Write a one-paragraph description in your own words of the nature and purpose of the organization. Name of current head of the IG. Write one paragraph detailing how one becomes a member of the IG and what the benefits of membership are.

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Interest Groups

An interest group for our purpose is any organization, association, or group that is organized with a political purpose or object in mind. They are also known as lobbyists, political advocacy groups, pressure groups, associations, organizations, etc. Here are a couple of websites that list them–http://usgovinfo.about.com/blorgs.htm; http://votesmart.org/interest-groups – .VXLuR6Zw0t8

Pick an interest group in which you are interested. That is to say, pick a group that does work in a political area that you want to know more about. Answer all of the following. Answers must be typed and should indicate the number of the question being answered. Make sure you include proper citation from the Internet for each answer. Do NOT cut and paste any part of any answers. You are to put each answer into your own words. The answers to every question may not be on their website—you may have to be industrious in finding the information. You may want to call the IG as a last option or just to chat.

  • Name of the interest group (IG).
  • Website address of the IG.
  • Phone number of the IG.
  • National address of the IG.
  • Year the IG was founded.

Write a one-paragraph description in your own words of the nature and purpose of the organization. This can be summarized from their “About” section. What is it the organization sets out to do?
Name of current head of the IG. One-paragraph description of the professional background of the individual.
Write one paragraph detailing how one becomes a member of the IG and what the benefits of membership are.
List dates and descriptions of any upcoming events for the IG (maximum five events).

Write a one-paragraph summary from a video about the IG or an issue the IG deals with. This can be from the IG itself or can be from a news show about IG. This could include if someone from the organization was interviewed on a news show. These videos are often on the organization’s website. The video should be at least three minutes long. Include a website link to the video so that I may watch it as well.

Think about all you have learned about the IG and answer the following questions in an essay addressing all of the following points. You should have at least 2-3 paragraphs for each section: a, b, and c.
Name some specific goals the interest group wants to achieve. What is your assessment of the goals of this interest group? Are their goals in the best interests of the United States? Why? Are there other goals they should have or goals they should abandon?

Specifically, how does this interest group try to achieve its goals? Do they tend to hold conferences, run ads, lobby legislators, publish articles or books, raise and spend money for and specific things? Different interest groups employ different methods…show me you understand how this interest group tries to achieve its goals.
Finally, has this interest group been effective in achieving its goals. This will require some research. Don’t just say yes or no. Provide data that show specific failures or successes of this interest group. Think about how one would go about evaluating the effectiveness of an interest group.

Be sure to cite your sources for where you get the information you use for your essay.

How will the demographic and geographical changes between your 2010 and 2020 voting district change political outcomes for elections? How does gerrymandering affect you or voters in the district?

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Texas’s political cultures

1. For a background to gerrymandering, reference course materials and watch this video that presents an overview on how legislators stay in power as a result of legislative redistricting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s6erd5MbEY

2. Next, go to the Texas Tribune website that shows the new voting maps based on the 2020 Census, and type in your address to view any changes between the 2010 and 2020 voting maps: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2021/texas-redistricting-map/

· Consider how demographics changes like race, ethnicity, or partisanship influence voting and election outcomes.

· Think about political motivations for making these particular changes between the 2010 and 2020 maps.

3. In a concise (250-300 words) post, answer the following questions utilizing course materials, concepts, and the information above:

· How will the demographic and geographical changes between your 2010 and 2020 voting district change political outcomes for elections? How does gerrymandering affect you or voters in the district?

· How do historical, social, political, economic, and cultural forces in Texas lead to the legislature’s and parties’ use of gerrymandering? Consider Texas’s political cultures, dominant ideologies, partisanship, and social or demographic changes in this answer.

Research a recent news article from within the last 6 months that addresses the influence of interest groups. Write a 250 word summary of your news article.

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Current Event

Chapter on Political Parties and Interest Groups Current Event Instructions:

For the chapter on Political Parties and Interest Groups current event, review pages 240 – 246. Once you do that, research a recent news article from within the last 6 months that addresses the influence of interest groups . Download a copy of the current event template (provided below) and answer all 4 questions. For question one, paste the URL of the news article you found from the internet. For question 2 , write a 250 word summary of your news article. Quoted text will not count towards the 250 word minimum. Question three you will need to address how interest groups try to influence government and policy. Provide specific details to support your opinion. For question 4, you are to write a one or two sentence critical thinking question related to the article you just read. What unanswered questions did you find in the article? This question can be related to the subject of the article (such as the President or Governor) or the journalist who wrote the article (biased view point).

Review, analyze and discuss the official testimony of a witness at a congressional hearing based on the official transcript.

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Introduction to your basic research assignment…

THIS IS THE LINK TO THE HEARING THAT WAS APPROVED BY THE TEACHER FOR THIS PAPER

https://naturalresources.house.gov/hearings/remote-emr-oversight-hearing_december-2-2021

Introduction to your basic research assignment…

Review, analyze and discuss the official testimony of a witness at a congressional hearing based on the official transcript.

