POL 201 ASH Course Material - pol201dotcom

1. POL 201 ASH Course Material - pol201dotcom

2. POL 201 ASH Course Material • POL 201 Week 1 DQ 1 Separation of Powers Checks and Balances • POL 201 Week 1 DQ 2 Amending the U.S. Constitution • POL 201 Week 2 DQ 1 Policy-making in the Federal System • POL 201 Week 2 DQ 2 Meet Your Rep • POL 201 Week 2 Short Essay - Policy-making in the Federal System • Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances. For much of 2011 and 2012, public dissatisfaction with Congress rose to all time highs, with 70-80% expressing disapproval with how Congress does its job. Many commentators note that Americans are fed up with Washington "grid-lock" that makes government apparently unable to address important problems. POL 201 Entire Course (Ash) POL 201 Week 1 DQ 1 Separation of Powers Checks and Balances (Ash)

3. POL 201 ASH Course Material • Amending the U.S. Constitution. The formal process of amending the Constitution is cumbersome and slow. While this fact explains why relatively few amendments have been adopted, it does not discourage advocates of constitutional change from proposing them. Four amendment proposals that have gained considerable attention are the Balanced Budget Amendment, the Birthright Citizenship Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment, and the Overturn Citizens United Amendment. • Policy-making in the Federal System. The U.S. government's expansive role in public policy is caught in a swirl of conflicting cross-currents. On the one hand, popular expectations about government's responsibility to solve problems often exceed the capacity of state and local authorities to respond effectively. On the other hand, policies developed at the national level may not sufficiently reflect the great diversity of interests across the U.S. POL 201 Week 1 DQ 2 Amending the U.S. Constitution (Ash) POL 201 Week 2 DQ 1 Policy-making in the Federal System (Ash)

4. POL 201 ASH Course Material • Meet Your Rep. The Constitution states, "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States..." (Art. I, Sec. 2). Contrast this with the original constitutional language for the other house of Congress, "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years..." (Art. I, Sec. 3). The phrase "chosen by the Legislature" was changed to "elected by the people" by the 17th Amendment, but not until 1912. • Short Essay – Policy-making in the Federal System. The U.S. government's expansive role in public policy is caught in a swirl of conflicting cross-currents. On the one hand, popular expectations about government's responsibility to solve problems often exceed the capacity of state and local authorities to respond effectively. On the other hand, policies developed at the national level may not sufficiently reflect the great diversity of interests across the U.S. to be effective at the local level. POL 201 Week 2 DQ 2 Meet Your Rep (Ash) POL 201 Week 2 Short Essay - Policy-making in the Federal System (Ash)

5. POL 201 ASH Course Material • Presidential Leadership and the Electoral College. Americans expect their presidents to get things done, to solve problems, to govern effectively, and to be strong leaders. The framers of the Constitution did not envision such presidential leadership. A scholar of the presidency points out that Article II of the Constitution gives the president scant formal power to influence congressional policy-making (Simon, n.d.). • Defense Spending and the Military-Industrial Complex. Levin-Waldman (2012, pp. 186-89) analyzes how "iron triangles" link Congress, the bureaucracy, and interest groups in self-serving relationships that influence policy in ways that are contrary to the public interest. In 1961, at the end of President Eisenhower's second term, he gave a farewell address to the nation in which he warned of the dangers of a "military-industrial complex." POL 201 Week 3 DQ 1 Presidential Leadership and the Electoral College (Ash) POL 201 Week 3 DQ 2 Defense Spending and the Military-Industrial Complex (Ash)

6. POL 201 ASH Course Material • The Supreme Court and Judicial Review. In a recent lecture at Yale University, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer cautioned that while most citizens assume that judicial review is an enduring part of American government, judges should not take it for granted. He advises that if judges wish to preserve this undemocratic power they should follow a judicial philosophy that will "build confidence in the courts" (Breyer, 2011). • Habeas Corpus and the War on Terror. Soon after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the Bush administration developed a plan for holding and interrogating prisoners captured during the conflict. They were sent to a prison inside a U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay on land leased from the government of Cuba. Since 2002, over 700 men have been detained at "GITMO." Most have been released without charges or turned over to other governments. POL 201 Week 4 DQ 1 The Supreme Court and Judicial Review (Ash) POL 201 Week 4 DQ 2 Habeas Corpus and the War on Terror (Ash)

7. POL 201 ASH Course Material • Party Platforms and Winning Elections. Political parties mobilize voters to win elections and implement policy goals. Parties use their stated policy goals (i.e., their platforms) as a way to mobilize voter support. Generally, in order to be successful in a two-party system, parties must have policy goals across a broad range of issue areas to appeal to a broad range of voters. • Voting and Turnout. The U.S. has one of the lowest voter turnout rates among modern democratic political systems. One study ranks the U.S. 120th on a list of 169 nations compared on voter turnout (Pintor, Gratschew, & Sullivan, 2002). While during the last decade many initiatives have been undertaken to increase voter participation, concerns about the possibility of election fraud have also increased. POL 201 Week 5 DQ 1 Party Platforms and Winning Elections (Ash) POL 201 Week 5 DQ 2 Voting and Turnout (Ash)

8. POL 201 ASH Course Material • The final assignment for this course is a Final Paper. The purpose of the Final Paper is to give you an opportunity to apply much of what you have learned about American national government to an examination of civil liberties in the context of the war on terror. The Final Paper represents 20% of the overall course grade. POL 201 Week 5 Final Paper Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror (Ash)

9. POL 201 ASH Course Material