W3 The Executive Branch

 

Creating and Argument: The Electoral College

This week we learned about the presidency, the powers of the presidency, and the unique way our president is elected via the Electoral College. In this assignment you will be guided in creating a complete argument regarding whether or not you think the Electoral College should be kept or eliminated.

This activity will be useful practice in how to create and present and thoughtful argument. The ability to create and communicate a thoughtful argument will help you out in future studies and in any career.

Your essay must be at least 500 words long.

Follow these steps to create an argument in the form of an essay:

Step 1

In one or two very clear sentences state whether or not you think the Electoral College should be kept or eliminated. This is called writing a thesis statement.

Step 2

In three paragraphs describing three (3) arguments that support your position regarding the Electoral College. Give each argument one paragraph. Do not just list three arguments in support of your position regarding the Electoral College. You must tell the reader why each of your three arguments supports your position on the Electoral College.

Step 3

In three paragraphs describe three (3) arguments that go against your position regarding the Electoral College. This is called addressing counterarguments. Give each counterargument one paragraph. Describe the counterargument and then tell the reader of your essay why that counterargument should be dismissed.

Step 4

Write one paragraph concluding your essay. Restate your initial position on the Electoral College. And review the one or two arguments that you found to be the most compelling in support of your position.

Step 5

Write a reference list. In any good argument you will present your ideas but then include evidence from credible external sources to support your ideas. Always include a reference list.

In outline form your paper should look like this.

1.  Introduction: Thesis statement of your position regarding the Electoral College.

2.  Three arguments supporting your position.

a.  Describe argument 1 and why it supports your position.

b.  Describe argument 2 and why it supports your position.

c.  Describe argument 3 and why it supports your position.

3.  Three counter arguments opposing your position.

a.  Describe counter argument 1 and why it is not sufficient.

b.  Describe counter argument 2 and why it is not sufficient.

c.  Describe counter argument 3 and why it is not sufficient.

4.  Conclusion paragraph.

Please note: APA formatting and citations rules apply to this and all essays in this course.

As with all weekly written assignments, submit your work as an attached file. Double-space your paper and use 12 point Times New Roman as your font.

View your assignment rubric.

Response to discussion 5

you need to complete at least two responses (the “Final Posts”) of at least 200 words each to classmates by the dates shown in the course schedule.

First post:

Religious speech should not to go on without serious consequences for the sake of free discourse. It has genuine and annihilating impacts on people groups’ lives and dangers their wellbeing and security. It’s destructive and disruptive for groups and hampers social advance in battling separation. Left unchecked, free speech can prompt war and genocide. Despite the fact that the privilege to free discourse is a key esteem, it ought not be permitted to exceed the essential human privileges of other individuals, particularly their entitlement to life. In any case, social orders should make a move against loathe free speech without requiring that a couple of particular words independent from anyone else should specifically and instantly induce viciousness, or probably. That sets a high bar and is hard to demonstrate. It additionally enables purveyors of hate to dodge obligation basically by not making unequivocal calls for brutality. Further, our new computerized world ups the Internet has brought forth a multiplication of detest discourse alongside helpful data, for example, bomb-production guidelines or the street numbers of premature birth suppliers. This has empowered others to submit savagery long after the words were first distributed. Abuse to one’s profoundly held religious convictions are experienced as hostile and an assault against the sacrosanct request. Not maligning the ruler’s name is one of the best Ten Commandments. So there is justifiable reason purpose behind individuals to be tread painstakingly on another’s religious sensibilities. Deriding religion is the most genuine sort of scorn, it appears to be more than censuring your nation or ridiculing somebody’s mom. Regardless of whether religion ought to be an extraordinary class is an unavoidable issue.

