Essay 12 Outline- Divided Government

 Divided government takes place when one political party controls the white house and another party controls the House and Senate. This can often lead to a political gridlock because of the lack of cooperation between the political parties. A divided government can lead to a lack of trust in government because people lose faith in the government's ability to accomplish tasks that the public consider vital.

The increased cost in election campaigns have caused a distrust in government overall. This is because as elections have become bigger, the connection to the public and the political opinions have been lost for more corporate tactics.

Two specific instances of decline in trust of the government would be the following. The recent recession in the economy is a prime example of the general public distrusting the government. This was made evident in the following election with a majority party change. Another example would be court cases involving Congressman or members of the senate being charged with stealing government funding. With a distrust in government citizens decline their right to vote and lead to protest.

2004_4
3) Trust and confidence in government have declined in recent decades.
(a) Explain how divided government has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government. Be sure to include a definition of divided government in your response
(b) Explain how the increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government.
(c) Explain two specific consequences of the decline in trust and confidence in government for individual political behavior. 

Answer Key: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/ap04_sg_gopo_us_37090.pdf

Essay 11 Outline- Incumbency

The importance of incumbency cannot be overstated in today's political climate. In this section, the graph displayed the incumbency of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The graph shows how both the House and the Senate have high incumbency rates, while the House has higher and more stable rates than the Senate. The House generally has an incumbency rate of above 80%, while the Senate generally has a rate of above 50%.

Incumbency allows for many advantages for the politician involved. By remaining in office, they have more experience and understand the inner-workings of the government. Also being in office longer allows them access to more campaign funding as they have more connections within the government. 







(2001_2) the graph above shows reelection rates for incumbents in the House and Senate. From this information and your knowledge of of the US politics, perform the following 
tasks. (Fig 12.1)
a) identify two patterns displayed in the graph
b) identify 2 factors that contribute to incumbency advantage. Explain how each factor contributes to incumbency advantage.
c) Discuss one consequence of incumbency advantage for the US political process

Scoring Rubric: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_govpol_us_01_7046.pdf

 

Meth Blogpost

In the past couple years, meth has become a very prominent drug in Oregon. It produces a high unlike no other that the body is not meant to experience. Using toxic chemicals found in any drug store or supermarket, meth addicts have become cookers and make their own meth. This creates a whole new share of problems for law enforcement because when meth is cooked, it spreads everywhere.

pseudoephedrine is a main chemical component of meth. To try to prevent the spread of meth, the government passed a law in Oregon limiting the sale of pseudophedrine to prescription only. This decreased the spread of meth and made cooking your own meth more difficult. But soon enough meth cookers found substitute chemicals that they could buy over the counter and meth production picked up again.

Going forward, meth use is very present in Oregon society. As the law enforcement evolves it's approach to controlling meth, the meth cookers change the way they cook using new and dangerous chemicals. Only time will tell what long term effect meth will have on illegal drugs in our society moving on.

Source:

"Big Pharma And Meth Cooks Agree: Keep Cold Meds Over The Counter." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

This source explained the rise in popularity of meth. It also went into detail about the effects of meth on the user and the damage it can cause to the area it is cooked in. Lastly the source explained the long term effects of meth on the user.

PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

This source went into every aspect involved in the rise in popularity of meth. The program details the making of meth and it's effects on it's users. Also the program talks about the law enforcement's approach to regulating meth and the chemicals required to make it. Lastly the program interviewed former meth addicts which added a new perspective to the discussion of meth.

 
http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/methamphetamine

This source went into every aspect involved in the rise in popularity of meth. The source details the affects of meth on the brain and how it makes the user "high". Also the source talks about the production of meth and how it can be made with many different combinations of chemicals. Lastly this source analyzes other heath effect of regular meth uses.