  • Who ? Credentials ? Title ? Background ?
  • Perspective ? Context ? Content ?
  • Conclusions ? Recommendations ? Comments ?

The information in the links below will help you find hearings so that you can become familiar with the process. They are for reference only – when writing your paper address the questions above.

Identify a current topic relevant to global politics. Using no more than two sources including news articles, videos, and websites, summarize the events and issues reviewed by your source(s) and apply the three main theories of global politics

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Global politics

Identify a current topic relevant to global politics. Using no more than two sources including news articles, videos, and websites, (1) summarize the events and issues reviewed by your source(s) and (2) apply the three main theories of global politics (Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism). How does each theory explain or not explain why the issue associated with your topic is occurring and the actions taken by the actors cited in your sources. All approaches associated with Realism or Liberalism may be utilized. You may also (briefly) consider other theories of global politics in your essay. Refer to the course materials including the texts, lectures, videos, as needed

Define the following two concepts, filibuster and bureaucracy. Define each concept separately and use examples to support your definitions.

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Short Paper

Define the following two concepts, filibuster and bureaucracy. Define each concept separately and use examples to support your definitions.

Describe in own words understanding and critical thought of the ppic.org full report on Californians and their government.

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Californians & Their Government

Describe in own words understanding and critical thought of the ppic.org full report on Californians and their government.
A link to the report is embedded in the tentative reading/course schedule found in files.

Explain the difference between liberalism and republicanism and the difference between left (democratic) and right (conservative) versions of republicanism using Harrington, Montesquieu, Locke, and Arendt.

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Answer two out of the four questions.

Your exam should be 10+ pages and include extensive textual evidence. Quotes should be appropriately cited and unpacked.

  1. Explain the difference between liberalism and republicanism and the difference between left (democratic) and right (conservative) versions of republicanism using Harrington, Montesquieu, Locke, and Arendt.
  2. Explain the influence of Puritan and Congregationalist Christian thought on the early American republic, using Ward, Winthrop, Cotton, Williams and Wise. That means dealing with such issues as theocracy and God’s ordained republic, the priesthood of believers as both a community that produces knowledge of divine law (physis) and opinion (nomos), the unanimity and necessity of truth versus toleration for conscience and opinion, the equality and inequality of believers and sinners, and the secularizing impact of the Christian impulse to know/reason, choose/ extend & accept grace, and purify/ progress. An especially good answer will deal with Arendt’s views about Christianity:

A few words need still to be said about the not infrequent claim that all modern revolutions are essentially Christian in origin, and this even when their professed faith is atheism. The argument supporting this claim usually points to the clearly rebellious nature of the early Christian sect with its stress on the equality of soul before God, its open contempt for all public powers, and its promise of a Kingdom of Heaven– notions and hopes which are supposed to have been channeled into modern revolutions, albeit in secularized fashion, through the Reformation. Secularization, the separation of religion from politics and the rise of a secular realm with dignity of its own, is certainly a crucial factor in the phenomenon of revolution. Indeed, it may ultimately turn out that what we call revolution is precisely that transitory phase which brings about the birth of a new secular realm. But if this is true, then it is secularization itself, and not the contents of Christian teachings, which constitutes the origin of revolution. The first stage of this secularization was the rise of absolutism, and not the Reformation; for the ‘revolution’ which, according to Luther, shakes the world when the word of God is liberated from traditional authority of the Church is constant and applies to all forms of secular government; it does not establish a new secular order but constantly and permanently shakes the foundations of all worldly establishment. Luther, it is true, because he eventually became the founder of a new church, could be counted among the great founders in history, but his foundation was not, and never was intended to be, a novus ordo saeclorum [new order for the Ages (on the Great Seal of the USA)]; on the contrary, it was meant to liberate a truly Christian life more radically from the considerations and worries of the secular order, whatever it might happened to be…. Hence, the rebellious spirit, which seems so manifest in certain strictly religious movements in the modern age, always ended in some Great Awakening or revivalism which, no matter how much it might ‘revive’ those who were seized by it, remained politically without consequence and historically futile…. For the fact is that no revolution was ever made in the name of Christianity prior to the modern age, so that the best one can say in favour of this theory is that it needed modernity to liberate the revolutionary germs of the Christian faith, which is obviously begging the question.

There exists, however, another claim which comes closer to the heart of the matter. We have stressed the element of novelty inherent in all revolutions, and it is maintained frequently that our whole notion of history, because its course follows a rectilinear development, is Christian in origin. It is obvious that only under the conditions of a rectilinear time concept [progress towards an end or purpose as opposed to a reoccurring cycle with no end but life] are such phenomena as novelty, uniqueness of events, and the like conceivable at all. Christian philosophy, it is true, broke with the time concept of antiquity because the birth of Christ, occurring in human secular time, constituted a new beginning as well as a unique, unrepeatable event. Yet the Christian concept of history…could conceive of a new beginning only in terms of a transmundane event breaking into and interrupting the normal course of secular history…. Secular history in the Christian view remained bound within the cycles of antiquity–empires would rise and fall as in the past– except that Christians, in the possession of an everlasting life, could break through this cycle of everlasting change and must look with indifference upon the spectacle it offered (Arendt, On Revolution, pp. 15-17).

