Ch 10 - Mandate & Policy Voting

Explain which idea 'the mandate theory of elections' or 'the idea of policy voting' you support more?

Ch 10 - The Electoral College

Should the Electoral College be modified or eliminated? Explain.

Ch 10 - Voter Turnout

When compared to other western democracies, the U.S. has a low voter turnout. Why?
What can be done to improve voter turnout?

Ch 10 - Suffrage

What amendments expanded suffrage?
Will we continue to allow more people to vote or will the trend of increasing suffrage be reversed?

Ch 10 - The Election of 1800

The Edwards book, and many others, make a big deal out of 'the election of 1800'. Was it really an important election in U.S. history?

Ch 10 - Voting Methods

Should registration for voting and casting a vote be done online? Support and explain your answer.

Ch 10 - Voter Demographics

What are some characteristics that are correlated with increased voting?

Ch 10 - Political Efficacy

Do Americans have 'political efficacy'?
What is the difference between EXTERNAL 'political efficacy' and INTERNAL 'political efficacy'?
Which one is more important?

Ch 10 - 2008 Presidential Election

Look at the map on page 311 in Edwards. What were the major electoral changes between 2004 and 2008?

Ch 10 - Initiative & Referendum

What is an 'initiative'? What is a "referendum?
Most states have initiatives and referendum petitions and votes, should people have the same option concerning the federal government?

Ch 10 - Policy Entrepreneur

What is a 'policy entrepreneur'? What tools do policy entrepreneurs often use?

Ch 10 - Civic Duty

What is 'civic duty'? Is civic duty alive and well in the United States today?

Ch 6 - Younger Voters

What are some reasons why younger people tend to vote less than older people. Are these reasons legitimate?

Ch 6 - The Gender Gap

In politics is there a 'gender gap in American politics? Explain.

Ch 6 - Conservatives and Liberals

What are some of the political beliefs that 'conservatives and 'liberals' hold dear.

Ch 6 - Class and Politics

Is there an important distinction in how various 'economic classes' take political action?

Ch 6 - Age and Politics

Is there a difference between the political actions (eg: voting) and political views of younger and older Americans?

Ch 6 - Political Ideology

What are the major differences between 'conservatives' and 'liberals'?

Ch 6 - Public Opinion Polls

What are some potential problems with public opinion polls?

Ch 6 - Opinion Poll Sampling

What are the different ways in which a public opinion poll takes a 'sample'? What method do you think is best?

Ch 6 - Reapportionment

How does reapportionment work? How has it affected U.S. government and politics?

Ch 6 - Political Socialization

What are the major factors of political socialization? Which one do you think is most important? Why?

Ch 6 - American Demographics

Is the 'Graying of America' a concern? Why or why not?

Ch 6 - U.S. Population Shift

How has the population of the U.S. shifted over the past 60 years? How has this influenced the nation?

Ch 6 - Melting Pot Theory

Should the U.S. attempt to be a "Melting Pot" or a "Salad Bowl"? Explain.

Ch 3 - Federalism and Schools

Which level of government, federal, state, or local should be responsible for funding and regulating public schools (k-12)? What about post-secondary education (13+)?

Ch 3 - Dual Fedralism or Cooperative Federalism

What is the difference between dual federalism and cooperative federalism? Can you think of any examples to illustrate your point?

Ch 3 - Implied Powers

What are implied powers? Do you think that the 'necessary and proper' clause has led to a national government that is too large?

Ch 3 - Disadvantages of Federalism

Some states have the death penalty (see Edwards page 91). Some states spend more money on education. (see Edwards page 92). Does federalism create too much inconsistency? What other weaknesses does federalism have?

Ch 3 - The Structure of Government

Which type of government is better for a modern United States (1) Confederate, (2) Federal, or (3) Unitary? Explain your answer.

Ch 3 - Gibbons v. Ogden

Why is Gibbons v. Ogden such an important cause? Has this ruling been applied too broadly or often in recent times? 

Ch 3 - The Enumerated Powers

The Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, list a variety of enumerated powers. Which of these powers is most important?

Ch 3 - Full Faith & Credit Clause

Article  IV of  The Constitution requires that states give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, and civil judicial proceedings of every state. Why is this important?

Ch 3 - Devolution

Can youy think of examples of national government 'devolution' (The transferring of responsibility for policies from the federal government to the states.)? Is this a positive or negative trend?

Ch 3 - Fiscal Federalism

What is fiscal federalism? Is it a good thing for our nation?

Ch 3 - Constitutionally Denied Powers

What are the powers denied to the national government? Should any of those powers be given to the national government? Why?

Ch 3 - Delegated National Powers

What are some of the powers delegated, or given, to the national government? Which powers do you think are most important? Which powers should not be given to the national government?

Ch 3 - Advantages of Federalism

Do you agree that two of the advantages of federalism is that (1) it creates more levels of government which increases access to government and (2) allows for more opportunities for political participation? Can you think of any examples? 

Ch 3 - Why Federalism?

What were the influences that caused the United States to create a federal form of government? Was developing a federal structure a good idea for the United States?

Ch 2 - The Amendment Process

In order to get an amendment added to the Constitution, an idea must get 2/3's approval in each house to be proposed and 3/4's of the states must agree in order to ratify the amendment. Is this too easy? Too hard? What would be a better method? 

Ch 2 - Marbury v Madison

Judicial review was made constitutional through the Marbury v Madison decision. Why this a good decision by the U.S. Supreme Court?

Ch 2 - The Federalist Papers

Are The Federalist papers over rated?

Ch 2- The Constitution Creates a Senate

The Senate is based on a quota system that promises that every state, regardless of size, population, or wealth, will have equal representation. Is this fair?

Ch 2 - Constitutional Plans

If forced to pick from the Virginia Plan or teh New Jersey Plan, which would you select and why?

Ch 2 - Madison and 'Factions'

According to Madison the 'most common and durable source of factions' was the 'unequal division of property'. Do you agree or disagree?

Ch 2 - The Articles and The Constitution

The Constitution created a more powerful central government, did it give too much power to the national government?

Ch 2 - Roche Reading

According to Roche in "The Founding Fathers", most delegates were nationalists. Do you agree or disagree?

Ch 2 - Expanding Suffrage

Which amendment expanding suffrage (15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th or 26th) do you think was most important?

Ch 2 - Bill of Rights

How do you think the Bill o fRights affects the power of the national government? Is this a good or bad result of the Bill of Rights?

Ch 2 - Constitutional Compromises

Which constitutional compromise do you think was most important? Why was this compromise most important?

Ch 2 - Articles of Confederation

Which 'weakness' of the Articles of Confederation do you think was the biuggest problem The inablity of the national government to tax, the inability of the national government to raise an army, or the inability of the national government to regulate interstate trade? Of course explain why!

Ch 1 - Youth and Following Political Affairs

Most young people don't value politics and / or aren't interested in government. Is this a true or false statement? What stats back up your belief?