For the essay, you are to answer one of the questions listed below. The essay should be double spaced and no more than five pages. Use class definitions to define terms or points will be deducted from your grade. Research is not necessary. The class materials (the text, handouts and class notes) should provide you with sufficient information for answering the
question.1. Place at the top of your essay three or more amendments you would add to the Constitution that would result in making the U.S. a more democratic country. After reading your essay, the reader should be convinced that your proposals would result in advancing democracy. Be sure to discuss the meaning of democracy and, where relevant, how its characteristics would be more fully realized. If you propose eliminating the electoral college system, spell out in detail its replacement and how it would work, and explain how this proposal would advance democracy. If your proposal is for the winner to be the candidate who gets the most votes, address the issue of that candidate possibly receiving less than 35% of the vote in a race with many candidates
2. Were people to organize and create much stronger labor unions and get the government to impose heavier rates of taxation on the rich while lowering the taxes on all others; to significantly raise the minimum wage; to guarantee free higher education and health care for all; to meaningfully address environmental problems; to provide housing for all; and to reduce military spending and, perhaps, the funding for the police, would the U.S. potentially be a more democratic country? Explain. Be sure to define democracy and discuss the impact the above proposals would have on the characteristics of democracy.
3. Are the rich better served by the U.S. government than workers? Explain. Cite specific examples and government policies that illustrate your arguments. Counter the ideas of one who would disagree with you. Discuss and tie your arguments to government policies that help workers such as social security, food stamps, public transportation, and funding of schools and colleges like CCSF.
4. Describe the characteristics of democracy and discuss to what extent they are the current practices of the U.S. You must discuss how power is distributed in a democracy and how it is distributed in the U.S. Does the quantity of power exercised by the rich and corporations, especially in comparison to the amount held by working people, the majority of the population, pose a problem for democracy in the U.S.? Do businesses seeking to maximize profits undermine democracy? (Don’t discuss the textbook use of the terms elite and popular democracy and the three branches.)
5. Does voting for who you want to be president, for who you want to represent you in Congress, and for state and local officials make a significant difference in what happens in the U.S. and in determining how power is exercised by the government and by big business? Is voting a means by which the majority of the population can shape the direction of society?
Explain. Do the choices on the ballot currently provide for a wide range of views? Should people vote? Why/why not?
Requirements: 4
