Political science

B. Creating Topic, Thesis and Methodology Statements • 10 marks • Choose ONE of the questions below • For the question,wWrite a Topic sentence (2.5 marks), Thesis Sentence (5 marks), and Methodology sentence (2.5 marks) 1. How is John of Salisbury’s conception of political power consistent with the Great Chain of Being? 2. How can George Frederickson’s investigation of the history of racism in the early modern period be related to the Great Chain of Being? Does racism belong to the GCB or does it show that it has been dismantled? C. Introductory Paragraphs: • 20 marks • Choose ONE of the topics below; 2 • For the topic you choose, you must write an introduction to a hypothetical essay 1 – 1.5 pages (single-sided, 12 pt font, double-spaced, 1” margins). • Your introduction must include: a description of your topic, a thesis statement, and a methodology. Your description of your topic should provide sufficient background for why the topic is even an issue in general and help to make sense of your particular thesis. Your thesis can be one to three sentences long. Your methodology should be fairly specific; don’t just say “I will discuss Blake and Kant,” say what ideas or passages in particular you will discuss; • You may use first-person singular (i.e., “I”) 3. In what ways does Shakespeare’s presentation of social class, revenge, and forgiveness in The Tempest overthrow the Great Chain of Being and adopt a modern sensibility? 4. How are (1) Galileo’s claims that physical events should be studied by means of the senses and reasoning and (2) Da Vinci’s representation of the human body related to each other? How are both of these different from the form of thinking in the Great Chain of Being?

Concerning the fragmentation of the New York metropolitan area (length: 1 page.): – In the New York State Constitution, what is the legal basis for the creation of new local governments? – List the categories of local governments in New York State and the number for each category? – What are the different forms of local government that are present in the neighborhood where you are living (from general purpose government to special district government)?

I need a mid-term written on these three questions.  For sources I need them to be from  Plato- The Republic, Allegory of the Cave, Crito Sophocles- Antigone What does Plato’s cave allegory tell us about the truth and realities that we perceive in our political system, society and news media. Is the news fake? How is it possible that people see illusion daily and perceive it to be reality? Why did Plato hate democracy (in the Republic)? What does Plato mean when he says “the unexamined life is not worth living.” What is the structure of the ideal society defined by Plato in the Republic? America is practically the anthesis of Plato’s ideal state, yet on many levels it is successful. Does this mean Socrates was wrong?  Socrates says that as money and wealth become central to society the constitution will change to serve and privilege those who have wealth and money. Is this evident in America today? Do the material desires of capitalist society today and the decay of democracy mean that America is heading toward tyranny?

you are to find an article from a REPUTABLE news source that discusses an issue related to federalism. You will then answer the following questions: -What issue is your article discussing and why is it an example of federalism? -What problems have arisen, or could potentially arise, as a result of the state-national policy interaction discussed in your article? -In your opinion, is United States federalism an efficient method of governance, or does it create more problems than it solves? Why? ***Be sure to use as many examples from the readings as possible. Show me that you understand what you are writing about -Include a work cited page. -Your chosen article should be from a credible source, if you are not sure please ask the professor in advance if your source is credible. -Your article should have been written within the LAST 24 MONTHS. -Your essay should include citations from your chosen article in MLA format.  -Use a standard font and margin spacing (Times New Roman, Calibri). -Include a title. -Be sure to cite when you quote or paraphrase. -You may use internal citations, footnotes, or endnotes. Please MLA style of citation

Recently there has been debate in the United States about whether or not we should “defund the police.”  What exactly does it mean to “defund the police”?  Have any cities in the United States done this?  Who is in favor of  defunding the police?  Who is against it?  Do you believe that cities should defund the police?  Would doing so help protect people’s rights?  Why or why not?   Please use at least four outside sources.

In 1971, Joseph Nye wrote a book called Peace in Parts.  His theory was that if we developed more effective regional organizations, we might be able to prevent conflicts and address critical problems.  Do you think having more comprehensive regional organizations might be better than trying to reform the United Nations and make it more effective?

