Political science

1.Who are your members of Congress? (hint: your answer should include 3 names. Your book tells you how to find out who your representatives are.) ATLANTA GA, DEKALB COUNTY 2. Write at least one of them a letter about an issue that is important to you. You may use Countable, their websites, view current legislation on the congressional website, or use current news to find an issue you care about…or maybe you already have an issue in mind. The letter does not have to be long. It can be a few sentences telling them what issue you care about, why you care, and what they should do about the problem associated with it.  3. Now send them the letter….No, you do not need a stamp or even a mailbox. This is 2020! Go to ResistBot and send the letter to your member of Congress via text or other method that is listed on the website. (Hopefully, your member of Congress will respond to you before the end of the semester!) Think they are not listening? Check out these people who have received responses. I, too, have received a response from my representatives after sending them a letter via Resistbot. You can just tell me whether you did this or not as your answer. NOTE: write letter here and i will send it  4. After you have written the letter, use it as a guide to call at least one member’s D.C. office (do not call the district office) and tell them your concern. You can use the article below to help guide your call. (You should call on a weekday during normal business hours in D.C. which is M-F 9-5 eastern standard time.) You can leave the phone number of their D.C. office as your answer for #4. 5. Write a reflection about your experience in contacting your member(s) of Congress. Some things you may want to discuss are: how did you feel before making the call, how did you feel after, who did you talk to, what did they say, will you call your member of Congress again, tell your friends/family about your experience, ask them if they have ever called their members of Congress before? 6. Finally, is it important to contact your members of Congress about issues that you care about? Why or why not?  Resources to read before completing this assignment: (if you get an error saying that you’ve already viewed the max number of articles for the month then please clear your cookies and try again or use a different  https://www.wired.com/story/opengov-report-congress-constituent-communication/ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/06/what-calling-congress-achieves

Complete the following components and follow the instructions for each. Note: Your written analysis on Sections III-V must be a minimum of one meaningful paragraph. However, please put more emphasis on the quality of content rather than the length of your analysis.     Key terms……. I.                               Describe the significance of the following terms. Use language that demonstrates  your understanding  of the application of these terms.                    deadwood                      astroturf lobbying                                                          cooptation                            populism                                    Duverger’ Law     Late train contributions contributionscontributions   platform                          focus groups tipping                             white primary   Answer all eight questions.   II.                            Choose  Answer the following eight questions. USE COMPLETE SENTENCES. 1.       Describe two demographics and explain their impact their impact on the political system in Texas. 2.       Describe the social, cultural and economic changes in Texas that could impact our political system in Texas? 3.       Who was E.J. Davis and explain his impact on the political system in Texas? 4.       Explain the significance of the plural executive in Texas. 5.       What is distinction between split-ticket and straight ticket voting and evaluate the impact of these phenomenon on the political system in Texas 6.       What is the distinction between an open and closed primary state and evaluate the potential negative characteristic of the open primary state like Texas. 7.       Explain why dealignment and realignment is taking place and evaluate the impact on the political system in Texas. 8.       Write a brief description of one of the following court cases and explain how this impacts conservatism in Texas. *Ruiz v. Texas          * Edgewood v. Kirby             * Lawrence v. Texas                          III.     Write an analysis of the movie Justice for Sale.  As part if you analysis create three potential questions a political strategist would ask you in a focus group.                                            https://vimeo.com/33285123   This should help you to evaluate the role of interest groups and voting in our political system         IV.  Write a brief analysis of Daniel Elazar’s categorization of political culture and add your own      perspective of how Texas fits into this characterization.   V.   Based on your participation in the constitutional amendment voting exercise, rate your voting experience from 1-10 with 10 being the best and one being the worst. Explain why and evaluate whether this is an effective feature of the Texas Constitution.       Note: The responses should come from the textbook, PowerPoint slides with a minimal amount of research. Study Guide/Objectives:   1.         Know the political culture in Texas. 2.       Know the impact of demographics as well as their impact on policy-making. 3.       Know the distinction between conservatism and liberalism, and the impact of these ideologies on the political system in Texas. 4.       Know the impact of the principle of separation of power impacts our political structure. 5.       Know the purposes and features of the current Texas Constitution. 6.       Know the historical development of the current Constitution, as well as the five documents that preceded the current document. 7.       Know the attempts at writing/adopting a new Constitution 8.       Know the individuals who influenced the development of the state Constitution 9.       Be able to evaluate the process for amending the Texas Constitution 10.   Be aware of the need for such reform, as well as attempts at such reform. 11.   Be able to analyze the validity and effectiveness of the current constitution. 12.   Know the role of interest groups in the Texas political process, as well as the methodologies used to influence the political/policy-making process 13.   Know the role of lobbying and be able to evaluate the validity of the lobby process. 14.   Know why interest groups are stronger in Texas and the role of money 15.   Know the distinction of the ideologies of the two major political parties in Texas. 16.   Know the role and organization of political parties in Texas. 17.   Know the changing nature of demographics and the idea of Texas turning “blue.” 18.   Know the nature and factors that contribute to low voter participation in Texas. 19.   Know the impact and remedies associated with voter disenfranchisement/suppression 20.   Be able to evaluate the power of interest groups and voting 21.   Understand the relevant terms