Second post:

I believe that free speech is exactly what it is, free speech.  There is no hidden meaning or message behind it.  We can say whatever we please and whatever we may feel towards a certain subject.  However, there are certain things such as religion that shouldn’t be insulted or mocked because it is immoral.  This does not mean that it won’t happen.  There are plenty of people in the world today that take no consideration of people’s feelings and emotions.  Like I said when discussing the second amendment, people are going to do and say whatever they please, regardless of any restrictions that may be placed.  I don’t think that we should draw any lines in regards to freedom of speech.  As citizens of the United States, we should be able to speak our minds and true thoughts.  It is up to the individual to decide whether or not it is appropriate to do so.  If they decide wrongly, they deserve whatever punishment or harm may come to them.  

I have noticed that there are way too many people that get offended and butt hurt over the dumbest things.  It would be hard to control and regulate what is appropriate and what isn’t appropriate in regards to freedom of speech.  People would constantly find loopholes around it, or flat out ignore it, and disobey the law.  There are always going to be rule breakers, and there is nothing the US can do about it.  I think the laws we have in place serve the US well.  

Fantasy Presidential Campaign Activity

!!!I NEED THIS TODAY 100% PLAGIARISM FREE!!!

 In this activity you are going to apply what you have learned this week about policy as well as apply what you have learned in this course so far to create a basic presidential campaign plan.

Imagine that you have been serving the past few years as the governor of your home state or a U.S. Senator representing your home state. You have done great work and face no challenge in winning the nomination of your party to run in the General Election. In your campaign plan, please address the following:

Part 1: Campaign Details

  1. What is your home state?
  2. What is your political party?
  3. What is your campaign tagline or slogan? Almost all recent presidential campaigns have had a theme song. For example, in 1992, Bill Clinton used the song,” Don’t Stop,” by Fleetwood Mac. In 2012, Republican nominee Mitt Romney used the song, “Born Free,” by Kid Rock. What is your campaign theme song? Why did you select that song.
  4. Select someone to be your Vice Presidential Running Mate. You can pick anyone that would eligible, per the Constitution, to serve as President. Why did you select this person to be your vice presidential running mate? How do they help improve your chances on winning the General Election?

Part 2: Your Issues

  1. Select and describe two (2) domestic policy issues your campaign is advocating.
  2. Why did you select these domestic policy issues to focus on? Use polling data from a reputable polling source such as pew research to support your decision.
  3. For each domestic policy issue write a simple one sentence “elevator pitch” that you would use to easily communicate your position to the masses.
  4. Select and describe two (2) economic policy issues your campaign is advocating.
  5. Why did you select these economic policy issues to focus on? Use polling data from a reputable polling source such as pew research to support your decision.
  6. For each economic policy issue write a simple one sentence “elevator pitch” that you would use to easily communicate your position to the masses.
  7. Select and describe two (2) foreign policy issues your campaign is advocating.
  8. Why did you select these foreign issues to focus on? Use polling data from a reputable polling source such as pew research to support your decision.
  9. For each foreign policy issue write a simple one sentence “elevator pitch” that you would use to easily communicate your position to the masses.
  10. Part 3: Your Strategy

Considering the electoral college vote, which specific states would you campaign in. Keep in mind you have limited resources and that you can’t campaign in every state. Think about what states you would need to win in order to win the general election. Based on historical data, do you actually have a chance to win. Would you be able secure enough electoral votes to win the general election by these states.

To help you think about this part of the assignment you may want to find online and play with an “Interactive Electoral College Map.” Here are some website that you could use to help:

http://www.270towin.com/

http://uselectionatlas.org/TOOLS/evcalc.php

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/electoral/

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/map/predict.html

Be sure to include a reference list of all sources that you used to complete your paper.

Party Platform Creation Activity

 This week we learned about the important functions of political parties. You also had the opportunity to browse the Democratic and Republican Party platforms for your reading. In this activity, pretend you are in charge of inventing your own original political party and write a platform for your brand new political party.

