Requirements:
PSC 101: Introduction to American Government and Politics Fall 2023 Exam 1 Due September 11th at 11 PM Part 1: American Political Ideals 1. Explain how American political ideals of liberty, equality, and democracy are reflected in our Constitution, Acts, Executive Orders, and Supreme Court Rulings. Specifically, you should begin your response by defining each ideal in your own words and must support your answer with the table below by listing two examples for each ideal. Your written response should be included below the table and include short descriptions that justify your classification for each example in one of the boxes. In concluding your response, explain whether you had difficulty assigning any of the examples to one ideal or if you felt there was overlap and why. (No more than 250 words). Constitution Acts Executive Orders Supreme Court Rulings Liberty Equality Democracy 2. Consider the following points in American history – the founding, civil war amendments, extending voting rights to women, and the Voter Rights Act. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the least democratic and 10 being the most, assign a score to each point in history and justify your ranking. Briefly describe trends to provide context on progress or backsliding between events. Conclude your response by explaining your current ranking for the state of American democracy. The written response should be included below the table. (No more than 200 words). Points/Events Ranking Founding Civil War Amendments Extension of voting rights to women Voter Rights Act Current State
Part 2: Checks and Balances 3. Based strictly on constitutional checks and balances, explain which branch of government you consider to be the most powerful and why. Next, describe how situational context, such as parties and gridlock, can shift power to other branches. Conclude your response by providing a supporting example. (No more than 300 words). Part 3: Current Events 4. Write a short news article about the Kansas Newspaper raid. Your article should assume the reader has no prior knowledge about the topic, provide a clear understanding of the sequence of events, and conclude with a couple discussion questions for a public comments section. (No more than 250 words) Instructions for Submission • Submit your assignment on Canvas by Monday, September 11th at 11 PM. • Do not include the question prompts in your submission. • Your written responses should be single-spaced. • Support your responses with citations where appropriate using APA. Rubric Question A B C 1 Ideals are well defined, classifications for examples are logical, student reflects on classifications, and the response is well written. Ideals are well defined, and examples are logical, but student may not reflect on classifications or the writing needs improvement. Logical errors are made in explaining ideals or classifications, reflection could be missing or writing could be needing major improvement. 2 Rankings are given, justifications are logical, trends between events are reflected on, and the response is well written. Rankings are given, justifications are logical but trends between events may not be referenced, writing may need improvement. Justifications for rankings may include logical errors, trends may not be referenced. The writing may need improvement.
3 Response is clear and logical with the beginning focusing strictly on constitutional checks and balances, adequate description is given for situational context, and a good supporting example is provided. The response is well written. Response is clear and logical with the beginning focusing strictly on constitutional checks and balances, adequate description is given for situational context, and a good supporting example is provided. The writing may need improvement and further depth. The response could overlook constitutional checks and balances, description of situational context and supporting example is lacking, The writing needs improvement and further depth. 4 Article is informative, easy to follow, provides the reader with an understanding of the sequence of events, and concludes with stimulating questions for public comment. The article is well written. The article is informative and easy to follow but a clear sequence of events is not provided. The questions are good for public discussion, but the article may need improvement. The article is either missing key information, discussion questions could be missing, or writing may need improvement. Note that if you score below a C for any question, I will provide detailed feedback on Canvas as to why the above criteria was not satisfied.