Answer 3 Government Discussion Posts NO PLAGIARISM

DISCUSSION 1:

The Gerrymandering Game

Discussion

Please respond to EACH of the following discussion topics and submit them to the discussion forum as a single post. Your initial post should be 75-150 words in length. Then, make at least two thoughtful responses to your fellow students’ posts. If you haven’t recently, please review the Rules of Discussion.

In 1812, Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry had passed into law newly drawn Congressional districts to favor his party (the Democratic-Republican Party). Critics charged that the one particular district looked like a salamander leading the Boston Gazette was first to use the word “Gerry-mander,” which was a combination of the Governor’s last name and the amphibian creature. Ever since, the drawing of congressional and state legislative districts has been an important tool used by both political parties.

Consistent with the 14th Amendment, every ten years after the decennial census (decennial is a fancy word meaning every ten years), the state legislatures redraw both state legislative and congressional districts. Just as Governor Gerry and the Democratic-Republicans did in 1812, today, both Democratic and Republican partisans use reapportionment (the process of drawing new districts) to create state legislative and congressional districts to the advantage of their respective parties.

First, go to the website: www.ReDistrictingGame.org

Click the Link “Play the Game” to play “The ReDistricting Game.” Complete the various district drawing challenges in the game! CAUTION: this game is very addicting!

After playing the game, make a discussion post addressing the following:

What was your experience with the Gerrymandering game? Did anything surprise you?
Is it possible to create a “neutral,” “fair,” or “equal” system for drawing legislative districts? What would be “fair”? What would be or “equal”? What would be “neutral”? How would “neutral,” “fair,” or “equal” be objectively defined and measured?
Could Gerrymandering actually be a good thing?

DISCUSSION 2:

May It Please the Court …

For your initial post this week imagine that you are a lawyer arguing a case concerning federalism before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. This case has to do whether the power to create policy on a particular issue should be in the hands of the Federal Government, left to the States, or left in the hands of individual citizens.

Then, you must support your argument to the Supreme Court by finding and using an applicable part of the United States Constitution.

Select one of the following starters to start your argument (only do one):

May it please the court, the federal government, not the states has the power to legalize marijuana because …
May it please the court, the states, not the federal government, has the power to legalize marijuana because …
May it please the court, neither the states nor federal government has the power to legalize marijuana because …
May it please the court, the federal government, not the states, has the power to pass gun control because …
May it please the court, the states, not the federal government, has the power to pass gun control because …
May it please the court, neither the states nor federal government has the power to pass gun control because …
May it please the court, the federal government, not the states, has the power to pass education policy because …
May it please the court, the states, not the federal government, has the power to pass education policy because …
May it please the court, neither the states nor federal government has the power to pass education policy because …
May it please the court, the federal government, not the states, has the power to recognize or even restrict same sex marriages because …
May it please the court, the states, not the federal government, has the power to recognize or even restrict same sex marriages because …
May it please the court, neither the states nor federal government has the power to recognize or even restrict same sex marriages because …

For your two follow up posts you may do the following:

Pretend you are a justice of the Supreme Court and question the argument of one of your peers.
Respond to the questions of your peers to your initial argument.

DISCUSSION 3:

The Newsroom

In your discussion this week you have to write a short newscast. Select three (and only three) current news stories. Select the three stories that you think are the most important to our nation and society.

Write an original headline for each story.
Write no more than three sentences summarizing each story.
Include the full html web address for each story.

*It is very important to only write on three stories and keep your summaries under three sentences as this simulates how challenging it is to explain very complicated new stories in very restricted time and keeping the attention of viewers.

Your initial post will look something like this:

Catchy Headline #1

Summary sentence 1. This is the second sentence. And finally a third sentence.

http://www.not_a_real_website.com/page/super_cool_…

Catchy Headline #2

Summary sentence 1. This is the second sentence. And finally a third sentence.

http://www.not_a_real_website.com/page/super_cool_…

Catchy Headline #3

Summary sentence 1. This is the second sentence. And finally a third sentence.

http://www.not_a_real_website.com/page/super_cool_…