 

Part 1 – Your Platform

  1. Name your party.
  2. Identify and describe one domestic policy that your party would believe in. Give a paragraph description of that domestic policy. Be very detailed and specific in your description. (Domestic policy is anything that impacts how we live our lives within the borders of our nation.)
  3. Identify and describe one specific economic policy that your party would believe in. Give a paragraph description of that economic policy. Be very detailed and specific in your description. (Economic policy is all those policies that impact the distribution and exchange of property, wealth, and capital. Think about things that impact money and how much you have and how you can make more.)
  4. Identify and describe one specific foreign policy that your party would believe in. Give a paragraph description of that foreign policy. Be very detailed and specific in your description. (Foreign policy is how this nation interacts with other nations.)

Part 2 – Reflection Essay

Write an essay in which you compare and contrast each of your three policies, one at a time, to similar policies from the platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties. How are your policies similar to the policies of the two major parties? How your policies different from the policies of the two major parties? Be specific and include specific examples. Conclude your comparison and contrast essay by discussing which of the two major parties your political party most similar to?

Don’t forget to include a reference list.

Response to Discussion 6

complete at least two responses (the “Final Posts”) of at least 200 words each to classmates by the dates shown in the course schedule.

First Post:

I think advising agriculturists that they remain to harvest gigantic benefits from developing GM crops. At first, the cost is costly however cash is saved money on pesticides. To deliver the GM crops, present day biotechnology is utilized which requires exceedingly gifted individuals and advanced and costly equipment. Large organizations require significant interests in research facilities, hardware and HR, consequently the motivation behind why GM crops are more costly for agriculturists than customary yields. GM crops, agriculturists are told, are a far superior choice. It requires a shorter investment to deliver the coveted item, it is exact and there are no undesirable qualities. GM harvests can be created to be herbicide safe. This implies agriculturists could shower these products with herbicide and execute the weeds, without influencing the harvest. As a result, the measure of herbicide utilized as a part of one season would be decreased, with an ensuing diminished in costs for agriculturists and buyers. Bug protection was incorporated with the cotton, thus decreasing and notwithstanding expelling the utilization of pesticides, which are costly as well as, more essentially, destructive to the earth. Indeed, even creatures can be hereditary adjusted to be more slender, become speedier, and require less nourishment. They could be changed to have extraordinary qualities, for example, more prominent drain generation in dairy animals. These adjustments again prompt enhanced efficiency for agriculturists and at last lower costs for the purchaser. Altered products could maybe forestall flare-ups, for example, foot and mouth illness, which has crushed numerous ranchers and neighborhood economies.

Second Post:

In regards to GMO products, I know quite a lot about this subject matter.  I believe that there are far too many pros than cons when it comes to these foods.  They are resistant to insects, cutting down on the numerous diseases that insects carry.  They are also more susceptible to the heat, cold, and even drought.  This makes it easier for farmers to grow crops all year around.  Not only does this benefit them financially, it also benefits us as consumers.  They also have more of a tolerance to herbicides.  It is because of GMO products that we can buy seedless watermelon and seedless grapes.  This is because they can engineer the seeds to give the GM food stronger colors,  increase their shelf life, and of course eliminate the seeds. As far as safety goes, GM foods have met the same requirements of the foods grown from non-GM seeds. 

Even if there are some cons, such as allergies, I do not believe there is anything to harmful or dangerous about eating GMO products.  Some people may think that hey cause cancer, but there is no evidence to support that. I do know that they had used rats in an experiment to test the life span when fed GMO food.  The results of this experiment were too vague and the results were inconclusive.  

I think that people concerned about the safety of GMO products, just shouldn’t eat them. Right now there is no label requirement in the US, but if you want to avoid GM foods, just look for the labels that say “USDA certified organic.”  I do think that there should be a law requiring that they label GM foods, because people shouldn’t have to guess at what they are eating. 

Interest Group Consultant Simulation

In this activity you will be pretending to be a consultant for an interest group. You will be charged with helping that interest group better achieve its goals. Have fun and be creative in this activity!

