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.

Essay Prompt #10- Interest Groups

In today's political climate, interest groups play an important role in the governmental system. Interest groups are out to change laws by supporting political candidates, lobbying and more. Political parties are out to raise campaign funds, while pushing their policy agendas and achieving their political goals.


Interest groups support the goals of political parties through donations and media campaigns. With these tools, political party are able to run successful campaigns and the interest groups are able to endorse candidates who support their political agenda.


Through the support to the political parties, the interest groups are allowed more access to the legislation process that they supported. Also with more access, the interest groups have further influence on the legislation.

Essay Prompt #9- Policy Agenda/ Media Coverage

In today's politics, all public official have their own agenda. A political agenda are the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually involved in politics at any given point in time.


Through TV and other media ads, officials can broadcast their agenda with their own spin and telling the public exactly what they want to hear. This can range from a news story on the conflict in Syria to the campaign mud-slinging of a presidential election. The news media can take a story and create a general public opinion, the importance of the media in today's political climate cannot be understated.


In the past several decades, the trend has become that young people do not follow world news or politics. While older people continue to regularly follow the world news and what's happening in the world. This trend has continued into present day media.


In today's culture, using the news is a different way for the president to get his point to all voters because young people just don't follow the news. If the president wants to stay relevant to his younger voter, he needs to embrace new technology like email, twitter and Facebook as a way of reaching out to the mass demographic.

Essay Prompt #8- Majority Rule

In the House of Representatives, majority rule is a huge deciding factor in our government's process of establishing legislation. Majority rule allows the majority party to shape the legislation process to their liking and put them laws that they want to see passed. It also majority rule allows the majority to control the flow of a meeting, while prioritizing their own agendas.


The differences between the Senate and the House of Reps. are that the Senate includes two members from every state, while the House is based on population of each state. This differences in how the majority is controlled, because some states have more representatives then others. Also the party majority is different between the two branches of congress.


Legislation can be passed in one branch of congress and not the other because of the checks and balances system and the limiting of majority rule. These systems make it so no one branch of government can make executive decisions solely on their own political agendas. Also it allows the majority rule is be more diverse with multiple people involved in the government's legislation process.

The History of North Korea

 Following World War II, the Japanese occupation ended in Korea. Though at the time Soviet troops still occupying North Korea. Going forward, North Korea become a Communist party and was ruled by a dictator regime. After which North Korea experienced the industrial revolution and grew as a country. Continuing their Communist party leadership.

Jumping ahead, in 1994 North Korean leaders freeze the country's nuclear program. Two years later the country is hit with flooding and major famine follows. Continuing on into present day, North Korea is still facing famine and a lack of electricity. But their program is in action and the country continues to pose a threat to the U.S.

In the past decade North Korea has become a rather crazy power-driven society. People are homeless and starving in the streets, while the country's leaders live very comfortable in their mansions with unlimited amounts of food. The citizens are restricted from viewing foreign information, allowing the government to control what people do and see.

Going forward, I do not see a regime change anytime soon because as Kim Jun Un is a young ruler he will most likely lead until his death. Also North Korea has been operating the current government for decades, making it difficult to change.

Sources

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2010/02/a_nation_of_racist_dwarfs.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2010/02/a_nation_of_racist_dwarfs.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/secret-state-of-north-korea/