Reference no: EM133832610

Assignment:

Please help to find right sources and help outline the answers for Political Science, please?

1) The U.S. Congress is supposed to function in a representative capacity. Despite the passage of some significant legislation between in 2021 and 2022, most Americans have a rather low opinion of Congress at the present time, so it seems evident that Congress is not fulfilling this function in a way that is satisfactory to the vast majority of the American people. What accounts for this unpopularity? Why does Congress seem to be unable to fulfill both its representative and legislative functions? Identify and discuss at least three significant factors that have contributed to the legislative gridlock and lack of political compromise characteristic of most congressional sessions over the past decade.

2) In Chapter 12 of your textbook, the authors claim: "More than any other of the three branches of government in the Constitution created by the framers, the presidency has been democratized, with the changes so dramatic that the office would be hardly recognizable to them." Identify at least three factors responsible for the democratization of the modern presidency. Your book goes on to state that "the American people are prone, for their part, to see the president as the center of governance and the locus for their hopes and aspirations for the nation." Discuss the roles that the modern president is expected to play to meet these public expectations, and the resources the president has at his command to serve as the center of governance. What factors determine how the American public judges presidential performance?

3) Complaining about the federal bureaucracy (or any other bureaucracy for that matter) appears to be second nature for many Americans. Our political media is filled with cries that the federal government has grown too large and that it needs to be "cut down to size," which translates into cuts in government programs. Most often, the argument is that government is inefficient and wastes our hard-earned tax dollars. In response to these claims, recent presidents have promoted bureaucratic reforms to "streamline the bureaucracy." Identify and discuss at least three of these reform strategies discussed in your textbook. How successful have they been? Is efficiency the only or best criterion for evaluating bureaucratic performance, or are there other standards by which we should consider the role of government in our lives?

4) We want to think of "law" as something separate from "politics" and the various trappings of our judicial process encourage us to think of law as something more akin to religion (e.g. judges wear robes, we call them "your honor" and rise when they enter the room, they sit on high and pass judgment, and the U.S Supreme Court building resembles a Greek temple). Yet there is clear evidence that courts in the United States are distinctly political institutions, and their workings cannot be separated from the political process. Discuss one example of each of the following: a) the role of politics in the selection of judges (at either the federal or state level), b) the impact of political factors on judicial decision-making, and c) the impact of a specific judicial decision on our political process. What do these examples suggest to you about the relationship between law and politics?

5) The range of civil liberties promised to Americans under the Bill of Rights has generally been discussed with respect to two broad categories: freedom of expression, and due process protections. Yet, since 1965, the Supreme Court has recognized a third category of civil liberties, one that encompasses privacy rights. On what basis did the Court conclude that Americans are entitled to a constitutional right to privacy? How did the establishment of a right to privacy lead to protection for other rights involving bodily autonomy? How has the interpretation of these rights been shaped by different approaches to judicial review and constitutional interpretation (think about judicial activism, strict construction, etc.). Be sure to cite specific cases.