I have divided the class into four work groups of five students each. Every group will assign each of its research questions to one of its members. Within each group, every student will ask another to review her or his paper. The reviewer’s name should appear on the paper, along with that of the author.
- Essays should be double‑spaced and no more than four pages long. (Use twelve-point type.) I will not read past the fourth page.
- Use secondary sources to establish context. Use primary sources for the bulk of your research. Seek information in scholarly journals and government publications. Wherever possible, rely on hard data such as election returns and polling results. Do not just rely on news media accounts, which may be inaccurate.
- Cite your sources, using proper Turabian/Chicago format.
- Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you.
- Submit essays to the Sakai dropbox by 11:59 PM on Friday, October 9. Papers will drop a gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a letter grade after that. I will grant no extensions except for illness or emergency.
- Janus v. AFSCME was a 5-4 decision. Explain the outcome. Did it represent a clash between originalism and precedent?
- On what basis is the Trump administration asking the Supreme Court to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act? Explain the controversy.
- Explain the evolution of the "nuclear option" in the U.S. Senate.
- Pick a figure from US history (e.g., Huey Long, Huey Newton) and explain how critics might deem that person a demagogue in the sense that Publius described. How would Alinsky characterize that leader?
- Why has the US Senate not approved the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?
Brown, Ellsworth, Liu, Muvvala, Abraha
- On what legal basis has Trump imposed tariffs on China? On what basis do critics challenge the legality of the decision?
- Why did Nixon propose a guaranteed income? What happened to his proposal?
- Why and how did the House ban earmarks? What are the arguments for and against earmarks?
- Explain what happened to Kucinich's efforts to impeach President George W. Bush.
- On June 15, 2011, The New York Times reported: "The White House, pushing hard against criticism in Congress over the deepening air war in Libya, asserted Wednesday that President Obama had the authority to continue the military campaign without Congressional approval because American involvement fell short of full-blown hostilities." Explain the issue. Did the president prevail? What were the consequences?
Baumann, Siasat, Hamid, Shousha, Lorenzen
- On May 18, 2008, Barack Obama said, “We're not going to use signing statements as a way of doing an end-run around Congress.” How does his performance measure against that pledge?
- Describe and explain Boehner's role in the original passage of NCLB.
- LBJ biographer Robert Caro writes of the 1964 Civil Rights Act: "The clergymen helped shift the tide of battle off the familiar—and hostile— terrain in which civil rights had, time after time, become mired in the Senate." Explain.
- .Justice Scalia wrote: "The Court holds that when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act says `Exchange established by the State' it means `Exchange established by the State or the Federal Government.' That is of course quite absurd, and the Court’s 21 pages of explanation make it no less so." Explain. How would you evaluate his argument?
- Why did LBJ seek passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? Consider the role of historical precedent and the fog of war.
Bullock, Khwaja, Banejee, Aguilar, Reeves
- President Obama asked Congress for an AUMF against ISIL. Explain what happened to the request and why.
- Compare and contrast Mitch McConnell's leadership style to that of Mike Mansfield.
- Trump has criticized President Obama's response to Ebola. How would you appraise Trump's argument and Obama's performance.
- Why did the Kyoto Protocol never win Senate approval?
- On June 16, an editorial in The Wall Street Journal said:: "An alien appears to have occupied the body of Justice Neil Gorsuch as he wrote Monday’s opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County," What does the case tell us about different approaches to constitutional interpretation?
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