Pol 319 Week 5 Dq 1 Judicial Activism

Front 1

Follow the link Now for full guide - http://entire-courses.com/POL-319-Week-5-DQ-1-Judicial-Activism

Back 1

In this file of POL 319 Week 5 Discussion Question 1 Judicial Activism you will find the next information: One of the flashpoint issues of recent political discussions and elections is the concept of judicial activism. Describe what judicial activism is. Then assess whether you think there is judicial activism in your state and local area. If so, why do you think there is judicial activism? If not, do you think judicial activism is just a political discussion that has no relevance in real courtrooms? Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates

Front 2

Follow the link Now for full guide - http://entire-courses.com/POL-319-Week-5-DQ-1-Judicial-Activism

Back 2

Business - General Business Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances . For much of 2011 and 2012, public dissatisfaction with Congress rose to all time highs, with 70-80% expressing disapproval with how Congress does its job. Many commentators note that Americans are fed up with Washington "grid-lock" that makes government apparently unable to address important problems. Other observers believe that the national government is acting according to its design, based on separation of powers and checks and balances. In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, analyze how the U.S. Constitution implements separation of powers and checks and balances. Briefly explain why the constitutional framers based the new government on these ideas. Evaluate how separation of powers and checks and balances are working out in practice, today, justifying your assessment with persuasive reasoning and examples. Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more different resources required for this discussion. By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer's post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer's while explaining or justifying your position). Amending the U.S. Constitution . The formal process of amending the Constitution is cumbersome and slow. While this fact explains why relatively few amendments have been adopted, it does not discourage advocates of constitutional change from proposing them. Four amendment proposals that have gained considerable attention are the Balanced Budget Amendment, the Birthright Citizenship Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment, and the Overturn Citizens United Amendment. Select one of these proposals as the topic of your initial post and use the assigned resources to inform yourself about its purpose and the arguments of its supporters and critics. In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, briefly summarize what the proposed amendment would do and the problem its proponents say it will solve. Explain the main pros and cons in the debate about the amendment. Evaluate the proposed amendment from two perspectives: a. Your own political philosophy, values or ideology. (Justify your assessment by clearly explaining your political values and why they lead you to support or oppose the amendment.) b. The likelihood that the proposed amendment will eventually be ratified to become part of the Constitution. (Justify your assessment by explaining how the proposal will or will not, in your judgment, survive the ratification process.) Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more different resources required for this discussion. By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer's post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer's while explaining or justifying your position). Policy-making in the Federal System . The U.S. government's expansive role in public policy is caught in a swirl of conflicting cross-currents. On the one hand, popular expectations about government's responsibility to solve problems often exceed the capacity of state and local authorities to respond effectively. On the other hand, policies developed at the national level may not sufficiently reflect the great diversity of interests across the U.S. to be effective at the local level. Moreover, the search for effective policy is further complicated by theoretical debates about the constitutional framework of federalism, e.g., what limits on national power can be derived from the Tenth Amendment? A policy area in the middle of these cross-currents is elementary and secondary education – a subject traditionally under local control, with some oversight by the states. However, during the last four decades – especially since 2001 – the national government's role in education has grown significantly as a result of initiatives by Republican and Democratic administrations. Use the assigned resources to inform yourself about this role and the arguments of its supporters and critics. In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, briefly summarize the national government's education policies. Explain the main pros and cons in the debate about these policies. Evaluate them from two perspectives: a. The policies’ effectiveness in improving the quality of U.S. elementary and secondary education. (Justify your assessment by clearly explaining your definition of "effectiveness" and how it should be measured or determined.) b. Their consistency with the constitutional framework of federalism. (Justify your assessment by clearly explaining your interpretation of American federalism's constitutional framework and why federal education policies are or are not consistent with it.) Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more different resources required for this discussion. By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer's post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer's while explaining or justifying your position). Meet Your Rep . The Constitution states, "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States..." (Art. I, Sec. 2). Contrast this with the original constitutional language for the other house of Congress, "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years..." (Art. I, Sec. 3). The phrase "chosen by the Legislature" was changed to "elected by the people" by the 17th Amendment, but not until 1912. In other words, from the beginning the House of Representatives was intended to be exactly what its name suggests –representative of the people. (Note that in 2010 the Tea Party, and some Republican politicians, called for repeal of the 17th Amendment, eliminating the popular vote for Senators. While most Republican politicians have backed away from that view, many Tea Party chapters continue to demand its repeal.) Textbook models suggest how members of the House of Representatives may fulfill their constitutional duty to "represent" – the delegate model, the trustee model, the oversight model, and the service model. A weakness of these models is that they ignore the pervasive influence of interest groups, partisanship, and political money (campaign contributions) on the behavior of congressional reps. To what extent do these factors interfere with effective representation? First, get to know your rep in the U.S. House of Representatives, using the websites listed in the required resources for this discussion. Then, in your initial post of at least 200-250 words, identify an important issue related to your representative's committee or subcommittee work in Congress. Summarize your representative's position on that issue as described on his or her website or illustrated by legislation sponsored by your representative. Be concrete and specific, avoiding vague generalities like "my representative is for jobs" or "my representative is for national security." With respect to this issue, evaluate your representative's performance as a representative of the people in your legislative district. Justify your assessment from two perspectives: a. How well does your representative's position reflect your district's likely preferences or broad interests on the issue? Support your inferences about the district with facts – not just your opinion about the district as shaped by your own political opinions and ideology. b. Is there any evidence that may raise questions about whether interest groups, political party loyalty, or campaign money may influence your representative in ways that weaken his or her effectiveness as a true "representative" of the district? (Put on your critical thinking cap to respond to this aspect of the question.) Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more different resources required for this discussion. By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer's post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer's while explaining or justifying your position). Presidential Leadership and the Electoral College . Americans expect their presidents to get things done, to solve problems, to govern effectively, and to be strong leaders. The framers of the Constitution did not envision such presidential leadership. A scholar of the presidency points out that Article II of the Constitution gives the president scant formal power to influence congressional policy-making (Simon, n.d.). He also notes that the framers intentionally designed a process for selecting presidents that would minimize their political power – the Electoral College. They hoped this institution would insulate the chief executive from the public because they feared the power of presidents who might be elected by the people. Therefore, the Constitution provides that "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress..." Having state legislatures "appoint" the Electors who select the chief executive would minimize the president's capacity to lead on the basis of his popular support. In a very real sense, the president would not be accountable to the people but rather to the state legislatures who appoint Electors. This procedure was also seen as a way to encourage the selection of statesmen with "characters preeminent for ability and virtue” rather than mere politicians with “talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity” (Hamilton, 1788). The practice of state legislatures appointing Electors continued for many years. Most American history texts do not report national presidential vote totals before 1824 because 25% of the states were still not holding presidential elections by that year. Even as late as 1876 the state of Colorado's legislature appointed Electors. As states moved away from legislative appointment to the current system of allowing a state's Electors to be chosen by a winner-take-all popular vote, the primary rationale for the Electoral College was forgotten in history. At the same time, public expectations of strong presidential leadership were rising. This creates a problem well illustrated by the disputed election of 2000. George W. Bush was elected president with 271 electoral votes to Al Gore's 266 electoral votes. However, Gore amassed 543,895 popular votes more than Bush. Also, because some disputed votes in Florida made unclear which candidate should receive the state's electoral votes, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a full recount of the Florida vote. But the U.S. Supreme Court intervened and stopped the recount, thereby in effect awarding Florida's electoral votes to Bush. While arguments continue to this day about the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court's intervention, the 2000 election illustrates a glaring weakness of the Electoral College system – selecting a president whose authority may be diminished by the dubious circumstances of his or her election. The election of 2000 also has fueled a long ongoing debate about whether the Electoral College should be abandoned in favor of method which insures that the candidate elected has the most popular votes. Would this outcome be more consistent with contemporary public expectations about the president's role as a national leader who can get things done? In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, briefly summarize how the Electoral College works. Explain some of the main pros and cons in the debate about whether to keep or abolish the current Electoral College process. Also explain one proposal to change how the system works without formally abolishing it. Evaluate the various arguments and the proposal. Include at least two perspectives in your assessment: a. Your judgment about the relevance of the Electoral College's underlying rationale to contemporary America. b. Your judgment about its impact on presidential leadership capacity. Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more different resources required for this discussion. By Day 7 respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer's post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer's while explaining or justifying your position). References: Hamilton, A. (1788). The Federalist Papers, Number 68. Simon, D. (n.d.). Public expectations of the president. Retrieved from faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/AMPres07Up/SimonExpectations.doc The Supreme Court and Judicial Review . In a recent lecture at Yale University, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer cautioned that while most citizens assume that judicial review is an enduring part of American government, judges should not take it for granted. He advises that if judges wish to preserve this undemocratic power they should follow a judicial philosophy that will "build confidence in the courts" (Breyer, 2011). Justice Breyer goes on to describe the kind of judicial philosophy he has in mind. However, some of his colleagues on the Supreme Court would reject his ideas about what philosophy should guide judges. The role of judicial philosophy (or ideology) in Supreme Court decision-making, especially in its exercise of judicial review to invalidate laws enacted by a democratically elected Congress or state legislature, has become a highly contentious issue both within the Court's deliberations and in the larger political environment. As the nation becomes more divided over programs and policies that inevitably seem to come before the Supreme Court, politicians and ordinary citizens are caught up in rhetoric about judicial activism or judicial restraint, often with little understanding of what these terms really mean. Moreover, as public perceptions of the Supreme Court become more politicized, the legitimacy of its power becomes clouded. If the Court is perceived as just another political institution making political decisions, but a completely undemocratic institution because its judges are appointed and serve for life, questions arise about whether the Court's power of judicial review should be strictly limited or eliminated altogether. Justice Breyer's warning comes to mind as the percent of Americans approving of how the Supreme Court does its job slid from 61% in 2009 to 46% in 2011 (Gallup, 2012). In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, respond to one of these questions: a. What judicial philosophy should guide the Supreme Court's exercise of judicial review? b. Should the Supreme Court's power of judicial review be strictly limited by a constitutional amendment? In answering either question, clearly state your position (thesis) at the beginning of your post. Define important terms and explain your position fully. Consider pro and con arguments on both sides of your position and respond to the con arguments. Justify your position with facts and persuasive reasoning. Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more different resources required for this discussion. By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer's post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer's while explaining or justifying your position). References: Breyer, S. (2011). No small wonder. Wilson Quarterly, 35 (3), 60-61. Gallup Inc. (2012). Supreme Court. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/4732/Supreme-Court.aspx Habeas Corpus and the War on Terror . Soon after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the Bush administration developed a plan for holding and interrogating prisoners captured during the conflict. They were sent to a prison inside a U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay on land leased from the government of Cuba. Since 2002, over 700 men have been detained at "GITMO." Most have been released without charges or turned over to other governments. In 2011, Congress specifically prohibited the expenditure of funds to transfer GITMO prisoners to detention facilities in the continental United States, making it virtually impossible to try them in civilian courts. As of April 2012, 169 remained in detention at GITMO (Sutton, 2012). An assumption made by the Bush administration in selecting this location was that it was beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. The administration wanted to avoid any judicial oversight of how it handled detainees, characterized as "enemy combatants." A possible legal challenge to indefinite detention with no formal charges or judicial proceedings might arise from the habeas corpus provision of the Constitution. Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution states, "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." Under this provision, persons detained by the government are entitled to a judicial hearing to determine if there is any legal basis for their detention. Some legal commentators refer to the right of habeas corpus as the "great writ of liberty" because it is a prisoner's ultimate recourse to an impartial judge to review the possibility that he is being held illegally by the executive (e.g., the police or the military). In nations that do not honor habeas corpus, people simply disappear into prisons without ever having their day in court. Several controversial Supreme Court cases have come out of GITMO. One fundamental question that has been debated, but not clearly resolved, is to what extent the war on terror justifies the President's indefinite detention of "enemy combatants" without the possibility of the minimal judicial review protected by habeas