Government discussion 3

The Electoral College

Prepare: Prior to beginning work on this discussion question, read Chapters 5 and 6 in American Government. In addition, read the following articles: “What Are the Arguments Made in Favor – and Against – the Electoral College?,” “GOP Leaders United in Defense of the Electoral College,” and the ProQuest article “Why the Electoral College is Bad for America.” Also, please watch this week’s videos, Episode I – A More Perfect Union and Episode II – It’s a Free Country regarding the U.S. Constitution.

Reflect: As the textbook author asserts, the Framers intentionally designed a process for selecting presidents that would minimize the president’s political power – the Electoral College. They hoped this institution would insulate the chief executive from the public because they feared the power of presidents who might be elected by the people. However, the Electoral College has also spawned a long ongoing debate about whether the Electoral College should be abandoned in favor of new methods, which would ensure that the candidate elected has the most popular votes. The controversy over the Electoral College must be understood in order to better understand how and why U.S. presidents are elected.

Write: In your initial post, summarize how the Electoral College works. Explain some of the main pros and cons in the debate about whether to keep or abolish the current Electoral College process. In addition, evaluate one proposal to change how the system works without formally abolishing it. Would this proposal effectively address some of the cons that you identified earlier in your post? Please explain your response.

Fully respond to all parts of the question and write your response in your own words. Your initial post must be 200 to 250 words. Support your position with APA citations from two or more of the assigned resources required for this discussion. Please be sure that you demonstrate understanding of these resources, integrate them into your argument, and cite them properly.

Week Three Reflection

Prepare: Prior to beginning your reflection this week, read chapters 5, 6, and 7 in American Government. Review the videos, Episode I – A More Perfect Union and Episode II – It’s a Free Country regarding the U.S. Constitution.

Reflect: The executive and judicial branches of the U.S. national government often seem to operate independently and with little conflict. Many laws are signed by the President and then implemented without a word from the judicial branch. However, there are times when executive decisions are challenged by the judicial branch in a process called judicial review. In addition, there are times when a judicial review has direct impact on your life. For example, when the Supreme Court declared the Affordable Care Act constitutional, many people without health care insurance were finally able to purchase health care insurance. Additionally, when the Supreme Court declared sections of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, some of the constraints that prevented many gay and lesbian couples from marrying were eliminated. Executive Order 13658 on February 20, 2014 also had a direct impact on many business people that contract with the federal government by increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Clearly, the actions of the executive and judicial branches often directly affect our lives.

Write: In your initial post, explain how and why the actions of the executive and/or judicial branches have personally affected your life. Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more of the assigned resources required for this discussion. Fully respond to all parts of the prompt and write your response in your own words. Your initial post must be 200 to 250 words. Please be sure that you demonstrate understanding of these resources, integrate them into your argument, and cite them properly.

Weekly Activity

Develop a detailed outline of your third main point.

1. Branches of Government:

1. Provide a paragraph that briefly describes one strength and one weakness of one branch of our government: Executive, Legislative, or Judiciary. 

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1. Provide a paragraph that recommends one option to maintain the strength and one to correct the weakness.

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1. Scholarly Support: (For assistance with your research, the Ashford University’s Library provides tutorials and recorded webinars on a variety of topics. To access these helpful resources look for the links located under the [email protected] search box on the library home page. For help with writing, please review the APA Style Aid, and Ashford Writing Center’s Sample Annotated Bibliography for additional help.)

1. Provide two credible sources in APA format to support your main points.

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1. Briefly discuss how these sources support your main points.

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1. Briefly evaluate your sources for bias, validity, and reliability.

(Use the space below to complete this section.)