To help my American Politics (PS 101) students avoid having a Wylie E. Coyote moment during our final exam ...
... below I am providing a set of links to some of the topics that I have discussed in lecture. These links should not be interpreted as providing all the information needed for each of the questions asked in the final exam. They are simply links to topics that are not in the book and/or are tied to topics students have asked about during class and office hours.
Questions for the first two mid-terms are listed below the links section.
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LINKS FOR ISSUES IN MID-TERM #1 ...
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Liberal Republic / Liberal Revolution. Look
here under "Three Intertwined Developments" for the historical forces and intellectual roots behind our political and economic system. Then use them to help explain the Liberal Revolution, and how they provide the base for the ideas behind our Constitution.
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Federal Imperative / California: Creating access points and dispersing power lies at the heart of the federal principle in America. This
post on fiscal federalism outlines how the U.S. works to achieve these goals by shifting and redistributing wealth. As part of our larger discussion on California in the federal system we discussed budget issues and the recall of former Gov. Gray Davis, which is
discussed here.
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Civil Liberties / Civil Rights: The long march to equality under the law involved challenging stereotypes that were supported by junk science and confronting issues tied to blacks, women, and labor, among other issues. Some of the issues that we discussed in class can be
found here, in last 2/3 of this post.
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LINKS FOR ISSUES IN MID-TERM #2 ...
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From Civil Liberties to Civil Rights: The long march to equality involved issues tied to blacks, women, labor laws, the influence of junk science (which justified social stereotypes), etc. It's all
discussed here in the last 2/3 of the post.
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Our Court System: Here's the link to help with the
FISA courts. Click
here for a discussion on the Original Intent / Judicial Activist debate. Click
here for a discussion on how our court system is used to protect financial interests.
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The Presidency: For a review of one of the stronger presidents in the 19th century check out this
this post on Andrew Jackson. Do we have an emerging American Caesar?
This op-ed review several issues tied to the American presidency that we discussed in class. These
two posts discuss signing statements.
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Congress: Why is it that many members of Congress appear overwhelmed and uninformed? Why do they appear to talk at each other instead of with each other? Apart from issues tied to
redistricting, this
post on the Bell Experiment ties into our lecture on post-industrialandia and semi-democracy in America. Click
here for the link to "We're not the greatest country in the world."
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Political Parties: Here's a link I have used in previous class lectures to help explain the evolution of
political parties in America.
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LINKS FOR ISSUES IN PART II OF THE FINAL ...
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Economic Policy Making: This link helps us understand how
markets actually work in America, and why economic policy making is so important. The following links discuss the role of
fiscal policy,
subsidies,
corporate welfare,
regulatory policy, and the forces behind
our wage structure in America. This
post discusses how much the big banks depend on subsidies to survive. This
post discusses how America's redistributes wealth (i.e. fiscal federalism), while
this post discusses how America has consistently worked to bailout and subsidize the market.
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Social Security: For the question on social security, apart from your notes you might want to look at
this,
this,
this, and
this. For a discussion on COLAs (cost of living allowances), "hedonics," and our efforts to "save" social security
see this (under "Boskin Commission").
Finally, keep in mind that a successful response to each question depends on you demonstrating that you have thought about and understand the topic(s) that you are addressing. Don't just list facts. Elaborate and be creative in what you write.
- Mark
Spring 2013 Questions, Exam #1 ...
1. THE ROOTS OF OUR "LIBERAL REPUBLIC" & THE CONSTITUTION
In class we discussed
the historical and intellectual forces behind our political and economic
system. How did these forces lead to the creation of our Liberal Republic?
Indeed, if someone were to ask you whether America
is a Liberal Republic how would you respond? How does
our Liberal Republic contrast with feudal and
colonial patterns of governance and economic production? How do the Articles of
Confederation and the Federalist Papers
(#10 and #51) help us understand our Constitution and our democratic form of
government? Here you should be able to explain the type of democracy the
Founders feared, the one they created, and the one that evolved over time.
2. THE FEDERAL IMPERATIVE IN AMERICA (and California)
Two parts ... Part I: In class I argued that
history and a keen understanding of the human condition helped shape the
Founders decision to create a federal system of government. Discuss these
developments and how they help us understand the roots of the American
Constitution and our federal system? Where do the Federalist Papers fit here? How
do Marbury v. Madison (1803) and McCulloch v. Maryland help (1819) us
understand the pecking order behind our Federal-State relations? How does our
discussion on wealth redistribution help us understand the federal principle in
America?
Part II: From the readings,
and our class discussion, explain how California’s
political system differs from the federal government. Specifically, what can
the state of California
do that the federal government can not? Why did the Founders create these
differences? As well, we reviewed some of the factors behind California’s current debt problems. Explain
the dynamics behind California’s
debt and how it should be fixed.
