Category: Political Science

Answer either A or B below:

A) What is/should be the police mission in a free and democratic society? Has law enforcement evolved along with society? Are there areas requiring real improvement?

B) Are the police able to enforce all laws in all situations? If not, does this invalidate their mission or effectiveness? What about discretion? Is this necessary because they cannot enforce all laws in all circumstances or is discretion a necessary tool in any scenario?

Answer either A or B below:

A) How does the modern CJ system acknowledge legal insanity? Is this an effective way to handle these issues? Is it an appropriate balance between individual rights and public order concerns?

B) Should so-called “procedural defenses” result in findings of not guilty and dismissal of charges? Is it due process for someone who could otherwise be proven guilty of offenses “get off” on a technicality?

Answer either A or B below:

A) Considering the purpose of the modern statutory criminal justice system, why do we still have common law/case law and should we continue to allow/rely upon these types of legal authority?

B) Why can we punish inchoate offenses as they are defined as incomplete offenses? Should we change these laws or continue to punish individuals under these statutes?

Answer either A or B below:

A) Sexual assault continues to be a major issue in criminal justice. What should be the priorities to ultimately address this complex issue and reduce the amount of sexual violence in society (to include college campuses).

B) Use of firearms is pervasive in various forms of criminality in the US. Consistent with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment, how would you address this issue and reduce the amount of violence or death involved in criminal activity?

Prompt:

Choose one of the challenges faced by American Democracy that we will cover (polarization, civil rights and liberties, mass incarceration, immigration and land policy). Define and present this issue demonstrating a mastery of relevant class sources (readings/videos/lectures) and explain why, to you, this is the most consequential issue to American governance going forward. Successful essays will also include how the various other choices relate to this issue and interrelate, as well as what institutions are critical to the navigation of this issue.

Prompts:

• Polarization has become a buzzword in American politics since the early 2010s. What is it? Where did it come from? How does it manifest and is it a major issue for the health of American democracy? Answers should engage in the competing hypotheses for the “source” of political polarization while answering the core question of: are parties more polarized than ever, how, why and is it an issue?
• Immigration has been one of the central axes of the last few election cycles and a major platform issue between the parties. Essays should argue why immigration has taken such an outsized role in the current American political discourse while engaging in the broader histories and trajectories of immigration policies and the tensions around changing demographics in this country. How do the policies of today reflect patterns of immigration policy across US history? Is today’s immigration regime fundamentally different from the past? How does US immigration policy line up when stacked against international law? How do concepts like Orientalism and Hypodescent then shape the experiences of people in the country as first or second generation immigrants? Finally, and most importantly, how does the questions of immigration, immigrant rights and the role of changing demographics shape the outlook of the health of American democracy going forward?
• Mass incarceration has been argued to be, by authors such as Alexander, a rebranding of the Jim Crow era of segregation and racial organization. If answering this topic, you should present what mass incarceration is, where it came from, how it emerged in response to the Civil Rights movements and how we track how it manifests today. How does it mirror patterns of Jim Crow era segregation that prevented full democratic inclusion to all Americans and why, if selecting this topic, do you believe it is the biggest challenge that American democracy has to face in the 21st century?
• The class has presented how land, in a settler colony, has an outsized role in policy making for the US state. If selecting this prompt: demonstrate how land policy has shown this outsized role of “land over people” and give specific examples. How has the politics of land changed over the course of US history? What ongoing ramifications are we facing from previous land policies that are no longer practiced? All of the above should drive to the point of why the questions of land, property and inequality in property and economics are the main challenge to the health of US democracy in the 21st century.

Complete answers should define what your challenge is and why it is the primary challenge the American political system faces. Please use course materials only (lecture and readings/videos etc.) to build out your answer. Successful papers will clearly present class concepts and analyze them to build a coherent, logically presented argument. They will both explain and contextualize the big ideas of the course so far. Material from the whole course (not just the last 4 weeks) is permissible.

Please submit a paper, no more than 10 pages double spaced and no less than 5, 12 pt standard font, standard margins.

