WITH RICK ELDERUNIT 5

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SS 236 - People Power and Politics: An Introduction to

American Government

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• Greetings and Welcome to our seminar for Unit 5.

• I have been reading some good Discussion Board Questions for this week so far, and the Week 3 projects that I read overall were very good.

Now for my Upper Michigan slide of the Week. This is to me an interesting one. It is the Pickle

Barrel House, and is located in the tiny one time fishing village of Grand Marais, MI on the shore of Lake Superior.

The Pickle Barrel House

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The Pickle Barrel House was built in 1926 as a vacation cottage for a cartoonist who worked for the Chicago Tribune.

His name was William Donahey and he created a comic strip called the Teenie Weenies.

http://lambiek.net/artists/d/donahey_william.htm I put this site in the Webliography also.

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The Three Branches of Federal Government The powers of the federal government are

vested in three separate branches of government: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of federal government. In Unit 5, we will examine each of these three branches of government and how each branch checks and balances the other two.

(Source: Kaplan University, 2011)

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We will pay special attention to the functions and powers of Congress, the Presidency, as well as the Supreme Court. By understanding these essential aspects of federal government, we will be better able to accurately describe and evaluate the policymaking process (Source: Kaplan University, 2011)

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By completing Unit 5, you will understand the rudimentary aspects of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of American federal government. You will also have a fuller understanding of how the powers held by these three branches are balanced, as each branch is able to check the other two. This greater understanding of the three branches of government will also help you to have a fuller grasp of the policymaking process in America .

(Source: Kaplan University, 2011)

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Please complete the interactive activity titled “Simulation: You Are a Supreme Court Justice Deciding a Free Speech Case.” This activity will help you in your effort to successfully complete this unit. It is located in The Thinkspot found on the left hand links under Unit 5.

This information is found under the tab titled Extra! Extra!

(Source: Kaplan University, 2011)

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This week’s to do list. Read/View/Listen

Read about checks and balances, listen to three online chapters, two podcasts, and view a video about judicial philosophies.

Discussion Be sure to participate in the discussion forum.

Complete the Unit 5 Project For details, click on “Unit 5 Project” (Source: Kaplan University,

2011)

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Now for some information about the unit five project.

Getting to Know Your Congressional Representative and District

For this week’s project, you will identify your Congressional District (i.e. U.S. House of Representatives District) and your district’s Member of Congress. (Source: Kaplan University, 2011)

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Using the Web site of the House of Representatives, you will research the geographical scope and demographic composition of your district, as well as the key issues that your congressional representative has worked on. You will then write a 2-page essay in which you declare your support or opposition to your representative’s re-election (Source: Kaplan University, 2011).

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To begin, go to http://www.house.gov/. In the “Find your representative” box, put your zip code and click “Go.” The site will then identify your Member of Congress, on whose name you can click to begin your research. On the Web site of your representative, you will see a link that takes you to information about your Congressional District. You also will see links that take you to information about your representatives' recent votes, biography, and key issues. You should follow those links, read the information, and consider the following questions as you prepare your essay:

(Source: Kaplan University, 2011)

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In which Congressional District do you live? What are its major cities? Is it predominantly rural or urban?

Does your Congressional District lean Republican or Democrat? Why? (Source: Kaplan University, 2011)

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Who is your Member of Congress? What is your representative’s party affiliation, background, length of service, voting record, and key issues?

Given what you have read for this week, does your representative follow the delegate or trustee concept of a legislator?

Would you support your representative’s re-election to office? Why or why not?

(Source: Kaplan University, 2011)

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Then, you will craft an essay that includes each of the following:

A properly formatted (APA-style) title and reference page;

Parenthetical citations (APA-style), when appropriate;

At least two double-spaced pages in the body of the paper (Times New Roman font/12 point size);

At least three sources. (Source: Kaplan University, 2011)

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Some writing style tips I want to share with you.

Now that I have read through your first batch of papers for this class, there are a few things that I should mention to the group.

1.When writing academic papers please do not use contractions, just spell the word out, for example if you want to say don’t - write out the word as do not.

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2. Please be sure to keep your paper in the proper tense. Thus all of your paper should be in the past tense. Because all of the things we’re talking about have already happened, even if they happened this morning or yesterday. It would be extremely unlikely to be writing about an event that was actually in progress.

3. Please remember to use headers in page numbers even on short papers.

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4. With using a APA format at the top center of your first page of the body of your paper, you should repeat the full title of your paper.

5. Please always be sure to read the instruction rubrics. They can vary from project to project particularly as far as how many sources are required.

6. Those are the key things I wanted to mention now. Are there any questions?

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Unit Outcomes Identify competing judicial philosophies and

how they impact Supreme Court decisions.Identify the powers of the three branches of

federal government as well as what powers are implied.

The word implied powers can sometimes mean different things to different people.

A person we call the strict constructionist does not believe in this concept. (Source: Kaplan University, 2011

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These types of citizens believe if the Constitution does not exactly spell on out a provision that it that the an of the government may be unconstitutional for that reason.

Many other Americans believe that the Constitution can be interpreted as people do with the Holy Bible and thus it means different things to different people.

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This general line of reasoning states that, the Constitution of the United States is a living, flexible document. They believe this the because of what is called the “necessary and proper clause.” This is often known to as the elastic clause.

Are there any additional questions at this time? If not then we are essentially done for the week, and humane owl of off. I will see all of you on the discussion boards).

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If not then we are essentially done for the week, and feel free to sign off. I will see all of you on the discussion boards.

The End

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