This assignment will require you
to navigate various websites for your state elected officials and
answer questions about available information. This assignment aims to
give you foundational background information about your communities and
the elected officials representing them and guide your research into how
state institutions impact your chosen research topic.
Assignment Instructions
The focus should be on YOUR CHOSEN TOPIC. (Topic: Police Reform and Community relations)
Section 1 of this assignment is about the function and leaders of
state government in general and serves as a foundation of information
about what this level of government is capable of.
Section 2 of this assignment is specific to your chosen topic and
should be completed thoroughly and connected back to your main policy
area chosen during your topic selection assignment.
Consider the structure and responsibilities of each institution and
its ability to address your chosen policy topic. Consider the history of
action taken by each legislative body, state executive agency,
community awareness and impact, and non-governmental stakeholders
interested in your chosen issue. Be mindful of the following:
Make sure you are utilizing credible sources for information!
Sources include government websites, periodicals, academic papers/research, class materials, videos, and readings.
If you are ever unsure of the credibility of a source, run it by me!
Keep track of your sources!
At the end of this assignment, you’ll assemble a Works Cited page for each source you used/found while researching.
This will be incredibly helpful to refer back to later or incorporate into your final paper.
Be detailed and thorough!
It is to your benefit to gather as much information as possible at this stage.
The more research you do here, the better off you’ll be when it comes time to organize and write your final paper.
Submissions lacking detail, missing important pieces of information, or not thoroughly answering each question will lose points.
Submission & Formatting Instructions
Using a Word or PDF document (Not a Google Doc, Text Document, or
Pages file), upload your assignment using the TurnItIn.com tool and make
sure it adheres to the following:
Submissions must include ALL SECTIONS of the assignment.
Submissions must be formatted to mirror the formatting of the instructions.
For example, this assignment starts with California State Assembly
and ends with the Superintendent of Public Instruction; your submission
should mirror that.
Formatting Instructions
Font: Times New Roman 12pt
Spacing: Double
Margins: 1 inch
Friendly reminder, Google Docs defaults to 1.15 spacing and Ariel 11 font, so be sure to change those!
Include the question in your submission and write the answer underneath as a short answer essay OR a series of bullet point answers, whichever you prefer.
Research Focus
In a short paragraph, describe/summarize your chosen policy topic.
In what policy area is your chosen topic? What information would be
useful for an outside observer to know about your topic?
California State Senate
Section 1 – General Knowledge
Visit the California Senate website
Links to an external site. to answer the following questions:
What is the name of the Senate President pro-Tempore, and what
district do they represent? What is their political party affiliation?
What is one power OR responsibility of the Senate President pro-Tempore? Explain/define that power/responsibility.
What is the difference between a committee and a caucus? Clearly define/explain both.
Who are the most powerful members of the Senate? What are their
names, party affiliations, and districts? What makes them powerful? Be
sure to include the Senate President pro-Tempore and the Majority and
Minority leaders. Explain your answer. Be detailed and specific.
Which committee would you consider to be the most influential? Why? Explain your answer. Be detailed and specific.
Section 2 – Connection to Topic
For the following questions, answer with your specific policy topic in mind.
Which committee(s) are most applicable to your chosen topic? What
are their names, and what jurisdiction do those committees have/what do
they do? What is the chair’s name of each committee, what political
party are they, and what districts do they represent? How can these
committees influence policy related to your topic?
What laws have the State Senate passed that impact your policy
topic? Have their actions/approach to your chosen policy topic changed
over time? If so, why? Have there been any significant debates,
controversies, or accomplishments at the State Senate level related to
your chosen topic? Provide an example and describe in detail the history
of your policy topic at the State Senate level.
Which lawmakers are active/vocal about your policy topic? Identify
two lawmakers with opposing views on how to address your policy topic.
Describe their positions on your topic. Explain why they might adopt
that view, such as constituency, lobbying/special interest influences,
party affiliation, personal background/history, education, etc.
California State Assembly
Section 1 – General Knowledge
Visit the California Assembly website
Links to an external site. to answer the following questions:
What is the name of the Speaker of the Assembly, and which district
do they represent? What is their political party affiliation?
What is one power OR responsibility of the Speaker of the Assembly? Explain/define that power/responsibility.
Compare and contrast the power and influence of the Speaker of the
Assembly and the Senate President pro-Tempore. Which has more power,
respectively? Why? Explain your answer. Be detailed and specific.
Who are the most powerful members of the State Assembly? What are
their names, party affiliations, and districts? What makes them
powerful? Be sure to include the Speaker of the Assembly and the
Majority and Minority leaders. Explain your answer. Be detailed and
specific.
Which committee would you consider to be the most influential? Why? Explain your answer. Be detailed and specific.
Section 2 – Connection to Topic
For the following questions, answer with your specific policy topic in mind.
Which committee(s) are most applicable to your chosen topic? What
are their names, and what jurisdiction do those committees have/what do
they do? What is the chair’s name of each committee, what political
party are they, and what districts do they represent? How can these
committees influence policy related to your topic?
What laws have the State Assembly passed that impact your policy
topic? Have their actions/approach to your chosen policy topic changed
over time? If so, why? Have there been any significant debates,
controversies, or accomplishments at the State Assembly level related to
your chosen topic? Provide an example and describe in detail the
history of your policy topic at the State Senate level.