  1. First, select an interest group from the following list that you will be consulting for (*you may only complete this assignment on one the listed interest groups):
    • Service Employees International Union
    • National Association of Realtors
    • US Chamber of Commerce
    • National Rifle Association
    • National Education Association
    • American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
    • AARP
    • National Association of Broadcasters

 

  1. In the first sentence of your paper please state very clearly what interest group you have selected.
  2. Next, describe in your own words, what your selected interest group mission is. Do not copy and paste or quote the organization’s mission in your paper. Use your own words.
  3. Next, take that mission statement and rewrite it in a new short one sentence “elevator pitch” that you think would be more effective. Feel free to get creative.
  4. Look up your selected interest groups website. What is the web address? What do you like about their website? What do you think could be improved about their website?
  5. Look up your selected interest group on social media. What is good about their social media presence? What could be improved about their social media presence?
  6. Look up your selected interest group on OpenSecrets or the Federal Elections Commission website and discuss your findings. How much money does your interest group have? What is that money being spent on? In your opinion, are they using their money effectively? How could they spend their money to better accomplish their goals?
  7. Come up with at least one completely original idea that could be use to improve your selected interest groups efforts. Describe this idea in detail. What specific goal would this idea seek to accomplish? What types of resources would this idea need. How would this idea improve the organization’s efforts to achieve its mission.
  8. Finally, be sure to provide a reference list.

Discussion Board 5

 

  1. Have advances in modern technology expanded or contracted citizens’ conceptions of what privacy they actually enjoy? Is it still reasonable to assume that conversations on cell phones remain private? What about e-mail messages and texts? Is anything that you do or write on a social networking site such as Facebook actually private?

Please reply to student below:

 William Chavez 

Let’s be clear in no way shape or form do we really live in a private society. I think the way technology is evolving people are starting to realize that whatever they do in this world is not private. Someone might be watching or hearing you. Scary concept but I mean is there really anything that you can do? I feel as a society we have acknowledged that it is happening, and it is going to continue happening and therefore we just might not care anymore. I know that is how I feel. That is why I watch what I post online. I tend to change my passwords frequently and randomly. Quite frankly I am not doing anything malicious or incriminating so it does not really affect me. 

For instance, you are completely wrong if you think no one monitors our text messages, phone calls, or what we do online. Did we forget that the US Patriot Act was established after the terrorist attacks on New York on 9/11? Did you know that this gave the government the power to monitor everything we do? Sure, it is a good thing regardless of the invasion of your privacy. If it helps stop terrorist threats or massive shooting, I’m all for it.

Another situation involving the internet and search engines and what we search. I’m an avid Facebook and Instagram user I’ll give you that. However, I am always googling things that pop up in my mind. Let’s say for this scenario restaurants, countries, tickets for events and etc. Have you not noticed that whatever you looked up on search engines now shows up as recommendations or sponsored material on those social media pages? Is that not weird? That itself should speak volumes to you. If not, I’ll give you another case. Google your whole address. See if your information is out there for the public to see. I did not put it there. My family did not either. So, then who did? Technology and privacy do not go hand in hand.

library extra credit

  • Library Extra CreditFor a bit of extra credit, you can take some online classes offered by the library. Five points per class. Once you’ve taken the class you can take a screen shot of the certificate or badge and upload it at the link below (just click where it says “Library EC”). You need to pass the quiz to get credit. You can click on the link as many times as you need to, if you complete different classes at different times.
    Here’s a link to the MLA class. Five points for completing the class and passing the quiz.
    Here’s a link to the Research classes. There are three of these (Research 1, 2 & 3), and you will get 5 points for each one that you successfully complete.
    That adds up to 20 points of extra credit possible from library classes.
    If you’ve taken these classes before, that’s great, but you have to take it during this semester to get credit in this class. Having taken it before will make it easier, because you’ll probably already know all the answers. But it’s never bad to get a reminder of important information.
    ** Please be aware that there is a deadline to register to take the Research classes and it sometimes takes a few days to get this done. Plus, the library regularly shuts these classes down before the end of the semester. If you wait too late to get started you will not be able to attempt this extra credit. If you don’t get registered, or if you don’t complete the classes before they “go dark” I will NOT be able to help you! Don’t wait, if you want to do these classes! **  
    Final deadline: May 9, 11:59 p.m.

