Final

THE GOVERNMENT FINAL

Mr. Ring: Fall 2008

Due: 12:01AM Sunday, December 21^st (attach or paste in email to davidjring@gmail.com)

OR

1:31PM Friday, December 19^th (hard copy)

Instructions:

Answer the following question using your knowledge of government and political organization in the United States. The question is comprehensive, so it is necessary to include information going back to the beginning of the year to completely answer. Use and citation of reference books and online resources is required (minimum of two hard sources; i.e. books, and two online sources [Wikipedia is acceptable, but be sure to also include the internal reference of the information provided at the bottom of the Wikipedia entry to receive full credit]).

BE SURE TO MAKE APPROPRIATE AND ACCURATE REFERENCES!!!

(I will accept any major format; MLA, APA, or Chicago, just be consistent)

Question:

What is the “Incorporation Doctrine” and how does the process reflect the fact that the US Constitution—and therefore the system of governance itself—were purposely designed as a “limited government”?

Expectations/Rubric:

Minimum Length: 800 words (about a full page word-processed document, single spaced);

References: at least four (two books, two online) properly cited;

Key concepts/terms that will help your grade: Lockean definition/purpose of democracy, republicanism, direct vs. indirect democracy, institutional dynamics, federalism (branches and levels), the US Constitution’s ratification history/narrative, legislative vs. executive dynamics, party eras, the campaign process, the ideological spectrum(s), judicial review/impact of Supreme Court decisions, the Bill of Rights, 14^th Amendment/Due Process Clause, & civil liberties/civil rights.

(The preceding is the original intellectual property of D. Ring; educators can email me about sharing such an awesome, awesome final.)

The. Most. Pressing. News.

While my professional life is spent making sure young'ns are growing into responsible free-thinking citizens; in my free time I enjoy listening to some of the best music around in order to keep myself grounded.

That being said; TTU Student Media has just opened up a can. KTXT is one of the few salves for we living in West Texas. If it doesn't come back, I'm afraid that there will be a sudden spike in flaming projectiles across the south plains.

Election Results: Alternate Universe Ed.

Check it.

The Beauty of America in 3:09

This clip was taken at a recent McCain rally. I think it really embodies how ugliness in the political arena pales in comparison to the one thing that links us as US citizens: rationality, tolerance, and personal responsibility.

http://www.americannewsproject.com/videos/158

I had it embedded, but being somewhat html-illiterate I'm not sure how to fit it into the blog post so you'll have to go to the ANP site to view it in its entirety.

Also, it's great to see the agents of stupidity not want to give their names and to walk off in defeat...

Exam II

Next week we'll be reviewing chapter 12 and chapter 13 as well as Richard Neustadt's article for the exam that will be Wednesday for 2nd/3rd and Thursday for 5th/6th.

Points to Ponder

Anyone wanna take a guess at Coronado's Project Vote outcome?

I'll give a free 100 to the person who gets the count and winner closest.

(hint: between 1500 and 1800 of your classmates voted)

Good luck!

Debate...uh, debate.

Over the next couple of days we'll be watching the Veep debate in class. As I will be showing/am right now showing you in class, the blog would be a good place to express your opinion through the impersonal medium that is blog comment threads. And make sure you get participation credit.

Love yooouuu...

For readers.

For watchers.