POL 110 Strayer University Week 8 The US Environment Policy Paper
Description
- Week 8 Assignment – Blog Post on a Recent Article
Introduction- Imagine you are a political writer with your own blog. You write about current events and what they mean for the U.S. government and its citizens. You have been asked to write a blog post of 2-3 typed pages about an event from the last 3 months involving U.S. political issues or policies.
- Instructions
- Step 1: Choose one of the following political issues or policies:
- the U.S. President
- congress
- administrative departments
- political activists
- judicial rulings
- a campaign
- an election
- Step 2: Choose 1 reputable news source that has reported on your chosen event.Here are some sources to choose from:
- liberal leaning news: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Vox, HuffPost, Politico, CNN, Time Magazine
- conservative leaning news: National Review, The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Federalist, Fox Online News, Washington Examiner
- centrist news: NPR Online News (National Public Radio), Reuters, BBC, CNBC News, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Pew Research Center
- To see ratings of news sources, visit AllSides’s Media Bias Ratings.
- Step 3: Summarize your chosen current event in 1-2 paragraphs. Include what the event is, when it took place, and the political issues or policies to which it connects.Step 4: In addition to your brief summary, answer each of the following questions:
- What specific branch of the U.S. government is involved in this current event? (1-2 paragraphs)
- Who or which groups are affected by this event? (1-2 paragraphs)
- What biases or leanings exist in the media source you chose? Give examples. Were these counterbalanced in any way? (1-2 paragraphs)
- What are your opinions on the issue? Use relevant facts and supporting evidence from your source(s) to support your opinion. (1-2 paragraphs)
- Step 5: Cite your selected news article and any other sources using the Strayer Writing Standards format.Note: You should be conscious of your own bias and make every effort to avoid biased, opinionated, emotional, or judgmental language in this summary. That means avoiding words such as always, obviously, clearly, etc. This PDF contains helpful tips for avoiding judgment statements: Objective Language [PDF].
- Week 9 Assignment – Activity: A Policy You Would Change
Introduction
If you could change any U.S. domestic policy today, what would it be? For this activity, choose a policy you would like to change, submit a one-paragraph explanation of the policy you would like to change, and identify three references to support this policy change. This is the same policy you will use to write your Final Reflection assignment (due next week).Instructions
Step 1: Choose a domestic public policy:
- Energy
- The environment
- Health care
- Social welfare
- Civil rights
- Death penalty
- Gun control
- Taxation
- Assisted suicide
- Affirmative action
- Minimum wage
- Drug legalization
- Immigration
- Hate crimes
- Capital punishment
- Note: Approval for your policy is required and will be provided in the grading rubric. If your policy and/or references are not approved you will need to read the instructor feedback and provide an updated policy and/or references to be approved before submitting your final assignment.Step 2: Identify three references to support the policy change.
- Use reputable sources that support your views, illustrate the severity or urgency of the need for change, discuss current events that make you think about the seriousness of the issue, etc. Remember to review the news sources provided earlier in the course and ensure any references selected outside of that list are reliable.
- One tip for finding a reputable sources is to visit the Strayer University Online Library. You can also go directly to Strayer Universitys Political Science Librarypage.
- Step 3: Submit a Word document with your policy choice and one paragraph explaining why that is a policy youd like to change and citations for your three references.
Week 10 Assignment – Final Reflection
This assignment builds off the Policy You Would Change activity you completed in Week 9.
- Instructions
In a 2-3 page paper include the following three parts:Part 1:What is one domestic policy that you would change? Why?- Be sure to use your approved policy and sources identified in the Policy You Would Change activity you completed in Week 9.
- Part 2: From the list of branches below, choose twoand explain the procedures for changing or making a new policy for each of the two you chose.
- the legislative process
- presidential executive action
- administrative agencys regulations
- legal system of the courts
- Part 3: In what way can the public influence this proposed policy change?