Which lawmakers are active/vocal about your policy topic? Identify
two lawmakers with opposing views on how to address your policy topic.
Describe their positions on your topic. Explain why they might adopt
that view, such as constituency, lobbying/special interest influences,
party affiliation, personal background/history, education, etc.
California Executive Branch
Section 1 – General Knowledge
Who is the Governor of California? What is their political party
affiliation? What is the primary role/responsibility of the governor?
Identify a power held by the governor and give an example of that power.
Be detailed and specific.
Who is the Attorney General of California? What is their political
party affiliation? What is the primary role/responsibility of the
Attorney General? Identify a power held by the Attorney General and give
an example of that power. Be detailed and specific.
Who is the Secretary of State of California? What is their political
party affiliation? What is the primary role/responsibility of the
Secretary of State? Identify a power held by the Secretary of State and
give an example of that power. Be detailed and specific.
Who is the State Treasurer of California? What is their political
party affiliation? What is the primary role/responsibility of the State
Treasurer? What is the difference between the State Treasurer and State
Controller?
Who is the State Superintendent of Public Instruction? What is the
primary role/responsibility of the Superintendent of Public Instruction?
Identify a power held by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and
give an example of that power. Be detailed and specific.
Section 2 – Connection to Topic
How has the Governor spoken about your chosen topic during their
time in office? Have they made statements regarding their position on
your chosen topic? Provide an example. Have they taken any action on
your chosen topic, such as sponsoring initiatives/programs, signing
legislation, issuing orders, etc.? Does it align with their spoken
position/goals? Why/why not? Be detailed and specific.
How has the Attorney General used their position to address your
chosen topic? Have they been part of a case, lawsuit, investigation, or
administrative action related to your chosen topic? If so, cite the
specific case, lawsuit, investigation, action, etc., and summarize it.
What impact has this had on your chosen topic? Be detailed and specific.
How does the role of the Secretary of State impact policies related
to your chosen topic? Are there currently, or have there been, ballot
initiatives proposed related to your chosen topic? If so, what were
they, and what were the outcomes (did they pass or fail)? What groups
were active in promoting or opposing those ballot initiatives? Be
detailed and specific.
Identify a department or agency within the California Executive
Branch that directly impacts or influences your chosen policy topic
area. What is that branch of government? What actions have they taken
related to your chosen topic? Have they implemented any task force,
commission, initiative, regulation, or oversight related to your chosen
topic? Have their actions changed over time?
Final Thoughts & Considerations
Have other states taken action on your policy topic that differs
from California? What factors contribute to those differences? Is there
an opportunity for cooperation/coordination among different states? Are
there obstacles to consider with cooperation/coordination? Consider
federalism, distribution of cost/benefits, responsibility, partisanship,
public investment, differences in diversity among states, etc. Provide
examples. Be detailed and specific.
Have non-governmental actors such as unions, think tanks, research
groups, private businesses, lobbying groups, special interest groups,
etc., influenced policymaking on your chosen topic at the state level?
Have there been any partnerships between non-governmental actors and the
government on your chosen topic? Some examples include private groups
and their relationship with executive agencies such as the California
Department of Corrections and Private Prisons, the California Department
of Education and Charter Schools, or unions and lobbying executive
agencies. What impact has this relationship had on your chosen topic?
Provide examples. Be detailed and specific.
How does the government provide financing to your chosen policy
topic? Do they provide grants such as research or development? Do they
provide tax incentives/breaks? Do they collect tax revenue specific to
your topic? Do they contract out the management? Do they allocate a
portion of their budget? How does the financial consideration of your
topic influence policy? Be detailed and specific.
How does each institution’s approach to addressing your topic
differ? What contributes to that difference? Consider differences in the
role of the legislature and the executive, power, structure, community,
stakeholders, and the entirety of your research when answering this
question.
Which institution is more likely to act on your chosen topic?
Consider legislative and executive differences and differences in
representation, constituency, partisan control, etc. Is this an issue
more likely to be addressed by the delegate style of the Assembly or the
trustee style of the Senate? Is this an issue more likely to be
addressed by an executive agency or a representative? Why?
How does your chosen topic directly impact the local communities at
each level? Is the significance of the impact different across parts of
California? Does it differ among communities and groups? Does it impact
some more than others (districts, communities, groups, occupations,
income brackets, etc.)? Are some groups/communities/stakeholders more
involved than others? Why?
What action do you think should be taken on this issue at the state
level? Are things being done on this issue at the state level that you
support? Any that you oppose? Are there any groups that are active on
this issue that you support? Any that you oppose? What new policy, law,
reform, idea, etc., would you recommend at the state AND federal level?
Why? What existing new policy, law, reform, idea, etc., would you
oppose? Why? Be detailed and specific.
What other information might be relevant to your chosen policy topic
that the assignment did not address? What information did you learn but
didn’t have space for in the answers above? Did you find interesting
information you’d like to keep track of but didn’t find a place to put
it? What questions do you wish I asked/included in this guided
questionnaire? What questions did you come up with that you might want
to explore further? Use this as an opportunity to jot down notes, ideas,
or your thought process at this part of your research.
What class resources (textbook chapters/terms/concepts, videos, readings, lessons, notes) apply to your research?
Works Cited
Create a works cited page using the sources of information used to
answer the above questions. For sources you did not use but would like
to keep track of, make a note of it in a separate section.