Please cite all class sources used in MLA. I would recommend the usage of to keep track of citations and format them correctly. Please also provide a references or bibliography list at the end (not counted against the page limit) formatted based on the MLA citation style. Once again, use course materials only to make and defend your points.

In writing your thesis, please consider the following tips.

1. Define your challenge to democracy. Show that you have read and understand well the course material related to it. What is it? Once again define democracy to you and why your particular challenge is a challenge.
2. For example, if representation was an option, you could talk about the EC as a major issue around equal representation.
3. Point to specific institutional examples. Make sure to link why those are related to your concern.
4. Using the above example, would you replace the EC with a PR system? A parliament system? And why is your choice the best for representation which you said was your biggest concern?
5. Remember that in social science there is never a definite answer. All sides are valid as long as you defend them well. You are graded on the quality of your arguments and your ability to use the course material to defend that position with meaningful thought, not on political dogma.
6. Structurally, ensure that your thesis has a claim and that it previews your supporting points.

In writing your body paragraph, please consider the following tips.

1. Make sure that the body paragraph relates to the thesis that you provided. Make explicit connections between your points and your bigger argument from the thesis (or your new thesis if changing).
2. Clearly organize the subpoints so that you don’t ramble yourself into a corner.
3. Explain ideas and concepts you present (ex, separation of powers is the explicit division of governing responsibilities between the legislative, executive and judicial branches).

** ATTACHED IS THE PDF LINK TO THE TEXTBOOK FOR THIS CLASS, TO USE FOR THIS FINAL ESSAY USING EXTENSIVE CITATIONS/ USE OF INFORMATION FROM THE TEXTBOOK ***

Please submit a 1-2 page double spaced journal entry reflecting on what you have learned so far. This is an informal assignment, so the structure can be a bit loose or colloquial, but it should be thoughtful.

These journals should not be just a summary of what you learned. They should, instead, focus on the hows and whys of the course. How and why were things of interest to you? Any particular examples from lecture or the readings (and these should be specific)? A particular presentation that was your favorite? Why?

The response should pull a bit from lecture reading and the presentations, about a half page each, to be thorough. You do not need to address every item in the course so far, quality far exceeds quantity. A truly reflective (looking at preconceptions and biases and comparing them after, AND/OR direct experiences in your life that reflect the concepts covered or are illuminated in a different light as a result) coverage of one topic far exceeds a long listing summary of all the course materials that does none of the above.

Some potential things to consider: You do not have to address all of them, but should use this as a guide on how to structure your response

1. What concepts have really stuck out to you from the book or lecture?
2. What was surprising in the course?
3. In what ways do some of the concepts presented impact you and your daily life?
4. What has worked and not worked for you in the course so far (materials, study habits, time management etc.)
5. What questions are you still struggling or confused on?

**** Use pages 557-606 from the attached pdf copy of the textbook (chapters 16 and 17) to write this journal. It is based on chapters 16 and 17 (pages 557-606), from the lecture reading. ****

**** The following are some of my classmate’s responses to the presentations. These responses mention what has been learned from the presentations (as listed above ^ in the instructions to use the information from them in the journal):

(the presentation topic is: Persistent inequality: South Africa, Namibia, USA)

“Hi everyone! I really enjoyed watching Jessica and Ishkhans presentations. Through their presentations, I was able to learn more about how, even though by law discrimination had been ended, wealth, land, and power still keep discrimination alive. I was also able to learn about how, even though there is a black majority government in South Africa, there is an economic inequality that keeps people separated. White nationalism is one of the main causes of inequality, such as wealth, health, and economic inequality. I would like to learn more about how the US, South Africa, and Namibia handle inequality now, and if they have any plans on working to improve it further than they already have.”

“Hello everyone,

Thanks to all the presenters this week; you all did a great job.

I liked both Daniel’s and Ishkhan’s presentations because they examine how inequality persists even after discrimination becomes illegal.

In Daniel’s presentation, what stood out to me was how he explained apartheid in South Africa and how Black people were controlled in where they could live, work, and go to school. I also found it interesting when he spoke about Namibia and how the land is still mostly owned by white communities because of colonization. His main point is that new laws do not erase the old inequality, which really made sense to me.

