Political Participation

Module 02/M2_AssignmentInstructions.html

Module 2 Essay Assignment: Political Participation

Overview

The Essay 2 Assignment gives you an opportunity to explore concepts from this module in more depth. You will have to do some careful thinking and put together reasoned and complete responses to the questions posed.

Instructions

• You are to write a 3-5 page argumentative essay on any one of the following questions.  This essay is worth 50 points.

  • Using the websites below, explore and then write an essay on the similarities and differences between the Republican and Democratic parties on some topic of interest to you (e.g., differences in their policies, differences in their outreach to various groups such as young people, women or minorities, differences in their use of the World Wide Web, etc.) What is your opinion with respect to this topic? Explain fully.

Table of Links to Political Organizations

Democratic Party	Republican Party
Democratic National Committee	Republican National Committee
College Democrats of America	College Republican National Committee
Emily's List	National Federation of Republican Women
Young Democrats of America	Young Republican National Federation

• Many nonprofit organizations seek to promote political participation in one form or another. Survey some of them through the website links below, then write an essay on what activities these private organizations undertake to achieve their objectives. What is your opinion with respect to this topic? Explain fully. Center for Voting and Democracy International Association of Public Participation Practitioners League of Women Voters
• The websites below provide coverage of the Federal Elections Commission and their enforcement over campaign laws and litigation (court cases) of campaign activities. Go to the websites and explore the various cases and issues addressed. Write an essay discussing the importance of the Federal Elections Commission and the types of issues dealt with by the government and the courts with regard to political campaigns. What is your opinion with respect to this topic? Explain fully. Federal Elections Commission FEC Enforcement Activities FEC Litigation
• The amount of money spent during elections is one of the most controversial aspects of contemporary political campaigning. Explore the websites below and then write an essay on the extent of campaign spending, and various reform proposals. What is your opinion with respect to this topic? Explain fully. Federal Elections Commission Federal Campaign Finance Legislation  Center for Responsive Politics (Open Secrets Organization) Soft Money and the Presidential Campaign System, CATO Institute Soft Money: The Reform That Corrupted the System, Washington Post Supreme Court Rejects Ban on Corporate Spending Recent Supreme Court Rulings Related to Campaign Finance Laws
• Various online media watch groups exist that attempt to expose the bias, inaccurate and unfair reporting that allegedly occurs in the media. The websites provide criticism, articles, and information about media accuracy and the biases of the mainstream media. Current news alerts are also posted regularly on these websites. Explore the following websites and then write an essay on what you learn about fairness, accuracy, and bias in the media. What is your opinion with respect to this topic? Explain fully. Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Project Censored Accuracy in Media Media Research Center

Deliverable:

• 3-5 page (800-1500 words) essay stating and supporting a clear opinion or argument.  Make sure you read the Short Essay Rubric carefully for all the elements you are required to include in the essay, including appropriate examples, explanations and reasons from your reading, at least three appropriate concepts from the textbook and/or module, current news events and at least two references.
• Put your name, date, and module # on the essay.
• Put the complete essay question you chose at the beginning of the essay (don’t paraphrase it); leave out the websites; single space this question and include an extra space between the question and the body of the essay.
• Use Times New Roman, 12 pt black font, 1-inch margins; double-space the body of the essay, indent new paragraphs by 1/2 inch, and don't include extra spaces between paragraphs; you don't need to include a title page or abstract.
• The essay must use college level English, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.
• Use ONLY Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or save your document as a Rich Text File (.rtf).
• The essay must use APA formatting, referencing, and citations; a reference page must be included. For more information and models of APA formatting, see the APA Toolkit in the Syllabus Module.
See an example of a Short Essay here. See the Schedule and Course Rubrics in the Syllabus Module for due dates and grading information.