750 POoli Sci paper

Instructions. This portion of your exam includes two short essay questions. Your combined responses should be a maximum of 750 words. Submit your responses in Blackboard by 11:59 pm on Sunday, October 8. To earn credit for this portion of the exam, you must meet all of the criteria on the rubrics below.

Question 1

Read the attached articles[footnoteRef:1] about recent challenges confronted by Republican leaders in Congress. [1: John Bresnahan, Burgess Everett, and Josh Dawsey. 2017. “Mitch McConnell’s Dreadful Day.” Politico.com. September 27. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/27/mitch-mcconnell-obamacare-trump-alabama-243186 (Accessed 10/1/2017). Cristiano Lima. 2017. “Ryan Vents Over Stalled GOP Agenda in Senate.” Politico.com. September 27. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/27/paul-ryan-senate-gop-agenda-hannity-243240 (Accessed 10/1/2017).]

Write an essay that:

1. Explains the ways in which the recent decisions and statements of Republican leaders and members of Congress can be explained by concepts covered in PSCI 3110 readings and lectures.

2. If you think that there are ways in which the issues confronting Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and Republican members of the 115th Congress seem inconsistent with or cast doubt on characterizations of Congress articulated in PSCI 3110 readings and lectures, explain these as well.

Be sure to explain the relationship between the course concepts you invoke and the relevant details from the attached articles.

Question 2

According to Bessette[footnoteRef:2], Congress was designed to be a highly deliberative body capable of acting in the national interest. But, if Mann and Ornstein are to be believed, deliberation has broken down to such an extent that Congress is unable to legislate, oversee the executive, or police legislators’ ethical behavior. [2: https://learn.unt.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-4740416-dt-content-rid-61196082_1/courses/PSCI.3110.001.002-NT752.1178.1/PSCI.3110.001.002-NT752.1178.1_ImportedContent_20170821074041/Bessette_1997_MildVoiceOfReason_Chapter2.pdf]

1. Assess the level of “broken-ness” in the current Congress.

2. To the extent you believe Congress is broken, why don’t the features identified by Bessette ensure that Congress works better?

Be sure to explain your answer using relevant course material and provide examples from the current Congress, rather than your feelings about Congress.

Midterm:​ ​Advanced​ ​Section​ ​Rubric

In order to earn credit for the advanced section of the midterm, you must satisfy all

rubric criteria.

☑ or ☐ Responses are submitted as a Word or PDF document in Blackboard by 11:59

pm on Sunday, October 8.

☑ or ☐ Responses (combined) are a maximum of 750 words (excluding titles, headers,

names, citations, etc.).

☑ or ☐ Responses (combined) include no more than 9 grammatical or spelling errors

(including capitalization errors).

☑ or ☐ Response to Question 1 is logically organized, clearly written, and free of factual

errors.

☑ or ☐ Response to Question 1 responds fully to the prompt.

☑ or ☐ Response to Question 1 evaluates the consistency of issues in the assigned

articles with 2 or 3 significant course concepts/themes and draws on appropriate

evidence to support the student’s conclusions.

☑ or ☐ Response to Question 2 is logically organized, clearly written, and free of factual

errors.

☑ or ☐ Response to Question 2 responds fully to the prompt.

☑ or ☐ Response to Question 2 evaluates the extent to which the contemporary

Congress is broken and explains the relationship between the institutional design

of Congress and its recent performance.

☑ or ☐ If sources other than those provided by the instructors or assigned for class are

used, complete citations are provided.