Choose either Question 1 or 2. Then answer Questions 3, 4 and 5.
1) Over the course of the semester, we have become acquainted with and have discussed many of the challenges facing our American National Government today. Outline three (3) current issues (constitutional, policy, economic, social, and/or political) confronting our Government today. How does (or does not) our government successfully meet these challenges? Which of these issues impacts you as a college student the most? Why?
OR
2) Imagine your future self as either a United States President, Vice-President, Senator, Representative, or Supreme Court Justice, i.e., a member of our American National Government. What would your duties entail in such a position of leadership? Given your political ideology, what would be your political agenda? How would you work to make the United States a "better country", and what obstacles would you have to overcome?
3) As a college student and working-age member of our capitalistic American democratic republic, which do you feel is more essential to your "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness": civil rights or civil liberties? Why?
4) What is the interaction of public opinion and the mass media with that of foreign policy? Provide three examples how, when, and why this interaction has affected our American National Government since 1980.
5) Based on our comprehensive study of the American Political System and its National Government, rank the following "institutional milestones" in the order which you believe is most likely to occur, from first to last, describe their impact on the United States, and explain your conclusions:
a) The first Muslim Vice-President of the United States;
b) The first openly gay justice of the United States Supreme Court;
c) The first woman President of the United States;
d) The first Asian-American Secretary of State;
e) The first Hispanic Speaker of the House of Representatives.