Do all and no plagiarism 1.Unit Two Discussion: Voting. This Unit's discussion is about voting. How can we increase voter participation, or should we increase it so only more knowledgeable people vot

Do all and no plagiarism

1.Unit Two Discussion: Voting.

This Unit's discussion is about voting.  How can we increase voter participation, or should we increase it so only more knowledgeable people vote?  How do we increase knowledgeable voters?  Should we require a photo ID, or go the other way and allow anyone to mail-in their ballot or even vote-online?  Should we vote for judges or let them be appointed by other elected officials? 

Your answer needs to be no less than 300 words and no more than 400 words.

2.Which political party do you more closely associate with and why?  Can't say you don't care anymore - time to tell me which way you lean.  Your choices include Republican, Democrat, Green Party, Libertarian, Communist - you don't even have to stick with these if there is another one out there you identify with - just tell me why.  For the purposes of this assignment you can't just say moderate or independent.  Take the quiz at http://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz.  Even if you are pretty sure of who you side with, it is fun (and required) to take because it will give you percentages of how much you agree with each party on certain issues and tell you which candidate is your best match.  No one is 100% anything.  Include your results in your paper. 

Who or what influenced that decision (examples may be a parent, teacher, friend, event).  Do you have friends or family that hold the opposite beliefs from you?  If not, why not?  Do you have debates with this person or do you only talk to people who agree with you?  If so, why?

If you could run for office, what would you run for - Judge, Congress/Legislature or President/Governor - and why?  Read the explanations of all three below to help you answer this:

What office you might want to run for says something about your personality: 

Judge – You are comfortable making decisions that may make some people unhappy, but you try to settle disputes by finding middle ground – all while remaining in the confines of the law.  You understand that your decisions may not change the world, but they are important to the people and the case in front of you.  You right wrongs and mete out appropriate justice – and you can only do so because you follow the rules yourself.

Legislator/Congress – You like to represent people and fight passionately for their issues.  Making laws is ugly work, but you will fight in the trenches for what you believe in and make only the concessions necessary to create a bill that will help your constituents and your ideology win the day.  You realize you don’t need to make everyone happy – just the people in your district and your party.  The executives (governor/president) talk a lot, but you actually get to the details and get stuff done.

Governor/President – You are the big picture person.  You announce broad initiatives and let congress or the legislature figure out how to pull it off.  You need to have a thick skin because just under half of your constituents resent the fact you got elected. You have little to no say in the details of how your vision is pulled off – you just provide leadership and motivation.  You get the credit when it works, but you get the blame when it doesn't – you probably deserve neither the blame nor the credit.  People look for you to lead them in both good times and bad.

The rules:  Remember, this needs to be at least one page of solid, thoughtful material in order to even be considered for full credit.   Students receiving full credit usually turn in papers of at least 1.5 pages.  Have some fun with it, but remember this is an academic paper.  No cussing or slang, use proper grammar and proof-read before sending, use the spell-checker, do not end a sentence with a question mark (you are supposed to answer questions, not ask them), et cetera.

Type your paper in MS Word and uploaded into Canvas using Turnitin.  This will allow your paper to be checked for plagiarism. Your TurnitIn Score must be 15% or less to receive credit for this assignment.

3.Unit Three Discussion Board: Class C Jury Trials

Under the federal constitution everyone charged with a crime where their liberty is at stake (possibility of jail or prison) is entitled to a lawyer and a jury trial.  Class C misdemeanors (for example: speeding, public intoxication, disorderly conduct) are not included in this because the judge can only assess a fine.  In Texas, someone charged with a class C misdemeanor does not have a right to a court-appointed attorney, but Texas does allow for jury trials on class C misdemeanors.  More than half of the other states do not allow someone to request a jury trial for these minor offenses - any trial would be heard only by a judge.

The question for this Unit:  Should Texas get rid of jury trials for class C misdemeanors?  Trials to the judge save time and money, but are citizens rights at stake?  Is it worth your time as a citizen to sit as a juror on one of these cases just in case you might want to have a jury trial on a class C misdemeanor one day?

The rules:

Your answer needs to be no less than 300 words and no more than 400 words.

4.The states that want to legalize some drugs cannot fully because it is against federal law (that darn supremacy clause).

The states that do not want to legalize any drugs would not be able to handle the problem without federal aid – which would not exist unless drugs were illegal. 

The federal government has stated it would not interfere with states who wanted to legalize marijuana.  To the extent the government can be trusted to keep this word, whether it will change with a new president or what happens if there is a high-profile media incident (a death, an up tick in DWI, a scandal) that scares Congress into making a knee-jerk reaction remains to be seen.  It still leaves the question - should marijuana and/or other drugs be legalized? 

Students will write:

1. Three reasons drugs should be kept illegal, explaining your reason.  Yes, even those of you who REALLY want drugs legal will need to concede three legitimate reasons they should be kept illegal – even if you disagree, and explain why they are legitimate concerns.
2. Three reasons drugs should be made legal, explaining your reasons.  Also, which drugs should be legalized?  Why not all of them?
3. Then I want you to pick a side and explain why.

One-sided papers will be graded harshly.  The point of college is to explore other options.  If you end up back where you started that is ok, but you must at least understand where the other side is coming from. 

The rules:  Remember, this needs to be at least one page of solid, thoughtful material in order to even be considered for full credit.   Students receiving all 50 points usually turn in papers of at least 1.5 pages.  Have some fun with it, but remember this is an academic paper.  No cussing or slang, use proper grammar and proof-read before sending, use the spell-checker, do not end a sentence with a question mark (you are supposed to answer questions, not ask them), et cetera.

Do not put headings at the top of your paper as it does not count towards your page minimum.  I know my name, the class and the date, and Canvas tells me your name.  If you have a title you want to put up there then please do, but then start writing. 

This must be uploaded to Canvas in MS Word and you must click to submit the paper using Turnitin.  Your TurnitIn Score must be 15% or less to receive credit for this assignment.