Please answer each
question fully. Remember that you have
access to your textbook (and anything else you may want to use) to answer these
questions, so I expect well-developed responses. That
means use BOTH the text and your ideas/opinions to write your answers.
In other words, just giving me your opinion is not sufficient AND just giving
me a textbook answer is not sufficient.
Please
answer each question fully. Remember
that you have access to your textbook (and anything else you may want to use)
to answer these questions, so I expect well-developed responses.
Please number
your responses the same as I have numbered this assignment. (1, 2a,2b, etc….)
The American president was not
always such a public figure. Early presidents actively avoided public campaigning.
If the Internet had suddenly become available in the eighteenth century, for
example, it is highly likely that George Washington would not have used it. The
authors of the Constitution generally shared a common concern, which was that
too many direct appeals to the mass public could run the risk of pandering to
the public through populist rhetoric. But democratic notions of the presidency
have changed, as have conceptions about how the president should communicate
with the people. Today, candidates actively pursue any and all methods for
communicating their vision and message.
Even more importantly, the White House now
regularly posts extensive documentation of press conferences, public addresses,
and other records of presidential activity online. Future administrations will
only continue to explore what possibilities for “going public” the Internet can
provide.
1.
Explore the
White House website (link above). Answer
questions 1a through 1d.
a.
Select two items from the BLOG area.
o
Briefly summarize the issues being discussed in
the blog. Describe your reaction to the opinion being expressed
in the blog.
b.
Go to the Briefing Room area.
o
Watch the President’s weekly address. Summarize the President’s address and your
reaction to it.
o
List three signed pieces of legislation and three
vetoed pieces legislation. If there is
any pending legislation, list that as well.
c.
Go to the Issue area.
o
Select three issues from the issue area. Summarize your findings regarding these three
issues.
d.
Go to the White House area.
o
Choose four former presidents and describe two
significant events under each of their administrations.
2.
Presidents have a variety of powers that are
not available to other branches of the US government. Answer questions 2a through 2e.
a. Define the four inherent powers enjoyed by
the president – or those powers that depend on the statement “the executive
power shall be vested in a President” and the president should “take care that
the laws be faithfully executed”.
b. After you have defined the four inherent
powers of the president, discuss whether the use of these powers have expanded
or contracted over time. Explain why
that might be the case.
c. Finally, go the following website (it provides
a sampling of Executive Orders).
d. Find and discuss two executive orders you
believe are an over-reach or expansion of power by the president. Explain why you believe they are examples of
overreach or an expansion of power.
e. Find and discuss two executive orders you
believe fall within the constitutional (and congressional) intent of providing
president’s the power to write executive orders. Explain why you believe they
are examples of overreach of an expansion of powers.
One of the mistakes
that presidential contenders tend to make on the campaign trail is the tendency
to make too many promises to the American people Frequent refrains of “if I am elected, I
will…” may make for exciting stump speeches, but in the digital age, these
promises are recorded, archived, analyzed and reviewed by political observers
and voters alike. This means that whereas presidents in the past could be freer
in their campaign promises, today’s contenders have to be more circumspect in
the promises they make to voters.
Otherwise, their political opponents will use these unfulfilled promises
to illustrate a lack of commitment or lack of care for the American people.
3.
Go to
Congress’ website and explore both the House and Senate websites. (10 points)
www.house.govwww.senate.gov
Answer questions 1a and 1b.
o
Look
under legislative activity (the one in gray at the right side of the screen,
not the one in blue toward the top of the screen)
o
Explore
the schedule, floor proceedings, votes and bills & reports. Identify/Explain
some of the information you find regarding how the House legislates.
o
Click on
one of the links for Bills before the House (in blue, identified by HR ###)
o
Write a
few sentences summarizing the bill you selected and what you found interesting
about the information included.
o
Identify/Explain
some of the information you find regarding how the Senate legislates.
o
Click on
the active legislation
o
Click on
a Senate bill (in red, identified by S###)
o
Write a
few sentences summarizing the bill you selected and what you found interesting
about the information included.
4.
For this question, you will have the opportunity
to watch a portion of a congressional hearing and make observations about the
legislative process. Most hearings are
very lengthy, but there are short video clips of hearings posted for most of
the congressional committees. (Answer
questions 2a through 2c)
Go to the following website: http://www.capitolhearings.org/
Select
one Senate and one House committee --
make sure the committees are related. (So, for example, look at
agriculture committees in both houses or education or homeland security. The committees do not have identical names in
the House and Senate, but you should be able to easily distinguish the
committees that are in charge of the same policy area.)
When
you click on a committee, the web page for each committee is structured
differently – but they all have a section on the latest news and almost all
have video clips – you may have to explore (click around) the site a bit to find what you need. But the
information is there – trust me J.
a. Which committees did you select?
b. Identify and discuss the issues that are
currently being investigated by the committee.
c. Watch at least one video clip of the
committee and answer the following questions. (Remember to use examples from
the clip to explain your answers the questions.)
·
Was the
hearing more or less complex than what you expected?
·
Were the
witnesses knowledgeable about the topic?
·
Did
Congressional members ask informed, intelligent questions?
·
Was there
more or less political rhetoric than you expected?
·
Has
looking at congressional hearings changed your opinion of Congress? Do you have more or less confidence in the
legislators or the institution as a whole?
5.
Watch the Gerrymandering documentary. You can stream it for free from the following
website (it might be available at other sites).
The film is 77 minutes – so be sure to leave yourself time to watch the
film and answer the questions. (Just to
let you know, in order to get the free streaming – the film will be interrupted
occasionally by quick commercials.) Answer questions 3a through 3c.
a. What are some things mentioned in the film
that connect with concepts or issues in your reading?
b. Describe three things mentioned in the film
that struck you as the most surprising, most troubling, or simply stood out to
you the most? Explain why you selected
these three things.
c. After watching the film, do you think the
situation of gerrymandering in Congressional redistricting can and/or should be
changed? Explain you ideas about HOW it
could be changed OR defend the current system.
No comments:
Post a Comment