Discussion 1
Every day we see the terms ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ used to describe politicians, parties and policies, so it is important to understand what these terms mean. What ideas or policies are associated with liberals? Which are associated with conservatives? Choose two policies or ideas that you mentioned and research how each side would justify its stance and critique the other side. Which arguments on these issues do you find most persuasive? Please submit your initial answer by midnight Wednesday and respond to two other students’ posts by midnight on Sunday.
Discussion 2
Looking back 200 years, how would you evaluate the work of the Founders in designing our form of government? Does the Constitution need any improvements or changes? A number of efforts have been made in recent years to add new amendments to the Constitution. Some have made it further than others, but none has been successful. Proposed amendments include: the Equal Rights Amendment, an amendment allowing school prayer, a constitutional ban on flag burning, a balanced budget amendment, an amendment to enact term limits for members of Congress and more. This week’s CQ Researcher article contains a number of ideas for improvements to the Constitution. See, especially, the special features at the end of the article that contain several suggestions from both experts and citizens. How do you feel about any of these or other efforts? Please submit your initial answer by midnight Sunday.
Politics are not found only in your textbook, the things that we will learn about are being acted out each day in the world around us. As we go through the course, I’d like you to be aware of current issues in contemporary American politics. Major newspapers, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, or the Christian Science Monitor provide the most in-depth coverage. Websites, such as Politico and ProPublica are good too. In this thread, I would like us to discuss what’s going on politically in the U.S. during selected weeks of the course. Always make sure to provide proper source information for the news item you decide to discuss! This week, I’d like you to begin by familiarizing yourself with websites devoted to fact-checking claims by politicians: FactCheck.org, sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation for Public Policy, and Politifact, sponsored by the St. Petersberg Times. Visit these websites and explain one article or report from each. Share your reaction. Had you heard about any of the claims being fact-checked? If so, were you surprised by the result? Please submit your initial answer by midnight Friday and respond to two other students’ posts by midnight on Sunday.
Visit the Bill of Rights Institute website. On the website, under Educator Resources there is a page called “Teaching with Current Events.” The page lists a number of recent articles related to the Bill of Rights.
Answer the following questions in Microsoft Word in a paper of about 2 pages and place the assignment in the course dropbox by midnight on Sunday. Provide a citation for the articles you read in APA format. For examples of how to cite works for your bibliography check out the APA website.