According to Acemoglu and Robinson, what do rich nations have in common? List the three arguments they propose and discuss providing examples. Do you agree or disagree and why?

Critical Response on Weber For this critical response, you’ll be asked to answer the following questions: What are the two main components of the state? What are the three types of legitimate rule, and which of them do you see in our own state system? (This part of the answer could be accompanied by an example / outside source from the news) You will also briefly think your way through the following two questions: Can politics and ethics co-exist? Think particularly about the “ethic of ultimate ends” and the “ethic of responsibility”. Provide an example / argument that shows politics and ethics either co-existing, or clashing. Why don’t we care about politics? Should we care? What should we care about? The second part of the prompt is obviously sort of broad, and I’m just interested in whatever strong critique / argument you want to make (though of course your argument will need some kind of evidence or support). As always, remember: Write in your own voice! Don’t try to imitate Weber’s complicated style of writing – that won’t be fun for any of us. Focus on clarity. What that means is that even someone who isn’t in this course should be able to easily to understand what you’re writing about. If you need help with technical things (grammar, formatting, etc.), talk to me or visit the writing center. You should quote Weber directly at least once. Since we’re all using the same texts, your citation for that can be embedded in the text and should look something like this: (Weber, Politics as a Vocation, 70). You should quote and/or cite an outside news article from a reputable source. The citation should look like this: (Author’s name, “Name of Article”, News Source Title, date. URL. Date Accessed). You can embed the citations in the text parenthetically, or you can cite them in footnotes. You can have a “Works Cited” segment at the end of your paper, as well, but since there are very few sources, this is not necessary. Footnotes or parenthetical citations make more sense. Don’t cite any outside sources (like Wikipedia or other online encyclopedias). Just trust your own definitions. Try to format this as a regular essay: intro / argument / conclusion. It’s just good practice. Please, don’t plagiarize. It’s very easy to see if someone pulls a line from Britannica or Wikipedia or any other online site, and any little amount of plagiarism will mean that you’ll either a) get a zero on this, or b) schedule a meeting with me to discuss Weber’s theories for a possible 50% on this. Just avoid it so that we don’t have to go through that! It should be a 12 pt font, Times New Roman, 1-in margins, double-spaced

Political Science 21A: Question Set #2. Civil Liberties, Civil Rights  and American Political Parties.   Please respond to each of the five short response questions posted below.  Your answers should be short, focused, and complete, ranging from one to three paragraphs.  Please make sure to answer each specific part of every question.  Successful answers will provide details and context that support your arguments and explain your position to the readers. You may also want to provide real world examples taken from the readings, lectures, group discussions, or your own independent thinking. These illustrations can be from the course materials or your own ideas.  Providing this context and being able to apply the material to YOUR OWN understanding of politics really shows us that you have mastered the material.   Each answer will be worth 20 points, for 100 points total.  The Question Set is due on Canvas at 11:59 pm on Monday April 27th.  You should write plan on uploading your response as a docx file or PDF to this Question Set #1 assignment tab.   Baron v Baltimore established a concept of dual citizenship. How did this view of dual citizenship shape civil liberties/civil rights protections for early citizens of state governments?  Why and how did so many of the civil liberties protections come to be nationalized or incorporated? What are the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating civil liberties protections to extend to citizens of United States regardless of their state of residence?   What were Jim Crow laws, and what were their two primary goals? How were these largely remedied in the 1960s, and what are the Constitutional justifications for these remedies? Make sure and note the difference between de facto and de jure segregation in considering the effectiveness of these remedies.   How/why did federalism delay the extension of civil rights to various groups throughout American history? Despite these delays, how/why were these rights eventually extended? Make sure and note the role the federal government, social movements, and individual state governments have played in doing so.   Why do we have parties? What roles do they play in a representative democracy? How can these roles be beneficial? How can they be harmful?   Why does the US have only two major political parties? Make sure and describe Duverger’s law and strategic behavior on the part of voters, politicians, and parties. Explain why it would be hard for a third party to be electorally successful.

Would Jim Stimson agree or disagree with the commentator regarding the public’s trust in government? Why? What does Stimson say is the reason behind the public’s trust in government?