Overview: This short paper will allow you to apply your personal interests to government issues. Prompt: The Tragedy of the Commons is a classic piece of research that attempts to balance private interests with public interests. The article was written in the 1960s during a significant period of environmental activism and legislation in the United States. Applying this article to a modern issue, if a […]

MIDTERM DRAFT ESSAY TOPIC & INSTRUCTIONS IMPORTANT: You need to read this whole document carefully. It contains all the important information and guidance you need for BOTH your midterm draft and final version of your essay. Print this file to ensure you are not missing important details, and keep it with you to help guide your work. Highlight the areas in the instructions that may […]

Chapter two covers the founding of the United States, which includes the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. These documents are still relevant to understanding American government today. The Articles of Confederation, while no longer a governing document, provides a historic background to the division and sometimes still conflicting interests of the State and National governments. As you read chapter two, […]

The reading this week presented interesting views from the three different perspectives. The first being Ronald Steel, who is a professor at the University of Southern California, wrote that the attack on 9/11 was “’a war in which the weak turned the guns of the strong against them…showing…that in the end there may be no such thing as a universal civilization of which we all […]

The desertification of the Aral Sea is labeled as the worst human driven ecological disaster of its kind. Originally in the 1960’s, The Aral sea was approximately 90% larger than it is today, and that change was directly linked to the Rice and Cotton cash crops in the region as well as Soviet Union governmental decisions to provide an area of independence for the west. […]

 1.      Identify political trends in your area (city, county, or state) that have contributed to or could contribute to a crisis in a particular industry. 2.      How do political and economic events comingle to create a crisis? 3.      What crisis events are discussed the most on the blogs and Internet sites that you visit? 4.      What examples of resistance to technology have you seen where […]

This paper is not supposed to be analytic papers and NOT opinion pieces or book reviews.  You are not simply to summarize readings or give your opinion about the readings but rather to provide an argument and take a position.  The student should be sure to provide a clear, concise, and coherent argument for the position they take and not engage in demagoguery or political […]

 In the last few years, democratic recession has been particularly troubling in the Andes as populist parties/leaders have emerged in response to the public’s frustration and discontent with weak democratic institutions and performance and increasing dissatisfaction with corrupt and incompetent government.  In Peru, for example, there have been five presidents in the last 3 years with the last six presidents accused of corruption.  Populism became […]

Discussion:  There are 8 Discussion Questions on Canvas, basically one bi-weekly.  These are to be answered in roughly 300 words.  They are your thoughts (after reviewing the material).  Once an initial answer is posted, you will have access to others’ posts.  Please reply to at least one other student’s post with a follow-up question, additional thought, disagreement, etc.  Please respond if I ask you a question in […]

IR Theories: Strengths and WeaknessesPrepare: Read the Introduction and Chapter 1 of the course text. Reflect: Perspectives have been described as “a statement or a hypothesis that explains the primary cause of what is happening—for example a struggle for power causes conflict and sometimes war” (Nau, 2017, p. 4). Our ability to describe, explain, and predict international relations (IR) are valuable skills that enable political scientists to […]