structuralism debates in politics (Links to an external site.) (this one is long…20 pages…..the articles introduction and conclusion are the most informative and quick