You might say that, in this passage, Arendt contrasts two sorts of Christianity. One is the modern impulse to secularization, which sees freedom in the possibility of doing and creating something new (especially institutionalizing a new order). Later, Arendt describes this as taking the experience of natural goodness that she associates with Jesus, and giving it a political voice and appearance, a reality that goodness with its compassion can only realize with either pure violence or silence (pp 71-77). The other, which is after “the haloed transformation of Jesus of Nazareth into Christ,” (p. 71), Arendt describes as actually following the ancient Christian impulse to get free from the natural cycle. The question is whether the Christian Founders were doing one, the other, or some weird mixture of both.

  1. Explain and critically respond to Arendt’s argument in On Revolution. That is, explain her new version of republicanism that she finds in the American Republic, her critique of liberalism (especially the leftist version of the French Revolution), and her ultimate critique of how the American Republic betrayed its own spirit of revolution.
  2. Explain the arguments for and against the American Independence (readings from Sept 22-24) and explain the extent to which you think they are left republican (Arendt, Harrington), right republican (Roman, Montesquieu), left liberal (Robespierre) and right liberal (Locke). A good answer will not use just the Sept 22-24 readings.

 

Address your uncle’s claim that the US should pull out of the UN. Does the US derive any benefits from remaining a member of the UN? Is the UN useless as your unclear claims?

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Task:

Imagine the following hypothetical scenario: you join your family around the table for a large dinner over the Thanksgiving holiday. After eating several helpings of sweet potatoes, your uncle turns to you and says: “So I hear you’re taking a class on International Organizations in college. Maybe you can answer a question for me: what good is the United Nations if it can’t prevent a country like Russia from invading a country like Ukraine? The UN strikes me as nothing more than a useless, bloated bureaucracy that is all talk and no action. I think the US should just pull out of the UN since it is obviously useless for solving global problems, and most Americans don’t even want to remain a member anyway.” How would you respond to your uncle?

Write a two-page memo (double-spaced, 12-inch font, 1-inch margins) which summarizes the response you would give to your uncle. Focus on addressing all the points that your uncle raises about the UN, noting where his criticism is legitimate, where it rests upon a misunderstanding of the power and purpose of the UN, and where it is simply untrue. You do not need to defend the UN in your response, but you should discuss what the UN is capable of doing, what roles it is designed to play in world politics, and what are the limits of its power and authority.

In order to do well on this assignment, you must demonstrate that you understand the power and authority the UN has been given and the limits of that power. You should, for example, clearly explain the role the UN and its various organs is intended to play in preventing war and promoting international security and why the UN was unable to prevent the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You should also discuss whether you think this means the UN is a “useless” organization. You should also address your uncle’s criticisms that the UN is a bloated bureaucracy that is all talk and no action. What elements of this criticism are true? What elements are overstatements or simply false?

Finally, be sure you also address your uncle’s claim that the US should pull out of the UN. Does the US derive any benefits from remaining a member of the UN? Is the UN useless as your unclear claims? How do most American’s feel about the UN (on this point, see the slides from our in-class discussion in week 7)?

 

State your hypothesis explicitly, and show that they follow from your theory. Include an abstract summarizing your argument and findings on your title page.

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How has covid 19 impacted the poverty line

Your paper assignment is based on the research you have performed throughout the semester and presented in front of class. As such it should entail a thoughtful discussion of research design, theory-building, hypotheses, data and case selection, analysis, and concluding remarks that indicate the significance of your findings.

Expectations:
1. At least one independent source of data you use to test your hypotheses.
2. At least one Table or Figure of your own making in the text.
3. At least four peer-reviewed articles included in works cited (you can use google scholar to find these).
4. It is a good idea to have a one or two sentence thesis statement at or near the end of your introductory paragraph.
5. State your hypothesis explicitly, and show that they follow from your theory.
6. Include an abstract summarizing your argument and findings on your title page (~100-150 words).
7. 8-10 pages (not including title page and works cited), double spaced, 1-inch margins using a conventional font (e.g. Times New Roman, not ‘Courier New’).

Life for those on the poverty line has been in even more turmoil as they are faced with the unprecedented hardships of a global pandemic.The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a substantial impact on our economy, resulting in significant health and financial issues that led to the loss of many lives and employment worldwide. Our fundamental needs became extremely scarce as businesses lost work, food and gas prices rose, and new protocols came into effect.

Economic recessions spike a rise in poverty. So, as the crisis grew extreme poverty began to rapidly increase. The pandemic took a massive toll on the lives of our people, but those on the poverty line were the ones who were affected the most.