P0LITICAL SCIENCE: choose 1 tiopic write 3 pages about

Please read the following instructions carefully.

a. The minimum length of your essay is

1,000 words (approximately 3 pages

without

your name and essay title; no maximum length limit; MS Word

document only

; typed, double-spaced, font-size 12, no extra spacing between

paragraphs; maximum 1.25 inch margins).

No PDF document, please.

b. The paper should proceed in this order: (1) essay title, (2) student name, (3)

total

number of words

, and (4) essay text. As for (3), please use the word count

function of MS Word to count the total number of words in your text that

excludes (1) and (2).

c. Use

at least four outside sources to support your argument. You may use

academic journals, scholarly books, and newspaper sources,. Our textbook (

We

the People

, 9th edition) should not be counted as one of these sources.

d.

Cite all the sources you have used. You may use any major standard citation

format (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago).

e.

Do not cite any encyclopedia sources (e.g., Wikipedia, Britannica Online

Encyclopedia).

f.

Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. Do not copy material, even short passages

from the Internet or any other source.

g. In your paper, do not write the question of your choice.

Make your own essay

title

based on the content of the question and provide the title in the paper   

Questions. Please choose

one

of the following.

1. Discuss same-sex marriage in California with a focus on the state’s Proposition 8

(2008). In your essay, analyze how the issue has developed in the state since 2000,

when the Californian voters passed the Proposition 22 (2000), the state’s first

ballot measure to restrict marriages to heterosexual couples. Also, include in your

essay an analysis of

Hollingsworth v. Perry

.

2. Discuss same-sex marriage with a focus on

United States v. Windsor

. Analyze the

controversy over the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Also, discuss the

possible implications of

United States v. Windsor

for the states that currently

approve same-sex marriage.

3. Discuss the barriers to the U.S. Congress passing any comprehensive immigration

reform and what this tells us about the nature of Congress. Explain in detail why

recent immigration legislation has stalled in the House of Representatives.

4. What is so important about the 14

th

Amendment? How did it fundamentally

change the Constitution?

5. Watch a PBS video entitled

Obama’s Deal

and discuss the roles health care

interest groups (“special interests”) played in the making of the Affordable Care

Act. Explain how interest groups influenced the health care reform bill. Analyze

the costs and benefits of the lobbyist-influenced provisions in the bill in light of

President Obama’s goals for health care reform.

The video is available on a PBS Frontline site:

<http://video.pbs.org/video/1468710007/>.

Its transcript is available at:

<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamasdeal/etc/script.html>

Audiocast:

< https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-audiocastpbs/

id336934080>