APLS 201 on the Internet – Fall 2010 – Test 2

Dr. Carol Botsch

 

 This test must be received by Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at midnight. Email the test to carolb@usca.edu – be sure to save a copy. You will receive an acknowledgement via email within 48 hours from your professor, although if you send it in over fall break I may not respond until Monday, after the break. Please send the test in the body of an email, not as an attachment. If you would like me to mail you a copy of your test with my comments, send me your mailing address when you submit your test.

 

Mailing address to send copy of test: __________________________

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 After completing the test, read and sign the honor pledge. By submitting this test to your professor, you agree that you have met all requirements of the USCA honor code: “On my honor as a USCA student, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this examination.”

 

___________________________  Signature

 

Instructions: Complete two of the four essays below as completely as possible. Answer all parts of the essay. Proofread your work before submitting it as I will subtract points for excessive spelling and grammatical errors. Be sure to use your own words. I will not give you credit for parroting or closely paraphrasing the words in your text. You should use a separate paragraph for each major point. Please leave an extra line between each essay for ease of reading.  Do not send the exam as an attachment. Include it in the body of an email. Hint: One or two paragraph essays are probably not going to get full credit. Essays need to be detailed, well-organized, and cite lots of specifics. If you use any outside sources besides your text, you must provide a citation. Wikipedia is not a source you may cite, however.

 

1. As the author of your text notes, presidential power has evolved over time. A-D. Explain, citing at least four specific and separate examples from your text in detail, including how and why this happened (four separate paragraphs). Is this a good thing or a bad thing? E. Explain your answer specifically, and cite something you read in the news in the past week or something you read in the text to illustrate this (a fifth additional paragraph that includes the url, name, and date of the article you read, or the place in the text where you found the example). Be sure to show how this illustrates what you have said in support or in opposition to expanded presidential power.

 

  2. Some people, such as some of those who are involved in the new Tea Party movement, want to greatly shrink the size of government at all levels. We all know that government has greatly grown from the time of the Founding until today, although the number of people working for the federal government has not increased since the 1950s. A-D. So what would you tell the Tea Party folks as you seek to explain why our government is so big? What are the reasons that government has grown? List and describe four different reasons why the federal bureaucracy has grown, and indicate why or to what extent these are good or bad reasons, in your view (back up your opinions with solid facts). Spell these out in detail, with an example from the news from the past week or from your text for each, in four separate paragraphs (for examples from the news, cite the url or the name of the newspaper and page number, or the news show where you heard this. Explain how each example illustrates specifically one of the reasons for growth you described above). E. In your final (fifth) paragraph, evaluate the role that the federal bureaucracy plays in the American system, and whether and to what extent this is a positive or negative development.

 

 3. Although most of us think of our courts as nonpolitical, your text notes that “we really cannot separate politics from the legal system.” A-D. Explain this statement and describe the ways in which politics enters into the federal courts. You should cite at least four separate points, in a separate paragraph for each. In your discussion, also cite an example from the past week’s news to illustrate each of these key points, and describe this in a separate and cogent paragraph. You may wish to refer to laws and cases and issues that are currently in the news! Cite the url or the name of the newspaper and page number, or the news show where you heard this, and be sure to explain in detail how it illustrates one of the above points (four separate paragraphs). E. In an additional (fifth) paragraph, indicate whether you believe we would be better off with truly nonpolitical courts or not, and why. Regardless of your viewpoint, pro or con, how could we accomplish this?

 

 

4. In the US, we have a federal system, the subject of this essay. A. In your first paragraph, define federalism, and explain what a federal system is within the context of the American governmental system. What are the reasons that we ended up with a federal system in the US instead of some other structure of government? Explain. Use your own words.

B-C. The paradox of federalism is that “it creates an ongoing conflict over who is responsible for what.” Explain this statement, and give at least two specific examples to illustrate, citing information you have found in your text, in two separate and distinct paragraphs. Be sure you explain how these examples illustrate the conflictual nature of federalism.

D. In your fourth paragraph, make one distinct argument in favor of having a federal system, and also give one specific example from the past week’s news to support that argument. Cite url and title of article or other identifying information.

E. In your fifth paragraph, make one distinct argument against having a federal system, and also give one specific example from the past week’s news to support that argument. Cite url and title of article or other identifying information.