Homework: Public Policy, the News Media, and Outside Interests
"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty." - James Madison
Open your physical or email mailbox during a campaign year and you may find hundreds of unsolicited, political handbills funded by individual campaigns, Political Action Committees (PACs), and Super Political Action Committees (SPACs). Handbills may include endorsements and/or condemnation from interest groups, public policy concerns, and snippets of news coverage favorable and/or unfavorable to a candidate and/or officeholder. Handbills may also contain information about a person's voting record and their public policy concerns.
As you can imagine, creating a favorable handbill that fully articulates the strength of the candidate's character, public policy concerns, and endorsements takes a bit of research and finesse. In this homework, you are going to give this kind of work a try.
Following are some suggested resources for creating your handbill:
1) Ballotpedia's website on political parties in the United States.
2) Data on Campaign Finance, Super PACs, Industries, and Lobbying. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.opensecrets.org/.
3) Candidate's official website, which you can find by googling the candidate's name + official website.
4) Local, State, and National News Media.
5) On the Issues' website about candidates and elected officials' political positions.
6) Pew Research Center's website on public opinion polling and data-driven political research.
7) Vote Smart's website database on candidates and elected officials.
Directions: Select a recent candidate or officeholder at the federal level that you considered supporting with your vote. Craft a handbill that advocates your person's candidacy. Include the following:
A. The Individual
1) Does this person's moral and professional capacity make this individual capable of serving "we the people" ethically and well?
B. Political Party
1) Does the person align well with the political party?
2) Does the person have a political party endorsement?
C. Public Policy
1) Select two specific examples of public policy that your person advocates from the following fields:
a) Economic policy - for example, U.S. budget deficit spending.
b) Education policy - for example, the implementation of charter schools.
c) Environmental policy - for example, the Clean Air Act.
d) Foreign policy - for example, the interplay between civil liberties and the Patriot Act.
e) Healthcare policy - for example, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
f) Welfare policy - for example, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
2) Why are these public policies important to this person and the potential voters?
D. Endorsements
1) Individuals?
2) Interest Groups? Note: PAC donations illustrate support.
3) News Media?
4) Others?
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
(1) The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
(2) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
(3) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.