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of federalism. Reference how you think California might benefit from and/or lose in our federal system of government. Please post your own thoughts (250-300 words)

Write an essay on – What are some of the potential implications of the covid-19 pandemic for the way we think about economic policy and what should be done in the face of the deepening recession? Start by reading The Economist, 2020, ‘The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing a rethink in macroeconomics’, 25 July. See also ‘Governments must be aware of the lure of free money’, in the same edition. See also J. Gali 20202 ‘Helicopter Money: The Time is Now’, VOX CEPR Policy Portal, 17 March. You will need to do online searches for this topic. Useful sites include Pearls and Irritations, the Conversation etc. ABC News online are a good general source of stories and opinion.

If you could vote for one of the third party (not a democrat or republican) candidates only who would it be and why? provide specifuc details in regards to the candidates political views and explain why they are important to you.

Intelligence Estimate Write up an Intelligence Estimate/IPOE/IPB for a war game that will be conducted. The scene setter scenario which the intelligence is included below. Scene Setter Scenario ISIS-affiliated, Abu Sayyaf Group rebels have taken and are holding the city of Marawi on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, as well as surrounding villages, with Philippines government troops preparing to conduct an offensive to take back the city. ASG rebels are vowing to ‘fight to the finish’. They are holding hostage the Philippines mayor of the city and other city council members, as well as 3 Christian missionary family and one German NGO worker who were working in the area but who were kidnapped by the ASG before they could be extracted. The missionary families consist of 2 x Australian families of 4 (a total of 8 persons) and 1 x US family of 4. The German worker was released after a ransom was reportedly paid. The ASG is threatening to execute all hostages if, when a counter-offensive against their forces in Marawi begins. The Republic of the Philippines government has formally requested Australian and US government assistance for the offensive by providing intelligence support, as well as Special Operations Force, Counter Terrorism and Tactical Police advisors to the Philippine Army and local Police Force units preparing to take back the city. Policymaker/Decisionmaker Guidance and Intent: Provide guidance regarding the possibility of negotiations in a hostage crisis situation, including current policy and possible courses of action in coordination with partner nations The intelligence estimate will be 1500 words and will need the following included. 1. MISSION. (Minimal word count) • Clearly and succinctly restate policymaker/decisionmaker mission requirements and intent. 2. SITUATION AND CONSIDERATIONS (Equivalent to Policy Paper Executive Summary & Overview sections). (150 Words max) • Describe the current intelligence situation and key considerations in the area of operations. • Provide an overview of environmental and adversarial factors, including unique weather, terrain and adversary issues leading to centres of gravity analysis. List Operational and Strategic Centres of Gravity and Most Likely, Most Dangerous Adversary Courses of Action (COAs) but not in detail. • Save more detailed assessment for the ‘Analysis’ section below. 3. ANALYSIS. (Approximately 600 words) • Provided more detailed analysis using Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (IPOE) of the following: Evaluate the Environment: Characteristics of the Area – pertinent Weather, Terrain, Geography, Infrastructure features; show geographic overview of the Area of Operations and then Named Areas of Interest (NAI) as required (for instance, the maritime region around Scarborough Shoals or the sea and coastal areas where ASG maritime kidnapping operations are taking place off Borneo could be designated as NAIs). Use geographic maps as needed to depict Avenues of Approach, Lines of Communication and Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs) to describe the environment. Weather