| Prepare at least two drafts of a written response to a question related to the material. You will be evaluated using the following critical thinking standards • Clarity: What do you mean? • Relevance: How is this related to that? • Accuracy: Is that true?How do you know?According to whom? • Precision: For example? What specifically do you mean? • Logic: Does this follow from that?Does this make sense? • Breadth: Is there another way to look at this? How would this look from a ___ perspective? • Depth: What makes this difficult? What makes this complicated? • Significance: Is that the most important point? • Fairness: What’s your angle? Where is your interest in this? Are you being fair to X? * These Questions will require you to explore additional material beyond what you find in the textbook. Each response must be typed and annotated according to the standards outlined either by the Modern Language Association or the Chicago Manual of Style. Directions: Please respond to one of the following essay prompts. Your response must be about 1000 words in length, and must adhere to a standard manuscript form. Be sure to support your argument with specific references to primary or secondary sources. 1. The basic principles of US Government can be grouped into two major categories: The Natural Rights Argument and Control of the Mischiefs of Faction. The principles of Texas Government are somewhat different: The Positive Rights Argument, Popular Sovereignty, Independence with Distrust of the Public Sector, Decentralization and Local Control. Can these two sets of principles be reconciled with each other? If so, how? If not, why not? Please support your argument with specific examples. Sources to consider: * The US Declaration of Independence * The US Constitution of 1787 * Madison, James. The Federalist #9-11. * Bruff, Harold H. “Separation of Powers under the Texas Constitution.” Texas Law Review, 68. (1990): 1337. * Cornyn, John. “Roots of the Texas Constitution: Settlement to Statehood, The.” Texas Tech Law Review. 26 (1995): 1089. * Harrington, James C. “Privacy and the Texas Constitution.” Vt. L. Rev. 13 (1988): 155. * Thomas Jr, A. J., and Ann Van Wynen Thomas. “Texas Constitution of 1876.”Tex. L. Rev. 35 (1956): 907. 2. Critics of recently passed Voter ID laws in various states argue that these measures are designed to limit citizen access to the ballot. However, proponents of these laws argue that such measures prevent fraudulent voting. Furthermore, except in General Elections during Leap Year, in which voters indirectly determine the outcome of presidential contests, voters appear generally to avoid casting ballots at all. To what degree do Voter ID laws actually impact voter turnout? In what way? Sources to consider: * Davidson, Chandler. “The Historical Context of Voter Photo-ID Laws.” PS: Political Science & Politics. Vol. 42, Issue 1 (Jan 2009) * De Alth, Shelley. “ID at the polls: Assessing the impact of recent state voter ID laws on voter turnout.” (2009): 185. * Mycoff, Wagner & Wilson. “The Empirical Effects of Voter-ID Laws: Present or Absent?” PS: Political Science & Politics. Vol. 42, Issue 1 (Jan 2009) 3. Currently, Texas electoral law limits public participation in the Direct Primary Elections to Texas resident US citizens registered to vote in Texas. An alternative proposal would eliminate this restriction by allowing resident aliens, including US citizens who have not yet established Texas residency as well as Texas residents who are not US Citizens, to participate in party primaries. What impact would this have on the election process in Texas? Is this change warranted? Why or why not? Sources to consider: * Brown, Bruce D. “Alien Donors: The Participation of Non-Citizens in the US Campaign Finance System.” Yale Law & Policy Review 15, no. 2 (1997): 503-552. * Raskin, Jamin B. “Legal aliens, local citizens: the historical, constitutional and theoretical meanings of alien suffrage.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review141, no. 4 (1993): 1391-1470. * Rosberg, Gerald M. “Aliens and Equal Protection: Why Not the Right to Vote?.”Michigan Law Review (1977): 1092-1136. * Taebel, Delbert A., Richard L. Engstrom, and Richard L. Cole. “Alternative Electoral Systems as Remedies for Minority Vote Dilution.” Hamline J. Pub. L. & Pol’y 11 (1990): 19. |