  • AssignmentLibrary ECTurn it in here. You can use this link as many times as you need to, if you complete the assignments at different times. Just attach a screen shot of the certificate or badge showing you completed the assignment.

    If you don’t know how to take a screen shot there are many, many YouTube videos showing how. Here’s one at random: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoTpIYLBtKs&t=3s (It would be great if you would resize screenshots so they are not HUGE files before attaching them here.)

Due 5 hours

PM3110: Module 6 Ending the Project

Analysis 6.1

Effective Post-Project Reviews

1

Read the following scenario:

A large project that was running within the organization for the past four years needs to be closed. Toward 

the middle of the project, the project team felt that the project was gaining steam in the execution phase 

and was progressing flawlessly. The project sponsor who was initially leading the project left for a job in 

another organization. A new sponsor stepped in and did not feel that the project was of any value. He 

claimed that the organization was headed in another direction. He constantly criticized the project team and 

made them feel like the project they had been working on for the past few years was not of any importance 

anymore to him or the organization. He had not really taken a review of the project. He just made a 

reactionary decision to cancel the project. He felt that the project did not fit into the direction of the 

organization and would rather hurt than help the current environment. The project was canceled, the team 

was released to their normal jobs, and the project manager was fired because the sponsor’s view of not 

getting the job done correctly. The sponsor’s boss wants to understand why the project was canceled 

through a post-project review.

Based on the given scenario, apply the four principles of post-project review and explain how the project 

would have been evaluated. Remember the four principles of post-project review are objectivity, internal 

consistency, replicability, and fairness.

Submission Requirements:

Submit your responses in a Microsoft Word document of the following specifications:

  Font: Arial, Size: 12 point

  Length: 1–2 pages

  Line Spacing: Double

Evaluation Criteria:

The Analysis rubric will be used to evaluate this assessment. In addition to the rubric, you will be evaluated 

on the following points:

  Did you cover the four principles of a post-project review?

  Did you use the four principles to note where the project may have been wrongly canceled? 

PM3110: Module 6 Ending the Project

Analysis 6.1

Effective Post-Project Reviews

2

  Did you explain how the project can be evaluated?

AmericanGovernmentW6

Interest Group Consultant Simulation

In this activity you will be pretending to be a consultant
for an interest group. You will be charged with helping that interest group
better achieve its goals. Have fun and be creative in this activity!

Your paper should be at least 500 words long.

1.   
First, select an interest group from the
following list that you will be consulting for (*you may only complete this
assignment on one the listed interest groups):

a.   
Service Employees International Union

b.   
National Association of Realtors

c.    
US Chamber of Commerce

d.   
National Rifle Association

e.   
National Education Association

f.     
American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees

g.   
AARP

h.   
National Association of Broadcasters

2.   
In the first sentence of your paper please state
very clearly what interest group you have selected.

3.   
Next, describe in your own words, what your
selected interest group mission is. Do not copy and paste or quote the
organization’s mission in your paper. Use your own words.

4.   
Next, take that mission statement and rewrite it
in a new short one sentence “elevator pitch” that you think would be more
effective. Feel free to get creative.

5.   
Look up your selected interest groups website.
What is the web address? What do you like about their website? What do you
think could be improved about their website?

6.   
Look up your selected interest group on social
media. What is good about their social media presence? What could be improved
about their social media presence?

7.   
Look up your selected interest group on Open Secrets
or the Federal Elections Commission website and discuss your findings. How much
money does your interest group have? What is that money being spent on? In your
opinion, are they using their money effectively? How could they spend their
money to better accomplish their goals?

8.   
Come up with at least one completely original
idea that could be used to improve your selected interest groups efforts. Describe
this idea in detail. What specific goal would this idea seek to accomplish?
What types of resources would this idea need? How would this idea improve the
organization’s efforts to achieve its mission?

9.   
Finally, be sure to provide a reference list.

Please note: APA formatting and citations rules apply to
this and all essays in this course.

View your assignment rubric.