patterns such as the typhoon or monsoon seasons could be important factors in their impact on both Adversary and Friendly Force operations. ? Evaluate the Adversary: Adversary Assessment: Intent, Objectives, Government, Leadership Personalities, Weapons, Order of Battle, Tactics, Techniques & Procedures (TTPs). Breakout Adversary force disposition, composition, strength and capabilities. • Centres of Gravity (COG) Analysis: – Adversary Critical Capabilities / Critical Vulnerabilities – Strategic COGs / Operational COGs – Most Likely / Most Dangerous COAs (keep number of options down…if more complex, use branch & sequel planning structure. Analyse each Adversary COA to determine advantages and disadvantages. Evaluate Friendly Forces. Coalition partners, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and their capabilities, vulnerabilities and capacities. Determine your Intelligence Requirements process and how that process will drive your Collection, Analysis, Production & Dissemination scheme. Consider intelligence partner nations and what capabilities and capacity they provide and how they can provide them. 4. COMPARISON (Approximately 600 words) Compare what you know against what you don’t know. Identify your key ‘Intelligence Gaps’ and consider how they can best be addressed. Also determine and build initial Priority Intelligence Requirements (PIRs) list, based on policy maker/decision maker guidance, other analyst requirements and your Intelligence Gaps. 5. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS (150 words max) Make any recommendations to your team about the adversary and potential high-profile shortfalls or issues concerning intelligence support, including specific recommendations on how to address PIRs and Intelligence Gaps, as well as other actions to be taken to leverage better coalition partner intelligence exchange, support and operations. Recommend best team approach to the Intelligence Cycle, from Requirements generation through Collection, Analysis, Production & Dissemination phases. Referencing will be in Harvard Style with 5 academic references included.

Spend a few minutes thinking about the “state of the world” — terrorism and economic turmoil in Europe, the resurgence of authoritarianism, revolutions and violence in the Middle East, human suffering in the horn of Africa, near constant warfare in Central Africa, drugs in South America, economic change in South Asia, etc. Then write a short essay in which you consider how the study of comparative politics might help us understand some of these issues.. For example, what questions might be addressed; on what concepts might we focus? Last… should we, as we approach these issues, consider one form of government as good and another bad? What moral choices should be bring to bear on the issues?… Let’s  go long on the first essay and shoot for a good 500 words… 

Instruction: Special attention will be given to analyzing/criticizing the documentary. I already know what the documentaries are about. Tell me what they got wrong, could have done better, etc. or provide some thoughts about how they relate to other questions/issues in foreign policy. Focus on the politics/policy in each documentary. Are there errors? In what ways is the documentary misleading? What have you gleaned from the readings, for example, that could allow you to more critically assess the claims presented in the documentary? What policy implications are suggested by the documentary? Do you accept these recommendations? Why or why not? WATCH: “China Undercover” undercover/), and/or “Battle for Hong Kong” (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/ film/battle-for-hong-kong/) and/or “Trump’s Trade War” (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/trumps-trade-war/)

This article talks about how cities are faring under Trump’s version of federalism. How is Trump’s federalism affecting cities. What solutions or adjustments would you propose?

In chapter one, your textbook discusses three theories of Democracy: elite theory, pluralism, and majoritarianism. Which theory(ies) do you think best applies to the U.S. and why? Give at least one real-world example from a recent issue/event in American politics that illustrates your argument. Must be in own words.