For Ishkhan’s presentation, I liked how he discussed what follows legal equality. He added that the laws do change, but wealth and power take their time. His own example of redlining in the United States and then mass incarceration helped me understand how inequality is being created today, not just in the past.

Both of these presentations helped to develop a better understanding of the linkages between history, power, and inequality.”

“Hello everyone,

Iskhan and Tatevs presentation taught me that power structures limit changes. Although legal equality ended segregation, inequalities in land ownership, wealth, and policy remained. Many policies are described as race-neutral, but their effects are still unequal. In the United States, voting rights have been weakened through court decisions and voter ID laws. In South Africa, economic inequality remains high, even though the government is led by a Black majority. After policies changed, people still faced inequality rooted in the history. For example, Black people couldnt buy houses in U.S so this effects black people economic conditions today. In South Africa, most farmland and wealth are still controlled by white people. In Namibia, land policies have remained the same. In terms of justice, many Black men in the United States are incarcerated, which effects voting rights and families. In South Africa, policing disproportionately effects poor Black communities, while in Namibia, the justice system is heavily influenced by class. Although policies have changed over the years, racial discrimination and class differences in South Africa and Namibia have not changed significantly.”

“Hi everyone! I want to thank all of the presenters for this week. Everyone did a really good job. I especially liked the presentations by Jessica and Daniel. Jessicas presentation helped me understand how inequality in South Africa did not disappear after apartheid ended. Even though the laws changed, many people are still affected by income inequality and lack of access to land and resources. Daniels presentation also stood out to me because he explained how colonialism in Namibia created long-term inequality that still exists today. What I learned from both presentations is that legal equality has limits, because changing laws does not automatically change economic power or social conditions. Discrimination after legal equality often continues through systems like land ownership, housing, education, and wealth. These presentations helped me see that history still shapes inequality today, and real equality requires more than just equal laws.”

“Hello everyone,

My biggest takeaway from these presentations is that racial discrimination in the United States, South Africa, and Namibia was enforced through laws and institutions that controlled land, wealth, and political power. In the United States, slavery and Jim Crow laws segregated Black Americans. They denied access to housing and economic opportunity, while South Africa’s apartheid system legally reserved political and economic control for the white minority, and Namibia experienced land dispossession under colonial and apartheid rule. Legal discrimination ended through civil rights movements, anti-apartheid resistance, and independence, granting political equality in all three countries. However, these legal changes did not dismantle the economic structures created under segregation. Inequality continues through historical legacies such as redlining in the United States, which is now illegal but still shapes wealth and housing disparities. At the same time, active policies like mass incarceration in the United States and property protections in South Africa and Namibia continue to reproduce inequality today. Together, these cases show that while laws changed, land, wealth, and power largely remained concentrated where they were before.”

Now using the information that was gained from the presentations, and the textbook pdf that is attached of chapters 16-17, write the journal with the instructions above^^^

Change Agent Assignment: Part II of the Three-Part Course Project (200 points): Now that you have researched your policy, ( PART 1 is ATTACHED- THE POLICY IS THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT) it is time to take the role of a “change agent” and advocate for change by creating a case for your policy recommendations. Create a visual representation of a (one-page) flyer, brochure, or infographic that includes: IT IS JUST A ONE PAGE BROCHURE OR FLYER ON AFFORDABLE CARE ACT A clear title A statement answering: Why is the policy necessary? What prompted your attention to implement change? Relevant evidence Data, statistics, trends, or other evidence you uncovered. From a professional perspective, what recommendation(s) would you advocate for? You can utilize your original 2-3 sources from the Week 5 Policymaking Charting Assignment OR find 2-3 additional sources. All material within the course room can be cited and referenced as needed. Writing Requirements One page in length. Integrate at least 2-3 sources. USE THE TWO SOURCES FROM THE FIRST PART ATTACHED. All material within the course room can be cited and referenced as needed. Please be sure to paraphrase the information. Please do not copy and paste unless it’s a reference. At the bottom of your flyer, add references. first and second files attached are the first part of this project. please use that same policy, and same 2 sources. the third attachment is the template that has to be used on the flyer the 4th file attachment is an example that can be used for the flyer

Paper and presentation