Reference no: EM133641833

Discussion Post

Part I: Legislative Branch

1) Given that most presidential powers are delegated and informal, the president's ability to shape American politics is largely contingent on public support. To what extent do flagging political support or declining poll numbers hamper the president's ability to lead Congress and the nation? Are there areas where this fact will be of little consequence? Discuss the suitability of public opinion polls for conferring a mandate on the president.

2) Consider the positive and negative effects of profit in the context of several different areas of public bureaucracy. What is gained and what is lost by privatizing functions such as education policy, trash removal, criminal incarceration, and national defense? How might privatization affect the constitutional rights of citizens who deal with private companies?

Part II: Executive Branch

1) Why were the Founding Fathers so concerned about the amount of power vested in the President? It was the most debated part of the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

2) Why were the foundering fathers also concern about how to elect the President? Please Note we don't have a direct democracy, but an Electoral College. Therefore, political power is not necessarily granted to the masses.

Part III: Judicial Branch

1) Do you believe that judicial decisions will be affected if the diversity of the judges serving in the federal judiciary matches the diversity of the population? Explain why or why not.

2) Do you believe that 9 Supreme Justices interpreting the law for 330 million Americans is Democracy? Why or why not?

3) Do you believe that by the founding fathers vesting all legislative powers in Congress did NOT create a true democracy, but a representative democracy or even a dictatorship of 535 members controlling 330 million Americans?