corpus? Another issue in the debate is to what extent Congress must clearly authorize the President to conduct extra-judicial detentions in order for them to be legal? In 2008, the Supreme Court’s decision in Boumediene v. Bush offered some answers to these questions. However, the deeply divided 5-4 Court and the likelihood of the protracted nature of the war on terror suggest that debate around these important questions will continue. The purpose of this forum is for you to share and discuss with classmates your understanding of some of the academic literature about this subject in order to help you write the Final Paper in the course. Your initial post will have two parts. a. In 150-200 words, summarize, in your own words, one of the academic articles required for this discussion (from item 8 in the Required Resources). Select an article from the list that you think may be a source for your final essay. Read it carefully and try to understand the author's main points that may be relevant to your final essay. First, give the full APA citation for the article. Then, summarize the relevant main points and explain the author's reasoning as you understand it. At the end of your summary, ask one question about a specific point in the article that you do not understand and would like some help with (refer to a page number). b. In 50-75 words, state what you believe the thesis of your Final Paper will be. State the thesis as clearly and fully as you can. Draw upon what you have learned from all the required resources you reviewed for this discussion. While you can change your mind about your thesis when you actually write the Final Paper, use this discussion forum as a serious opportunity to try out a thesis and receive feedback from your peers. By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking. Offer ideas about the question your peer asks in his or her initial post. Give your peers feedback about their proposed thesis. Reference: Sutton, J. (2012, April 19). Two Guantanamo Uighur prisoners head to El Salvador. Chicago Tribune News . Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-guantanamo-salvadorbre83i1ha-20120419,0,1170410.story Party Platforms and Winning Elections . Political parties mobilize voters to win elections and implement policy goals. Parties use their stated policy goals (i.e., their platforms) as a way to mobilize voter support. Generally, in order to be successful in a two-party system, parties must have policy goals across a broad range of issue areas to appeal to a broad range of voters. For this discussion, you will identify one issue area that you want investigate. Use the resources required for this discussion to gather information about the goals and proposals, in that issue area, of three political parties – the Democratic and Republican parties and a third party. In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, summarize each of the three parties’ policy goals in your issue area. Compare and contrast the parties' goals in that area. Evaluate each party's goals from two perspectives: a. Your own political philosophy, values or ideology. b. How effective each party's goals are likely to be in mobilizing voters to support the party's candidates on the national level. In making your assessment from this perspective, consider what influence the factors which underlie the two-party system have on each party's ability to use its policy proposals to generate voter support. Justify your conclusions with facts and persuasive reasoning. Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more different resources required for this discussion. By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer's post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer's while explaining or justifying your position). Voting and Turnout . The U.S. has one of the lowest voter turnout rates among modern democratic political systems. One study ranks the U.S. 120th on a list of 169 nations compared on voter turnout (Pintor, Gratschew, Sullivan, 2002). While during the last decade many initiatives have been undertaken to increase voter participation, concerns about the possibility of election fraud have also increased. Additionally, some political interests feel threatened by the increase in turnout among some traditionally low-turnout ethnic minorities. Several states have recently passed legislation imposing new registration and identification requirements. This has sparked debate about whether these are tactics intended to suppress turnout or to prevent fraud. In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, summarize recent developments in several states enacting voter ID laws. Explain the pros and cons on both sides of the debate about these laws. Share your own experience with the relative difficulty or ease of voting in your locale. Draw your own conclusion about the debate over voter ID laws. Finally, share your perspective about whether voting in the U.S. should be made easier or harder. Justify your conclusions with facts and persuasive reasoning. Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more different resources required for this discussion. By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer's post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer's while explaining or justifying your position). Reference: Pintor, R., Gratschew, M., Sullivan, K. (2002). Voter turnout rates from a comparative perspective. In R. Pintor M. Gratschew (Eds.), Voter turnout since 1945: A global report . Stockholm, Sweden: The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Retrieved from http://www.idea.int/publications/vt/upload/Voter%20turnout.pdf

Front 3

Follow the link Now for full guide - http://entire-courses.com/POL-319-Week-5-DQ-1-Judicial-Activism

Back 3

Take advantage of the campus library! College libraries offer numerous resources which can help you succeed in your classes. Become acquainted with the librarian who can help you find the materials you need to do your classwork. They also have resources for procuring or selling used textbooks.