3. FROM CIVIL LIBERTIES TO CIVIL RIGHTS
Two parts … Part I: What are the fundamental
differences between Civil Liberties
(CL) and Civil Rights (CR)? What does
the Bill of Rights tell us about our history and the concerns of the Founders
of this nation? In your view, was the Bill of Rights necessary? Using just one
of the amendments, explain why or why not. Part
II: Drawing from the text and lecture, outline the long march toward
Civil Rights in the United
States. Why were women so instrumental to
the Civil Rights movement? Drawing from lecture, and from our discussion on
“Junk Scholars/Junk Science” explain why the Civil Rights movement in the 19th
century experienced an entirely different outcome than the Civil Rights
movement in the 20th century. Did the Civil Rights movement in the
20th century accomplish its goals, or is it an on-going work in
progress in America?
Explain.
Spring 2013 Questions, Exam #2 ...
1. THE COURTS
A two
part question. Part I: With reference to the Constitution and the
Judiciary Act, explain the history and structure of America’s national judicial system.
Indeed, why do we have a court system? Drawing from the text, how does habeus corpus and judicial review help
shape America’s
political and system of justice? What’s the difference between criminal and
civil law, and how does this distinction help us understand our legal system?
How does the FISA court system fit into our legal system? Part II: How
does the “strict constructionist/original intent” vs. “judicial activism”
debate help us (or not help us) understand the Supreme Court and our system of
justice? Does the documentary Super
Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren help us understand this debate?
How so? Drawing from the documentary, what personal experiences contributed to
the decisions Earl Warren made while he was Chief Justice? Between the strict
constructionist and judicial activist positions, which perspective best
represents how judges should act while on the bench? Explain.
2. CONGRESS ... HOW IT (REALLY) WORKS
A two
part question. Part I: In the
course text, there is a discussion of “how a bill becomes law.” Briefly (one
paragraph to one page) discuss the textbook version of how a bill becomes law.
In class we discussed why Congress does not do the work of the people. Does the
amount of people represented in one district today, versus 200 years ago, make
a difference? How do “gerrymandered” districts help us understand our
challenges? Indeed, explain gerrymandering and, drawing from your in class
redistricting exercise, how the process of redistricting impacts
democracy in America.
Is democracy in America
strengthened or cheapened by the redistricting process? Explain. Part II: In another lecture I
asked whether Congress can represent the will of the people. This is especially
the case when both the members of Congress and “the people” are so distracted
and overwhelmed with the challenges of every day life that policy discussions and debate are distorted and confused. The end result is that semi-democracy and
hyper-democracy have become hallmarks of American politics. Explain what this
means. How has the promise of democracy in America been altered by this? Finally, does the United
States have the best democracy in the world?
You can draw from, or synopsize, your essay to explain.
3. POLITICAL PARTIES IN AMERICA
After
briefly discussing what Federalist #10 said about “factions” discuss how the
logic behind factions applies to political parties today. In class we discussed
the evolution of political parties through the 19th century. After
discussing what parties do (or are supposed to do) in America,
explain the early ideological roots of the republican and democratic parties?
How did party politics evolve from the late 18th century through the
Civil War and New Deal Coalition? As we entered the 20th century
what happened to political parties in America? What led to the rise and
fall of the New Deal Coalition. What forces led to the Reagan Revolution? How
does the Modern Era compare to the Golden Age of party politics? Which social
groups in America
today tend to identify with each major party and why? Finally, what role do
third parties play in American politics?
4.
THE PRESIDENCY
In
class we discussed the formal and informal powers of the president. What are
these powers? How do they help us understand the office of the president?
Drawing from lecture and the readings, who were some of the early “powerful”
presidents and what factors contributed to them being able to stand out as
powerful presidents? Discuss the historical factors that helped transform the
power of the executive branch over time. Specifically, how did the Civil War,
industrialization, the Depression, and WWII affect the office of the president?
Finally, from Watergate through 9/11 we have seen the power of the presidency
increase in many ways. How have the powers of the executive branch evolved from
the last quarter of the 20th century into the beginning of the 21st
century? Are we seeing the creation of an “American Caesar”? Explain.
5. PUBLIC OPINION AND THE MEDIA
A
two part question. Part I: In
1922 Walter Lippmann argued that research in public opinion was far too
limited, especially given its importance to politics in America. Drawing from early attempts
at gauging public opinion, why did Walter Lippmann make this assertion? How
does the Literary Digest experience
help us understand why early attempts at monitoring public opinion didn’t
always measure up? How does the Literary
Digest experience, and George Gallup, help understand the importance of
conducting scientific polls? What type of polls do we have, and how can we be
sure of their integrity? Part II:
What constitutes the media today, and how does it differ from 60 years ago?
Does the media shape public opinion? How so? Are we better off with so many
sources of news today? Explain. Did the Stephen Colbert clip we played in class
help you understand the role the role of
polls in modern American politics? How so? In your view, is the media
biased, or do we have only a few biased sources? Explain.
- Mark
