The Introduction to American Politics
Discuss three of the following items or prompts with reference to facts and examples, in a manner that does not lead to too much overlap with another topic or prompt that you might write about.
1. Any “short paper” topic, whether on the 2016 or 2020 elections, on liberalism or on conservatism, the African-American change in voting patterns in the 1930’s, etc.; see “
THE UPDATED PAPER TOPICS AND GUIDELINES at
https://uc.instructure.com/courses/1521088/pages/the-updated-paper-topics-and-guidelines-due-march-23?module_item_id=65938743.
2
. the original intent of the Founding Fathers/framers of the constitution of the United States when they wrote the constitution, including, but not only, whether they wanted the U.S. to be a democracy, and/or a model/great/outstanding democracy (HP),
3. the Bill of Rights, and the evolution of its interpretation and implementation over time, at the federal and state level, with a focus on civil liberties, in the U.S. (HP),
4. civil rights, and their evolution over time, including in relation to African-Americans and another group, in the U.S., with some discussion of regional differences in the country for African-American civil rights (HP),
5. the challenges and patterns of U.S. domestic policy, including in relation to health care and/or taxation and/or the Coronavirus pandemic (preferably only one such an issue),
6. the U.S. mass media, how its types differ from each other, its recent evolution over time and the levels of accuracy and bias of various types of media outlets,
7. the separation of powers, and its evolution over time in terms of the changing distribution of powers, between the legislative and executive branches in the U.S. (HP),
8. the presidency/president of the U.S., including whether the electoral college is a good idea or not, or either 1. presidential scandals, such as “Ukrainegate”, or the events of January 6, 2021, or 2. any presidential impeachment, such as any of the impeachment(s) of President Donald J. Trump.
9. the U.S. Congress, including whether the president should be more powerful than Congress or vice versa, as well as the Congressional leadership and committees,
10. the U.S. federal judicial branch, including whether the method used to select the federal justices and judges is the most appropriate one or not, and whether their lifetime tenure is a good idea or not, and
11. The presidential elections of 2020 (presidential, congressional and state elections), relying on the official numbers or electoral results.
12. U.S. foreign policy, including U.S. alliances such as NATO and/or the U.S. policies related to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
